Soul Shoppe's work is made possible by donors and partners who care deeply about the young people in their communities! We can't do this work without you. Support our work in classrooms and on playgrounds across the nation by donating here.
“The things that make me different are the things that make me.” – Winnie The Pooh
_________________
We’re all different in our own unique ways. We have different appearances, talents, and abilities. We all think, feel, behave, and believe differently. That’s what makes life so interesting!
Sometimes we celebrate these differences. We heap praise on people like Steve Jobs, Serena Williams, and Greta Thunberg who break the mold and challenge the status quo. But sometimes we exclude, judge, or disparage people because we think they aren’t like us.
At Soul Shoppe, we show kids that if we just take the time to look beneath the surface, we’ll find that we have a lot more in common than we think. But how do we learn to really see beyond our outer appearances and get to know someone for what’s inside?
We can play the Same Same Different Game.
Last week, over 350 students joined us to play what we call the Same Same Different Game! How does it work? Well, we asked kids to look at two different people –me and our big-hearted facilitator Arek – and describe the differences and similarities they saw.
They pointed out that I’m a girl and Arek is a boy. They noted that we both have dark hair, though mine’s long and his is short. But our gender and our hair don’t make us who we are! There’s so much more that makes us unique, and these young people know it. They understand how to find the things we all have in common, whether it’s a love of dancing or a distaste for brussel sprouts.
But learning to appreciate and honor our differences takes practice. That’s why we created Respect Differences.
Respect Differences is an online course designed to teach K-6th grade kids how to recognize and appreciate all the things that make us unique. In this on-demand course, kids are guided through lessons that will help them build up their self-esteem so that they can show more empathy toward people with ideas, appearances, likes, and dislikes different from their own.
We show kids how they can play the Same Same Different Game to celebrate differences all the time. Visit our website and learn more. Or, you can click the button below.
Thank you for attending Soul Shoppe’s virtual game show, Kids Say the Smartest Things!
We had a blast sharing superhero trivia and imitating animal sounds, talking about polar bears and playground problems, but more importantly: your kids had a lot of wise insights to share.
They showed us how to navigate tough conversations, how to face overwhelming emotions, how to stand up to peer pressure, and much, much more. All this just goes to show that kids have innate peacemaking and problem solving skills. We adults could probably learn a thing or two!
Thanks to your little ones and their profound kid wisdom, we feel that we have a much brighter future ahead of us.
Now we want to know what you thought of our virtual events this year. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or a school administrator, we’d love to hear from you so we can continue to improve our programs to best serve your kids and students.
Simply click the button below to take a very brief survey (only 3 questions!) and give us your feedback.
Soul Shoppe’s virtual holiday celebration – Gifts, Giggles & Goodness – made it an incredible week for us. We hit record numbers of participants with well over 1200 kids joining in over the course of 3 days!
Together we got crafty with homemade holiday gifts, giggled in more ways than we could count, and shared how small acts of kindness can make a big difference. Thanks to all who participated, our days have been a whole lot more joyous and bright.
The Good Goes Around! All it takes is one small act of kindness to turn someone’s day around and light up their face with a smile. Our big-hearted facilitator Ryan taught us to get creative with crazy gifts and how we can practice more kindness to spark joy this season. Our big-hearted facilitator Dara helped us get our giggles out!
Now we want to know what you thought of our virtual events this year. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or a school administrator, we’d love to hear from you so we can continue to improve our programs to best serve your kids and students.
Simply click the button below to take a very brief survey (only 3 questions!) and give us your feedback.
Here at Soul Shoppe, we believe that good goes around. That’s why we wanted to keep the good times rolling with more exciting events and innovative programs especially designed to help kids and adults navigate these challenging times.
November’s event was 5 Days of Fun!, a virtual recess series that brought together hundreds of kids every day. We want to express our deepest gratitude to the kids and adults who joined us to throw down some fresh beats, laugh it up, dance out our affirmations, and take an inside look at our emotions. Thank you for helping us spread joy and infuse the school day with more fun!
Recess gives kids the chance to flex their imaginations, develop complex social relationships, and consolidate the lessons they’re learning – not to mention get their wiggles out! But with distance learning, it can be hard to find the time to design activities that will genuinely engage your students.
Our facilitators will drew on kids’ real world skills to ground them in their physical environment and foster genuine connection with their classmates so they can continue to thrive whether they’re in the classroom or at home.
As countless studies show, that 15 minute midday break can mean the difference between academic breakthroughs and mid-lesson meltdowns. Kids aren’t designed to sit still, let alone stare at a computer screen for five hours a day. That’s why recess is more important now than ever! ⠀
Stay tuned for the highlights reel and read on to learn more about how Soul Shoppe is adapting to these uncertain times to help your kids thrive.
Hello!! Missing you all!! Thinking of you, and hoping you and your loved ones are all well and safe at home.
• Normally at this time of year, you would be having your End-of-Year Peacemaker Party with your Principal and Peacemaker Liaisons. Since that is not possible this time, we Peacemaker Trainers have a little something for you, by video instead. Whether you had Dara, Arek or Jill as your Peacemaker Trainer this year, all three of our vidoes are for ALL of you, below…and your entire family, too! 🙂
• Also, for those of you who don’t know about this fun thing happening…we invite you and your whole family to join the awesome weekly games and contests that are going on at SOUL SHOPPE LIVE. Join HERE. We hope you love!
Arek shares stories and useful home practices for CHECKING IN WITH FAMILY, to help everyone get along wonderfully well.
Jill and some adorable friends share the benefits of DROPPING YOUR STORY, to help people (and puppets!) get back to peace and fun at home.
Before you watch the next video, grab some paper and things to draw and color with! Dara shows how to make your very own PEACEMAKER CELEBRATION CERTIFICATE, plus how to set up a Peacemaking Station or Peace Corner for the whole family to use and enjoy.
Whatever grade you are in, whatever peacemaking you have done, and whatever peace you continue to bring into the world, we are so proud of each and every one of you. You have worked so hard, with so much courage, dedication and love. You make this world a more beautiful, happy and peace-filled place for everyone.
Thank you, Peacemakers!!!!!
Dara, Arek, Jill and the entire team at Soul Shoppe
Hello from home! Thinking of you all, and hoping you and yours are doing well. Missing you so much, and so grateful to you for making this such an important and special Peacemaker Year for everyone. Now that the world is sheltering in place, Peacemakers are needed more than ever, right in their own families and communities. Thank you for all you have done to make that possible throughout the year at school, and for everyone at home now, as well.
In celebration of you all, all of us Peacemaker Trainers at Soul Shoppe (myself, Arek Bryant and Jill Brittner), have created this thank you email below, complete with end-of-year celebration videos from each of us, to acknowledge the incredible work your Peacemakers have done. Even though it is not possible to have year-end celebrations with Party in A Box at your schools, we hope these videos are fun, engaging and useful for your entire amazing Peacemaker crew!
A couple things to note:
• We designed our videos to shower them with gratitude, and empower them with tools for Peacemaking at home with their families…and we hope you enjoy them too!
• We have also included a link for them to join the weekly activity, games and contest emails with SOUL SHOPPE LIVE. If you and your own families are not yet on the list, you can join HERE. We hope you love!
So looking forward to hearing from you. And, hoping your end of year is wrapping up beautifully, despite these most unusual and challenging times.
From all of us at Soul Shoppe…we love and appreciate you so much.
You are AMAZING!!!!
Dara, Arek, Jill and the entire team at Soul Shoppe
Dear Wonderful Peacemakers,
Hello!! Missing you all!! Thinking of you, and hoping you and your loved ones are all well and safe at home.
• Normally at this time of year, you would be having your End-of-Year Peacemaker Party with your Principal and Peacemaker Liaisons. Since that is not possible this time, we Peacemaker Trainers have a little something for you, by video instead. Whether you had Dara, Arek or Jill as your Peacemaker Trainer this year, all three of our vidoes are for ALL of you, below…and your entire family, too! 🙂
• Also, for those of you who don’t know about this fun thing happening…we invite you and your whole family to join the awesome weekly games and contests that are going on at SOUL SHOPPE LIVE. Join HERE. We hope you love!
Arek shares stories and useful home practices for CHECKING IN WITH FAMILY, to help everyone get along wonderfully well.
Jill and some adorable friends share the benefits of DROPPING YOUR STORY, to help people (and puppets!) get back to peace and fun at home.
Before you watch the next video, grab some paper and things to draw and color with! Dara shows how to make your very own PEACEMAKER CELEBRATION CERTIFICATE, plus how to set up a Peacemaking Station or Peace Corner for the whole family to use and enjoy.
Whatever grade you are in, whatever peacemaking you have done, and whatever peace you continue to bring into the world, we are so proud of each and every one of you. You have worked so hard, with so much courage, dedication and love. You make this world a more beautiful, happy and peace-filled place for everyone.
Thank you, Peacemakers!!!!!
Dara, Arek, Jill and the entire team at Soul Shoppe
