My Best Friend is Me
CONCEPT: Self Esteem
BRIEF SUMMARY
Read a story about a hippo who has many friends, but also knows how to find things to do when he is by himself. He has ways of encouraging himself when he is feeling frustrated. Talk about how we can use some of the hippo's strategies when we are feeling discouraged.
OBJECTIVES
After completing this activity, children will be able to:
- describe something they like about themselves
- describe something they do to feel good about themselves
METHODS
Read the story My Best Friend is Me by Beth Ann Marcozzi.
Lead a discussion with the children, with questions such as:
- What did the hippo do when there were no friends around to play with? (drew a picture, rode a bike, read a book, played with toys) What do you do?
- What did he do when other kids made fun of him? (practiced, spent time with other friends) What do you do?
- Who knows what "frustrated" means? What things make you feel frustrated? What did the hippo do to make himself feel better? (practiced, threw a party for himself) What do you do to make yourself feel better?
- He said, "When someone tells me how nice I look, I know why." Why? (he took care of himself) What things do you do to take care of yourself? (eat the right foods, drink milk, exercise, brush your teeth)
- When he gets upset, he tells somebody about it. Why is that a good idea?
- He said, "When I look in the mirror, I like what I see. My best friend is Me!" Why is it good to be your own best friend?
Explain:
"Sometimes, when you feel sad it is good to think of things you like to do, or things you are proud of, or things you like about yourself. Today, we're going to draw some pictures that we can use to cheer ourselves up."
Distribute the picture sheets. If there is limited time, choose a few topics from the list to include.
- Draw a picture of yourself doing something that is very hard for you to do. ( something to be proud of ) (page 33)
- Draw a picture of the person you most admire. What are some things that you have in common? (page 35)
- Draw a picture of yourself doing your favorite thing in the whole world. (page 36)
- Draw a "First Prize" medal. What did you win it for? (page 37)
- What do you do when you are sad or unhappy? Draw a picture of yourself doing something that will make you feel better. (page 39)
- Draw a picture of yourself with a super-hero cape. What are your Super Powers? (page 40)
- Draw a picture of everyone in your family. (page 41)
- Draw a picture of yourself helping someone else. What are they saying to you? (page 43)
- Draw a picture of your room. What do you like about it? (page 44)
- Draw a picture of yourself when you grow up. What are you doing? (page 45)
Discuss the pictures the children drew.
- What are you proud of?
- Does your drawing make you feel happy? Proud? Excited?
- What do you do to make yourself feel better when you are sad? Could you look at your drawing--or think about what you drew? What are some other things to think of that would cheer you up?
MATERIALS
- Book: My Best Friends is Me , by Beth Ann Marcozzi. Published by The Center for Applied Psychology, Inc, 1995.
Phone: (800) 962-1141. ISBN: 1-882732-25-1 - Picture sheets (from book)