Valentine's Day is coming!
All children need to hear that they are valued. Sometimes, children with communication disorders need a little *extra* reassurance.
Parents, teachers, and clinicians--- Show the children you care for why you love them by making this heart collage.
Start by cutting out a large heart from poster board. Then, cut out smaller hearts in different sizes and colors. Every day in February, write a word or phrase on a small heart that explains what you value about that child. Tape or paste the smaller heart into the large heart. By the end of the month, you'll have large hearts full of love for each child to keep and treasure. As a classroom adaptation, consider having students fill out these hearts for their classmates, as a way of building empathy and social skills.
Use this project as an opportunity to spread some love and build self-esteem by identifying each's child's unique skills and talents. As an added bonus, teach some awesome new vocabulary words. This list of positive character traits is adapted from vocabulary.com and makes a great starting point for your heart collages.
1. adaptable: capable of fitting a particular situation or use
2. adventurous: willing to undertake new and daring enterprises
3. affectionate: having or displaying warmth or affection
4. ambitious: having a strong desire for success or achievement
5. amiable: diffusing warmth and friendliness
6. compassionate: showing or having sympathy for another's suffering
7. considerate: showing concern for the rights and feelings of others
8. courageous: able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching
9. courteous: characterized by politeness and gracious good manners
10. diligent: characterized by care and perseverance in carrying out tasks
11. empathetic: showing ready comprehension of others' states
12. exuberant: unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings; full of joy
13. frank: characterized by directness in manner or speech
14. generous: willing to give and share unstintingly
15. gregarious: temperamentally seeking and enjoying the company of others
16. impartial: free from undue bias or preconceived opinions
17. intuitive: obtained through instinctive knowledge
18. inventive: marked by independence and creativity in thought or action
19. passionate: having or expressing strong emotions
20. persistent: stubbornly unyielding; persistent people never give up
21. philosophical: meeting trouble with level-headed detachment
22. practical: guided by experience and observation rather than theory
23. rational: having its source in or being guided by the intellect
24. reliable: worthy of trust
25. resourceful: adroit or imaginative
26. sensible: able to feel or perceive
27. sincere: open and genuine; not deceitful
28. sympathetic: expressing compassion or friendly fellow feelings
29. unassuming: not arrogant
30. witty: combining clever conception and facetious expression
Happy Valentine's Day!
Heart collage filled with love for a child