Having worked with teen and tween girls and having two girls of my own (one a tween and one who thinks she is), I know they love books with activities and questionnaires about friends, growing up and everything in between.
Elements for Girls is just that type of book, only better, in my opinion. Elements is "a fun and engaging self-discovery project." Authors Mary Ellen Young and Sandra McDonnell have dedicated this book to adolescent girls to help them slow down and take a look at who they really are. The book explores 10 elements of self-discovery and growth, using 10 beads, each with meaning, to create a bracelet. This bracelet is a reminder of the skills they have learned.
The chapters/beads are as follows:
- Uniquely Me: focuses on strengths, abilities and weaknesses
- My Ancient Reptile Brain: activities inform about our brain and how it works
- Fixing Stinking Thinking: the focus is on how powerful our thoughts are and how to get rid of stinking thinking
- Ocean of Emotion: discusses recognizing, managing and learning from our feelings
- Your Body: covers advertising/media messages about our body and learning to love your body
- TTYL--Talking, Texting and Other Tools for Communicating: explains how we rely on nonverbal communication but that is lost in e-communications as well as covering pitfalls
- In Your Shoes: focuses on developing empathy for and acceptance of others
- Yin, Yang and You: activities help with ways to deal with stress, including caring for your health
- Black and White: focuses on conflict and problem solving
- Shoot for the Stars: activities cover goal setting in a variety of areas
The book and bracelet, priced at $24.99, are available online at www.authenticme.biz or $18.90 at Amazon.com.
Disclosure: I received a copy of Elements for Girls to facilitate this review. As always, I express my honest opinions. Links in post may contain affiliate links.