With the 2024 Summer Games about to kick off in Paris, children and adults are hyper-aware of how athletes look and act. Watching the Olympic trials generates dreams of someday making the team or feelings of uncertainty and dismay at one’s own lack of athletic prowess. Some simply appreciate the beauty of bodies that can move with such strength and grace. Others feel inadequate in comparison.
The main character in What in the World is Wrong with Gisbert? is a young giraffe who struggles with his self-image. Everything was fine until his peers began making what they thought were good-natured comments that Gisbert heard as hurtful and embarrassing. Suddenly he feels as if he is shrinking, even though no one else seems to see it.
Read Jochen Weeber’s delightful story with children 3-9 years and explore the concept of self image with one or more of the following activities.
Teasing remarks. Gisbert’s friends and schoolmates make comments about his spots, trumpet playing, height, and short arms. They giggle and laugh at him. Encourage children to use their bodies to show how Gisbert feels when they tease him. Invite them to shrink smaller and smaller. Ask: What are some things that other people have teased you about? How do you feel when you hear their comments?
I’m fine. When Gisbert’s parents ask him what’s wrong, he says “I’m fine” even though he isn’t fine at all. Invite children to imagine reasons that Gisbert doesn’t want to talk about his feelings. Make a list of possibilities, then ask: When do you want to avoid talking about your feelings? What helps you decide to share with others how you feel?
Unintended consequences. Gisbert’s parents tell him that sometimes people say hurtful words without realizing their effect. Invite children to act out different scenarios in which one child is doing something and others are making comments. Ask them to first respond with comments that might be heard negatively. Then ask them to say twice as many things that they believe are affirming. Take turns being the actor and their unsupportive/supportive friends.
Missing you. Gisbert’s friends start to miss him when he is no longer part of the group. They realize all the ways that Gisbert contributes to their community. Create a family or group block tower or paper chain. On index cards or paper slips, write down ways that each person contributes to your community. Then tape all the squares one over another on the wall to make a tall tower (or link the paper slips in a chain). Challenge yourselves to make a tower that reaches the ceiling or a chain that goes around a room.
Growth spurt. When Gisbert reunites with his friends, he grows 6 feet in the blink of an eye! Play a game where you call out different kinds of personal comments and children respond by either shrinking or growing. Invite them to demonstrate the degree of their feelings by how small they shrink or how fast and high they grow. End with a series of affirming comments that might encourage kids to jump for the sky!
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