I'm the Thinker of My Thoughts Workbook

Some tips to help children understand their thoughts:
Important concepts about thoughts:
Thoughts are the words you say to yourself without saying them out loud (Helpful for
young children)
Thoughts are in your head and feelings are in your heart
Emotions can affect our body (Like having an upset tummy when you are scared)
Not all thoughts are true (Especially fearful thoughts)
Thoughts lead to feelings and feelings lead to actions
There are helpful thoughts and unhelpful thoughts
We can control our thoughts and choose to replace unhelpful thoughts with more helpful
ones
Having 'bad' thoughts doesn't make you a bad person (It happens to everyone - it's what
you do with them that matters)
Here are some question ideas to help them understand the concepts further:
What is a thought? Thoughts are the words you say to yourself in your head without saying
them out loud.
Can you point to where your thoughts are?
Are all thoughts true? No! Many things we think aren't real and don't always happen.
Maybe give a few examples, like "I thought I was going to be bad at .... but I tried it and I did
really well!" or, "I thought someone wasn't a nice person but I got to know them and they are
really nice."
If thoughts are in our head, then where are our feelings - like being happy or sad? They
are in your heart or body. (You could point to your head and place your hand over your heart
to emphasize.)
Sometimes our body feels things when we have emotions. What does your body feel
like when you're scared? (Maybe say "Sometimes my tummy feels funny when I'm scared)
What does your body want to do when you are happy? (Maybe it wants to jump or hug. It
feels light and bouncy like a ball)
I'm the Thinker of My Thoughts by Noella Reeder copyright 2020