Week 11 Story:

[Stuffy] Has an Amazing Brain!

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Once upon a time there was a stuffy named [Stuffy].

 

[Stuffy] was getting really good at riding [his/her] bike! [Stuffy] was on [his/her] way outside to do some more bike riding. As [Stuffy] grabbed [his/her] helmet, [he/she] thought to [himself/herself], "wait a minute, I'm not crashing on my bike anymore, I don't need my helmet!". So [Stuffy] jumped on [his/her] bike and started racing around. It wasn't long before [Stuffy] heard a voice coming from the house:

"[Stuffy], can you come here for a minute?". [Stuffy] knew that voice, it was Mom! [Stuffy] rode back to the house super quick so [he/she] could show Mom how fast [he/she] was getting. Before [he/she] even stopped, [Stuffy] was shouting, "Did you see me Mom!? Did you see how fast I was going?!".  

[Stuffy's] Mom smiled and said, "Yes, I saw how fast you were going! I'm so proud of how hard you have worked to learn to ride that bike. I also noticed that you aren't wearing your helmet. Did you forget to put it on?". 

[Stuffy] replied, "Oh yeah, I decided I didn't need that since I'm not crashing so much anymore".

[Stuffy's] Mom thought for a second and replied, "You are getting really good on your bike [Stuffy], but its important that we keep wearing our helmet.".

"Why?", [Stuffy] asked.

"Well we wear our helmets when we do activities like riding our bike because it helps us take care of and protect our brain". 

"My brain, why do I need to protect my brain?", [Stuffy] asked.

"We want to protect it because your brain is amazing, [Stuffy]!", [his/her] Mom replied, "Let me show you what makes it so special. Can you hold up your hand like this?

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[Stuffy's] Mom explained, "Let's pretend that your hand is your brain. You can actually use your hand to learn more about your brain and what makes it so amazing". [Stuffy's] Mom pointed to [Stuffy's] wrist and said, "your wrist is like a special part of your brain called the "brain stem". This is where your brain works on a lot of things that you don't even have to think about!" 

 

"Really!? Like what?", [Stuffy] asked.

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"This part of your brain tells your heart to keep beating and your lungs to keep breathing. Isn't that so cool that your brain takes care of that for you?!." 

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"Yeah! What else does my brain do?", [Stuffy] asked.

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"Let's hold up our hand again. If you look at your fingers, this is like the area of your brain called the "prefrontal cortex". This part of your brain helps you make good decisions, think of fun ideas, and helps us understand what other people might be thinking or feeling".

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"Wow", [Stuffy] said, "that's a lot of stuff!". 

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"You're right, that's a lot of important things!", [Stuffy's] Mom said, "now the last part I want to show you is your little thumb that is hiding under your fingers". 

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[Stuffy's] Mom opened her hand and pointed to her thumb, "this area of your brain is what we call the "limbic system". This is where you find your BIG emotions and this part of your brain helps you decide whether or not you are safe. So you have all these different parts of your brain that are in charge of different things and they all work together to take care of you!". 

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"It sounds like my brain is busy place!", [Stuffy] said.

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[Stuffy's] Mom smiled, "It is a VERY busy place and it still has a lot of growing to do. That is why we work hard to take care of it. So during some activities, like riding bikes, it's a good idea for us to wear a helmet because it helps us protect our AMAZING brain. Does that make sense, [Stuffy]?".

 

"Yes!", [Stuffy] replied while strapping on [his/her] helmet. 

 

And that is the end of the story. 

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Discussion Questions

• [Stuffy] learned about some of the cool things that a brain can do. What are some things you are really happy that your brain can do?

• You can actually teach yourself how to use your brain to calm down when you are upset or nervous. What are some of the ways your parent has learned to use their brain to calm themselves down?

• [Stuffy] learned about one way to take care of [his/her] brain. What are some other ways you can take care of your brain? 

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