I know. You have probably had enough positivity posts from me by now.
But this one hits home for me.
Positive thinking wasn’t something that was really taught to me as a kid. And as I got older, I realized I wasn’t naturally very good at it either.
My brain can find the problem in a situation very quickly. Finding the good part sometimes takes a little more work. 😄
So when I became a mom, this became one of those things I really wanted to do differently.
Not in a “we must be happy and grateful all the time” kind of way. I’ve already talked enough about how I feel about that.
I just want positive self-talk, kindness, gratitude and noticing the good things to feel a little more natural to my son than they did to me.
And apparently my solution to everything is to turn it into a kids activity.
So I Turned It Into a Game
A friend of mine once mentioned doing a kindness Bingo with kids, and it stuck with me.
We actually ended up doing our own Kindness Bingo too, which was a lot of fun—and I’ll share that one here eventually.
But the idea also got me thinking: what else could we turn into a Bingo?
I liked the idea of taking all these little things I wanted my son to practice—positive self-talk, gratitude, kindness, trying something new, noticing something good—and turning them into something he could actually do.
And because I’m very DIY when it comes to kids’ activities, naturally I went home and started making one. 😄
That’s how our Positivity Bingo started.
I made a simple Bingo board with little things he could actually do.
Smile at someone. Give a compliment. Help with a chore. Say something kind to yourself. Try something new. Play outside. Tell a joke.
Nothing huge. Nothing that required me to plan an elaborate activity or buy a bunch of supplies.
And that’s probably why it worked.
It Was Bingo. He Wanted to Fill the Squares.
I wasn’t trying to create some deep emotional-resilience exercise.
It was Bingo.
He wanted to fill the squares.
And while he was trying to get Bingo, he was also doing all these tiny things I wanted to encourage anyway.
That was the part I loved.
I didn’t have to sit down and explain the importance of gratitude or give a speech about kindness.
Instead:
Go make someone laugh.
Find something good about today.
Help someone.
Try something you’ve never done before.
Those ideas became things he could actually do, rather than things I was telling him he should be.
And because it was a game, it didn’t really feel like I was teaching him anything.
Those are usually my favorite kinds of activities.
And Yes, the Smile Tickets Are Back 😄
If you’ve read some of my other posts, you might already be familiar with our Smile Tickets.
Even the tickets are smiling. Apparently I really committed to the theme.
He could earn Smile Tickets and use them in our little Reward Store for things like choosing a family movie, picking a weekend activity, staying up a little later or choosing his own reward.
Nothing complicated.
But suddenly helping someone, trying something new or finding something good about the day was part of a game.
Maybe It Just Takes Practice
I don’t expect a Bingo game to turn my son into a positive thinker. That’s obviously not how this works.
I just want to give him little opportunities to practice.
Notice something good.
Be kind to somebody.
Be kind to yourself.
Try something.
Help someone.
Laugh.
Maybe, over time, some of those things become habits.
Because that’s really what I’m hoping for. Not a kid who is positive all the time. I don’t think that’s realistic, and I don’t want him to feel like he should be happy when he’s not.
I just want some of these ways of thinking to come a little more naturally to him than they did to me.
The Version I’m Sharing Now
The original Bingo board we used at home was very much one of my DIY creations.
It did its job. 😄
Since then, I’ve gone back to it and made a much nicer version, added more thoughtful activities, and included our Smile Tickets and little Reward Store.
It’s basically the improved version of something that started at our house because a friend gave me an idea and I thought, Oh, I’m definitely making that.
I’ve added it to my Etsy shop in case you’d like to try it with your kids too.
→ Here is our Positivity Bingo
I hope you like it.
And I promise I’ll eventually stop talking about positivity.
Probably. 😄