Child Abuse Prevention Month: Give a Compliment - Get a Compliment

April is Child Abuse Prevention month and the Alpine County Child Abuse Prevention Council wanted to highlight a positive activity that can have a big impact on the children in our community.
We were inspired by Soul Pancakes 3 minute video "Give a Compliment Get a Compliment"

We used a few materials we had on hand and created our own Give a Compliment Get a Compliment booth.

This mobile activity is traveling from event to event in our county throughout the month of April.
It has already been at a school Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) Assembly, a local awards ceremony honoring adults who have made a difference in children's lives, Create the Good- an informative weekly lunch workshop hosted by Alpine County Behavioral Health and the local Alpine County 50+ Club. We are also headed to the Annual Teddy Bear Parade, TYFS Youth Leader's Group, our weekly Play Group & Girls Empowerment Day!

We used a dishwasher hose with a funnel taped on one end. The funnel end listens to the compliment and the air gap end gives the compliment. We also used a privacy partition from our local health department.

We peppered each event with a series of inspirational quotes on compliments. 

Our council's goal was to share with our community that children need to hear positive messages when they are behaving in positive ways and following our expectations. According to Search Institute, effective praise can be both encouraging and motivating when it is effective. Effective praise is purposeful, is used to reinforce behavior and effort, is attainable and realistic, information rich, self-focused and focuses on effort over achievement. 

Access the take away handout we created to pair with this activity for details on how to give effective praise. 

Trevor Ragan has a great 5 minute video on Carol Dweck's study on praise and mindsets which illustrates how powerful effective praise can be. 

Visit our post "Five Critical Emotional Needs of Children" for more information on how to support children in positive ways.