Note to parents: These weekly stories are intended to be an additional resource as we work together to support the development of your child. These stories will align with the “theme of the week” for our upcoming class. In Week 6, our theme will be “What's the weather today?”. The purpose of this theme is to help children become more familiar with what emotions are and how to find the words to label them. 

 

How to use these stories: When your child joined Legacy Kids, they were given a “stuffy”. These weekly stories will feature their “stuffy”. Encourage your child to have their stuffy with them while you read the story together and discuss the questions below. This process of externalizing the story to someone else (their stuffy) can be helpful as they internalize the principles discussed. Whenever you see "[stuffy]" in the story simply insert the name of your child's stuffy.

​

Week 6 Story:

[Stuffy] Learns About Outside and Inside Weather 

 

Once upon a time, there was a stuffy named [Stuffy]. [Stuffy] was excited because [He/She] was going to play outside today with all of [his/her] friends. [He/She] put on [his/her] favorite shoes for running, grabbed a jumprope, and ran to the front door. When [Stuffy] opened the door [he/she] got a big surprise, but not the good kind of surprise. When [Stuffy] opened the door, [he/she] saw that it was pouring rain! [Stuffy] thought about all the fun things that [he/she] was planning to do but wouldn't get to do anymore. [Stuffy] could feel a knot in their stomach and wasn't sure if [he/she] wanted to cry or scream. [Stuffy] decided to slam the door! BANG!

​

[Stuffy's] Mom came into the room and asked, "What's wrong, [Stuffy]?".

​

"I was so excited to play outside today but now it's raining", [Stuffy] replied, "Now I won't be able to do all the fun things I wanted to do with my friends!".

​

[Stuffy's] Mom replied, "Oh dear, I'm sorry [Stuffy]. Is that super disappointing?". 

​

"Yeah", [Stuffy] replied, "we were going to go to the park and I was going to show them how good I was getting with my jumprope".

 

[Stuffy's] Mom got on her knees so she was now the same height as [Stuffy] and said, "It sounds like you were going to have a great time with your friends and the rain ruined your plans". 

​

"Yeah", [Stuffy] said with a sigh, "it just isn't fair". 

​

"[Stuffy], I'm really glad you told me about how you are feeling",  [Stuffy's] Mom said, "can I show you something?".

​

"Okay", [Stuffy] replied still feeling upset about the rain but now [he/she] was curious what Mom was going to show them.

​

 [Stuffy's] Mom walked with [him/her] over to the window to look outside and asked, "What's the weather outside today?".  

​

 [Stuffy] was a little confused why [his/her] Mom would ask this. [He/She] had just told her that it was raining. "It's still raining," [Stuffy] said with a bit of grumpy voice because they remembered they weren't going to be able to do all the fun things they wanted to.

​

"That's right, [Stuffy], it's raining outside", [Stuffy's] Mom then asked, "Did you know just like there is weather outside, we have weather inside our bodies?".

​

[Stuffy] thought this sounded like a funny idea. [Stuffy] imagined things like a big rain storm inside their body or little people building a snowman in their body. 

​

[Stuffy] asked, "So there is snow and rain and wind inside my body?". 

​

[Stuffy's] Mom chuckled, "Sort of, but it's not quite like the weather we see outside. The weather inside your body is what we call emotions. It's how we describe how we are feeling that day. Can you think of times that felt like a sunny day inside your body?" 

​

"Yes!", [Stuffy] replied, "Even though it was a cloudy day on Valentine's Day, it totally felt like a sunny day inside". 

​

"That's right, [Stuffy]! So you could say your "inside weather" was happy or excited". [Stuffy's] Mom then asked, "can you think of times when it felt stormy inside?".

​

"Yes," [Stuffy] said with a sad voice, "today definitely feels like a stormy day outside AND inside".

 

[Stuffy's] Mom nodded and asked, "and what words would you use to describe your "inside weather" or the emotions you are feeling right now?". 

​

[Stuffy] thought about it, "Hmm, I think I would use words like sad and disappointed". 

​

"I think that sounds right, [Stuffy]", [his/her] Mom replied. 

​

"But how do I make the bad feelings go away?", [Stuffy] asked.

​

[Stuffy's] Mom thought about it. "Well, a lot of times we can't make an emotion or feeling "go away", but when we recognize which one we are feeling we can decide what we want to do about it. So what do you think you can do after feeling so sad and disappointed about the rain?". 

​

[Stuffy] had to think hard about this one. "Well sometimes I actually really like the rain. I love to put on my boots and rain coat and go jump in the puddles. I just didn't want to do that today. But maybe I could find something new to do with my friends like inside games".

​

"That sounds like a great idea", [Stuffy's] Mom replied, "you could ask your friends if they wanted to come play here today."

​

All of the sudden, [Stuffy] ran out the room and came back wearing boots and a raincoat, "I like that idea, Mom! But first I probably need to go jump in a few puddles".

​

And that is the end of the story.