In my Founding Fathers Unleashed Program, the ghost of Ben Franklin discusses his favorite books when he was a boy.  Two of them actually shaped America as we know it.  Here’s how!

This was from a recent class/performance, where I taught kids comedy improv.  This was the only footage which did NOT have the kids in it!  (keeping it safe here.)

Fun!

Hello there, lovely parent and teacher!

Here is a quick and easy way to deal with annoyances in the car.

Christina

Kids can be brilliant from the backseat of your car. Today’s brilliance morsel is called “If You Could Be Anywhere”.   Press Play and play away!

I offer a very special one-on-one program for kids, called Hogwarts for Girls and Boys. Here is what it’s about!

If you have kids in your life, whether as a teacher or as a parent, you probably slip into auto-pilot on a regular basis. And why wouldn’t you?  You’ve got lots on your plate, so much you care about, so much you want to get right.  You’re a big part of kids’ lives, and what you do matters.

Well, I’ve met many parents and teachers who get so on auto-pilot with teaching and caring for their kids, they forget how incredibly valuable their roles are.  And they can’t take compliments and kudos for their efforts.

Lots of us look for recognition and support from outside ourselves, often from our superiors.  We wait for our government and principals and employers to treat us better.  But the time for waiting has passed.

That’s what we’re talking about today: taking a breath and realizing how incredibly important and valuable our roles are.  If you’re a teacher, it’s key to remember how much you will shape your students’ childhood experience.  That they will remember you for the rest of their lives. If you’re a parent, do you see the grandeur of what you’re doing? If only for a few minutes…

We can wish we lived in Sweden, where teachers and parents are respected and cared for.  Or we can take a pause and decide to respect ourselves.  Parents and teachers especially get to be the leaders in this, a movement to honor education and children and families, since no one is going to do it for us. We have to walk our talk. And the first step is to stop for a few moments, put your hand on your heart, and just be with the amazingness of your role.

When you practice this, your kids will notice, your bosses will notice, the world will notice.

You’ll begin getting ideas that support your magic role.  You’ll feel ready for kindness from all over.  You’re part of the magic tribe.

In honor of you, I’m doing a series of short videos called Brilliance from the Backseat, which allow you to easily have fun and unleash your kids’ brilliance on long car rides or anywhere else.  Click here to see the first one.

Here is a fun, easy way to have fun with your kids on long car trips (and short ones too!).  And this will expand their imaginations too.

A couple weeks ago, I partnered with the City of Stamford to educate the kids at Northeast Elementary (800 of them) about the new recycling policies. Who knew recycling could be fun? We had a blast!

This morning I was interviewed by Andrea Anderson, a local mom and entrepreneur.

Andrea asked me some great questions about WHAT IN THE WORLD AN EDUCATIONAL PERFORMER DOES ALL DAY.

There are those books that sit quietly on your shelf, waiting for you to read, promising you a good story. Whisper. Whisper.  Then there are those books that dance and rock and roll and can’t keep still.  That’s because there’s so much creative juice and vitality and ideas.

That’s The Guerrilla Art Kit by Keri Smith.  The subtitles give it all away.  “Everything You Need to Put Your Message Out into the World.  For Fun, Non-Profit and World Domination.”

It’s a list of really fun creative projects that make you think about the world in the new way.

Couple of examples:

The Wish Tree -  You cut out blank tags, write wishes on them, and attach them to a tree. Others can then enjoy!

Love Letter -  Write  a love letter that you would like to receive.  Leave it in a public place.

It has lots of fun things to do for kids of all ages.

Have at it!

Christina