11 fables between the lines

We all go through unpleasant experiences and feel emotions that make us feel bad, but luckily, our good mood  returns soon.  Sometimes, however, the “bad thoughts” lead us to perform wrong actions, which can hurt ourselves and others. To help children recognize and modify the negative thoughts that hinder personal well-being, 11 Fables Between the Lines offers a program of reading and emotional education to be carried out on your own, or together with your companions. Inspired by the stories from book 11 Fairy Tales of Happiness (Erickson), the stories illustrate a problematic situation, leaving the final free to the reader’s imagination. At the end of each reading, activities are proposed to deepen the so-called “erroneous areas”, ie those psychological situations that are the source of discomfort and emotional discomfort.

In particular, the following situations are analyzed:

• needing the approval of others;
• not feeling responsible for oneself and one’s emotions;
• having difficulty controlling fits of rage;
• tendency to put off one’s duties;
• torment oneself with useless thoughts;
• fear of the unexpected, new things, and change;
• feeling the need to adapt to conventions;
• feeling psychologically dependant on others;
• feeling trapped between past experiences and an inability to move forward and improve;
• feeling overwhelmed by the need for justice;
• not loving oneself (not accepting oneself, feeling inferior to others).

Made for primary school students, the program encourages the children to elaborate psychological situations through intrapersonal reflection activities and moments of creative play.