8.28.2026

This week the children were introduced to more centers and materials and were exposed to new expectations and skills.  Among my favorite activities with the Stargazers were introducing Tucker Turtle and playing a game I call “What’s Missing? No Peeking!”  With "Los Tots," I loved singing songs and "clicking sticks" in the outdoor classroom.  We all delight in watching them make thier way to and from the outdoors.
Tucker Turtle is a puppet we use at school to talk about how to stay calm when experiencing big emotions.  The “Tucker Turtle Technique” helps children pause and not act on impulses that might lead to hitting, kicking or yelling, and allows for more pro-social coping strategies.  As an adult, I think through Tucker’s Techniques, too!  Practicing this skill while children are calm helps it be more automatic when they are dysregulated.  
There are 4 steps: 
1- Recognize your feeling. (Name it!) 
2-STOP (at this point we cross our arms in front of our bodies). 
3-Tuck inside your shell and take 3 deep breaths. 
4-Once calm, think of a solution.  
You can help reinforce this by reading the story, and practicing at home!  The link below has a story that is designed to be used at home. If you would like a printed copy to use at home, let us know! https://www.challengingbehavior.org/docs/TuckerTurtle_Story_Home.pdf
We also played, “What’s Missing? No Peeking.” This iteration of the game used our emotion “tree cookies.”  To play, I lay out 5 emotions, recite them in the order in which they are arranged, cover them up with a blanket saying “What’s missing? No peeking!” and as I pull the blanket away, I also remove one of the emotions.  The children have to figure out which one is now missing!  This game builds cognitive capacities like working memory and critical thinking.  By working with the emotions in this case, we are also building emotional literacy.  Children are learning or reinforcing the names of emotions, what they look like on our own and other’s faces, and we also discussed some of the times we have felt these emotions before.  All of this will help with Step 1 of the Tucker Turtle Technique!
Looking to help your child build additional social skills?  Check out the Healthy Early Years Clinic at SDSU. They host a periodic Social skills group, specifically designed for young children. This group will take place on Wednesdays from 4-5pm, starting on October 7th and ending on November 18th (there will be no group taking place on Nov 11th for observance of Veteran’s Day).The group will be open to children ages 3-6 (we will not be able to have any children over 6 join the group this time) and will cost $30 per child. We will be offering a group for parents/caregivers at the same time as the children’s group at no additional cost.