We want our kids to understand and acknowledge their own fears. We want our kids to stand up to bullies. We want our kids to grow up  making meaningful change in the world. We want our kids to be able to look inside themselves, understand what they want, and be courageous. 

We hope this month’s Mini POP-UP Box encourages you and the kids in your life to the right thing– the courageous thing– in your world.


Share your Mini Pop-Up story with us on Facebook or Instagram!

 
 
The Three Courage Questions
 
Intro: 
Growing courage is not only about doing a scary thing– it’s about listening to your heart and doing the right thing, too.
 
Goal: 
This exercise prompts kids to explore their fears with the Three Courage Questions and then choose a course of action.
 
Instructions: 
1. First, explain that we will be talking about other peoples’ fears, so it is important to make everyone feel SAFE. What are some ways your group can make sure everyone feels safe? Explain that talking about your fears is VERY courageous!
2. Each person writes down a fear of theirs on a piece of paper and anonymously drops it into a hat.
3. Take turns choosing one out of the hat, reading it aloud, and saying why it might be scary to someone.
4. Then, as a group, come up with a few options for navigating that fear. Then, evaluate these options based on
 
The Three Courage Questions:

• Will it break an important rule or is it against the law?

•  Will it hurt someone?

•  Does it feel right for you?

5. Based on the answer to the Three Courage Questions, choose the best option (or two!) that is both courageous and right.

 
For example: The piece of paper drawn is “spiders.” The person who draws says, “Spiders are scary because they can crawl on you and maybe even hurt you.” The group comes up with ways to deal with this fear: “You could kill it!” or “You could ask for help” or “You could put a cup on top of it and slide paper underneath to put it outside.” Then, discuss the Three Courage Questions: killing it would hurt the spider and might feel wrong, so maybe that is not the most courageous choice, and so on with the other choices.
  
Discuss:
How can something feel “right” and “scary” at the same time?
What helps you feel courageous?
How can the Three Courage Questions help you make braver, better decisions?
How do you know if something feels “right for you”?
 
 
Picture Books
 
by Paulette Bourgeois
Franklin the turtle learns that his friends that seem the bravest also have fears– they’ve just learned how to navigate them. Go on the journey with him as he learn to navigate his own fear- the dark.
 
 by Giles Andrae
Giraffes Can’t Dance is a touching tale of Gerald the giraffe, who wants nothing more than to dance. With crooked knees and thin legs, it’s harder for a giraffe than you would think. Gerald is finally able to dance to his own tune when he gets some encouraging words from an unlikely friend.
 
Perfect for the brave little women you want to empower! Not a book, per se, but the books in this selection have been chosen because they feature empowered, brave girls.
 
 
Chapter Books
 
An engaging Young Adult novel about being courageous in the face of peer pressure. This stunning debut novel about grief and wonder was an instant New York Times bestseller and captured widespread critical acclaim, including selection as a 2015 National Book Award finalist! 
 


Each month we will be featuring the story of a past POP-Up Festival host. Meet Chrissie Brunton, a superstar POP-UP Festival host from last year who held POP-UP Festivals at a refugee camp in Greece.

Where did you hold your POP-UP Festivals? Two different places within Nea Kavala refugee camp in Northern Greece. We first ran two sessions in the Women’s Space.  The following Saturday, we used the same women to help us facilitate a session in our Community Centre for children, and help translate the new emotions vocabulary into the various languages spoken by the children.  Later we ran another workshop, and incorporated the festival into the children’s English lesson.

How many children attended your POP-UP Festival(s)? Twenty-two, which is almost all of the children in the camp aged five and up.

Do you have a favorite memory? During one session, we talked about different emotion words. We said the emotion in English, it was translated into Arabic, Kurmanji and Farsi.  One of the young boys gave an example of when he felt vengeful towards one of his teachers.  There had been an issue during the previous week when he wasn’t allowed to join the adults’ football training and he was upset.  But while explaining the situation and his emotions at the time, he better understood his feelings, and recognised it was one of many he had towards the teacher, others very positive. 
 

What one emotion describes your POP-UP Festival? Delighted!

 

What would you do differently next year? Next year I would facilitate more EQ sessions, not only to women and children, but also mixed adults.  Using the pop-up festival over a week of English classes for our mixed adults would be a bonding experience, and help with integration in the classroom.  We would like to host an open community event, with various stations happening at the same time, where we could talk more in depth using translators about our feelings, perhaps inviting psycho-social support actors on-site to take part too. Also, I would run regular sessions within our volunteer team to facilitate team-bonding and ensure an openness to discuss our emotions, which is especially useful as we support each other working in this field.
 
 
Would you like your POP-UP Festival story to be shared here? E-mail Maria at [email protected]


Research from UCLA finds that participants who named their emotion (“terrified” or “scared”) when coming face to face with a tarantula show less bodily expressions of fear than those who did not name their emotion. Naming your emotions is courageous– and effective!

Kitchen Table Question:

“How does doing something courageous or scary make you feel?”

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