Are You Caught in a Whirlwind of Activity?
Are You Dealing with Strong Emotions?
Wouldn’t You Like to Change Bad Habits?
Want to learn NEW games to play in your back yard?
Ever wish you had a magic study wand?
Need a few tips to make test-taking stress vanish?
What is a DDY ? (Double Dare YAs)

Are You Caught in a Whirlwind of Activity?

What is balance? Balance is a "state of being" based on daily decisions you make about how you spend your time. Do you feel rushed and aggravated most of the time? Life can sometimes become a whirlwind of activities, which makes you physically tired and more stressed than usual. If you spend all your free time on school activities and chores, leaving no time for play, relaxation and exercise, you can get really stressed!

Use DreamBuilder to learn how to make wise choices about your free-time activities. Pursuing interests can actually relieve some of the stress you feel in other parts of the day. Do you choose your free-time activities or does someone else make that choice for you? Take a few mintues to discuss this with a trusted adult.

Answering these questions will take you on a journey inside your head to examine the thoughts and daily habits that create your sense of balance. Allow this reflection time to help you make wise decisions about how to spend your time in the days ahead.

When I'm getting ready for school in the morning, I feel ______________.
The adults around me say I spend too much time on ______________.
If my best friend went away for a long vacation, I would ______________.
On days when I can't do my favorite thing (hobby, sports or play) I can always ______________.
I spend most of my time doing _____________.
If others would let me, I would spend all my time doing ______________.
I never have enough time to  _____________________.
If I had to stop doing one activity in my life, I would choose to stop ______________.
I always feel rushed when ______________.
When I think about how much sleep I get each night, I ______________.
After school, I usually ______________.
I never have enough time to finish  ______________ before it's time to do ______________.
I feel tired when ______________.
I feel pressured to  ______________.
I almost always go to bed at ____ o'clock.  The reason I go to bed then is _________.

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Transform Bad Habits into Good Habits

What is a habit? A habit is something you do all the time, often without thinking about it. Some examples are chewing your fingernails or tapping your fingers on the desk. Sometimes a habit is an addiction, like alcoholism or smoking.

Many times, bad habits create more stress in your life. Maybe you have a habit of putting off homework until the last minute, then run out of time to do it. The next day at school, you feel stress when the teacher calls for homework and you must explain why it is missing.

Take Action! Take out a sheet of notebook paper or open a word processor. Put a line down the middle, creating two columns. List your bad habits on the left side. Be honest with yourself. What do your friends say about your bad habits? Peek here at one fifth grader's list of bad habits.

Make Magic! In the second column, transform each bad habit into a good habit that is right for you. What do I mean by right for you? This is how another 5^th grader describes it: Let's say you stay in trouble for not reading your library book. If you like to stay up later than your bedtime, ask if you can stay up longer each night by reading your library book in bed. Reading will help you relax and fall asleep faster, too! Get a flashlight, read under the covers, and pretend you're camping out. And of course, always pick books that YOU like!

Divide and Conquer Those Bad Habits! It is not always easy to stop bad habits. Pick just one habit to stop. Work to make that bad habit disappear until it's gone for good! It might take you a week or longer until you learn to replace one bad habit with one good one. That's normal. Be patient and don't give up!

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Burn Off Energy with Back Yard Games!

Visit "Game Finder" on Family.com's web site to select from hundreds of fantastic games you and your friends can play after school.

Make up your own games. Combine the rules for basketball and soccer and you've got Boccer!

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Explore tricks that make study time a breeze!

Visit LD Online for fun and creative Memory Tips.

The Student Hut has tons of fun Study Skills and Homework Helpers.
Check out Cool Tools to the Rescue!

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Practice Random Acts of Joy and Kindness

Other North Carolina fifth graders "double dare" you to practice random acts of joy, fun, and kindness. Watch your stress fly with each DDY (Double Dare Ya!)

If you really want to be happy, who can stop you?