Mental wellness experts recommend reflection as a healthy habit for self-care and to improve relationships. Even for young children, it can build a habit that will help in life and in service. In fact, reflection also actively reinforces learning. It’s a core element of the experiential education cycle, which consists of doing, reflecting and applying what is learned.
By incorporating reflection into your club’s regular activities, you help members build self-awareness, develop self-regulation skills, process experiences, think about their learning, gain gratitude, appreciate others and more.
There are so many ways to reflect! Common practices include debriefing and discussion, written reflection (such as journaling), creating art (such as collages or word art), and physical activities (such as passing a ball of yarn while sharing a word about what they learned).
Two K-Kids resources for reflection are the Awesome K-Kids Year Journal and the Mindful Leadership Activity Guide. Check them out!