5-Minute Film Festival: Building a Parent Toolkit

Social and emotional learning expert and longtime Edutopia blogger Maurice Elias pointed us to a fantastic resource to share with parents. Produced by NBC's Education Nation project, the Parent Toolkit website has comprehensive resources and minute-long videos for parents of kids at every age and grade. The content covers a variety of topics, including health and wellness, academics, and the social and emotional development series that Maurice contributed to. I've gathered my favorites from their collection below. All the videos and resources are available in both English and Spanish, and they're great to pass on to parents -- or watch if you're a parent yourself!

Video Playlist: Parent Toolkit

Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on Vimeo.

1. Stress Less: Calming Strategies (00:54)

   Did you know blowing bubbles can actually help you and your child calm down? This video gives tangible ways to defuse anger, frustration, and stress.

2. Packing a Healthy Lunch (00:50)

   Put down those chips and sodas! This video offers up tips for how to pack a healthy meal for your kids... and maybe even get them to be excited about eating it!

3. Beating Homework Hassles (00:50)

   While the debate rages on whether homework has any value for kids, in most places, it's a nightly reality. If you have parents who are having trouble getting their students to focus on homework, this video is for them.

4. 5 Minutes to Spare: Middle School (00:56)

   There are four videos in the 5 Minutes to Spare series: in addition to this Middle School one, there's Pre-K, Elementary, and High School. Each one gives parents ideas of how to connect with kids and improve their wellbeing in just 5 minutes.

5. Name it, Tame it: Identifying Emotions (00:56)

   Building an emotional vocabulary can be a valuable way to help kids begin to articulate their feelings and manage their emotions. This video offers three simple ways to start helping kids express themselves.

6. A Rainbow a Day (01:00)

   Healthy eating is easy when you encourage kids to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day, which contributes to heart health (red!), cell growth (green!), and brain development (purple!).

7. Keeping Kids Active (01:09)

   Part of the Health and Wellness offerings, this video encourages parents to get those little ones outside and into the fresh air, especially in the summer, when the temptation to stay plugged in to various devices is strong.

8. Tips to Support Decision-Making (00:54)

   Encourage parents to help their kids develop good problem-solving and decision-making skills with a few quick ideas.

More Resources from Parent Toolkit

This is just a small sample of the full video library on the Parent Toolkit website. While the depth of the site can make it a little overwhelming, there's a treasure trove of accessible, engaging, and valuable information for anyone who works with kids. There's a fantastic Parents' Guide to Social and Emotional Learning that our friends at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) contributed to, and a hub for links to additional academic resources for parents sorted by state or subject. NBC News, funded by Pearson, conducted a national "State of Parenting" poll in late 2014 that informed this project, and you can get that full report as a PDF or see some of the findings here. Share these resources with a parent you know, and feel free to chime in with other favorite resources for parents in the comments below!

• Growth Charts: Age-Specific Resources for Parents
• Back-to-School Videos for Parents
• Summer Videos for Parents
• Healthy Habits Videos for Parents
• Academic Tips and Guides for Parents (By Grade Level)
• Health and Wellness Tips and Guides for Parents (By Age Group)
• Social and Emotional Development Tips and Guides for Parents (By Age Group)
• Nutrition Benchmarks, Resources and Infographics (labeled Pre-K, but great info for any age!)
• List of Contributing Experts