Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
The Importance of Independent Play with Lenore ...

How do you encourage your kids to be more independent? When do you as a parent step back to give them the space to step up?

Lenore Skenazy joins Janine today to discuss some of these questions. They discuss: 


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Building Friendships and Social Skills with ...

Friendships are such a wonderful and special part of life. From memory making to going through the highs and lows with your peers makes life so much richer. As a child, learning social skills and how friendships fit is a huge learning curve as they go through their childhood and find their ‘people’. As a parent, how do you connect and how do you teach your kids basic social skills and about what a great friendship can be? 

Today Janine is joined by Caroline Maguire and in this episode they discuss:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Practicing SEL through Play: An Interview with ...

How do we teach our children social and emotional awareness in a fun and play filled way? Eventually our children will become adults so when they walk out into the world, we want them to step into their lives as aware and in control of their emotions as possible. 

In this episode we discuss:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Helping Kids with Friendships and Social ...

Have you noticed social skills missing in your kids? Caroline Maguire, author of Why Will No One Play With Me?, joins me to discuss how to support your child and build them up through play.

Here’s some of the areas we cover:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
A Conversation about School Readiness with ...

The transition to preschool to elementary school can be such an anxious time for both parents and for the children. There’s a lot of unknowns to get them ready for and sometimes we think there’s lots we have to do to prepare them for starting. Today we discuss what you can do to help reduce anxiety for your little one with nursery practitioner, Caroline Allen. 

In this episode they discuss:


conversation skills

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Using A Question Box to Encourage Conversations

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Using A Question Box to Encourage Conversations

When I think back to my time as a school counselor, my best memories are laughter and connection during lunch groups. Lunch groups are a great way to get to know a lot of students throughout the year. It’s also an excellent way for children to meet new peers and potentially make new friends. What I thought was the best part was the natural opportunity to practice conversations. The way I would encourage conversations is by using a question box. Please take a listen to hear what social skills we practiced in lunch groups using this simple technique.Last year, I did a whole series of perspective taking on the Calm & Connected Podcast, but I wanted to revisit the topic and discuss two other ways I like to explore perspective-taking with kids. Why do I keep talking about this topic? It’s a building block for empathy, a skill we all want to build in our kids. For two more ways to work on perspective-taking using art and poetry, listen to the podcast:

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Video Games CAN help Families Connect!

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Video Games CAN help Families Connect!

On this episode of the podcast, I share a bit about my experiences growing up playing video games with my siblings, continuing to play as an adult, and now as a parent. Digital play is a part of our day to day lives - it has been acknowledged as a type of play. There are social skills you get a chance to practice when you play certain games, including working together, practicing conversations, and even executive functioning skills.

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Four Games I Love That Work on Social Skills

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Four Games I Love That Work on Social Skills

Playing board games is a fantastic way to work on social skills for kids. As a therapist, I play a lot of games both in individual and group therapy. As a mom, I also enjoy playing games with my kids. During this podcast episode, I talk about four games I love:

10 Engaging and Fun Social Skills Group Activities for Kids

10 Engaging and Fun Social Skills Group Activities for Kids

Inside: 10 fun and enjoyable social skills group activities designed to help kids learn through play. Perfect for social skills group centers or for groups at school.

What kid has ever wanted to attend a social skills group? I’ve never heard a kid say “Yes, please sign me up for a group where you point out how awkward I am and then make me talk about it.”

Q's Race to the Top

Q's Race to the Top

This is one of my new favorite social skills games! Why? Because not only do I enjoy playing, children really enjoy playing. I found this game at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to play with my clients to see how they reacted. And it was a resounding positive response.

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Imperfect Family Fun means Perfect Teachable Moments

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Imperfect Family Fun means Perfect Teachable Moments

It’s a rainy fall afternoon. The children have a day off, and they’ve been busy creating, playing and arguing all morning. It’s the perfect day to put on a movie, get some popcorn (and warm coffee for the adults) and snuggle in bed.

“I want to watch this!”  says my daughter, pointing to one of the titles displayed on the screen.

Why Lunch Groups Matter

Why Lunch Groups Matter

The bell rings for lunch time. Five 9 year olds bound into my office, smiles on their faces and giving me cheerful greetings as they come through the door. They pick a seat, place their lunches on the table, then immediately ask about the question box. They can’t wait to see what the questions are this week. One little girl reaches over, picks a question out of the box and reads it to the group. “If you could have any superhero power, what would it be and why?” The rest of them jump right in and start answering immediately.

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Book Review - Project Dad: Make Every Day an Adventure With Dad

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Book Review - Project Dad: Make Every Day an Adventure With Dad

My husband loves to do things with the kids, but arts and crafts really aren’t his thing. He likes to play video games with them, take them on outings, or play outside. When he saw the book, he thought it would be cool to do a couple of the projects inside. We’ve done a few of the projects inside already and we can’t wait to try more. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

5 Tips for Conversations

5 Tips for Conversations

Being able to have a conversation is an essential social skill to have.  Your child will need to be able to start conversations if they want to get to know people, make friends, or play with others.  It can be hard to think of things to talk about when you don’t know someone.  Here are some ideas to help kids start a conversation.

Temple Grandin - TED Talk

Temple Grandin - TED Talk

I finally got a chance to watch Temple Grandin’s TED talk from 2010.  I first heard about Temple Grandin a few years ago when I watched the HBO movie about her life.  I found it interesting and insightful and I’ve wanted to learn more about her.  I haven’t had a chance to read any of her books yet although they are on my reading list.  She has a lot of interesting things to say about children on the spectrum as they get older and enter the workforce.  Here are some of my takeaways:

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