Questions for Exploring Psychological Concepts

Jonathan and the Waves

1. Everyone sometimes feels scared. What has scared you (waves, robbers, heights, etc)?
2. What did you do when you were scared? (importance of telling grown-ups). What helped? (information is the best antidote to anxiety)
3. What helped you to relax, to feel calmer? (breathing, hugs, thinking about G-d, solving the problem, etc.)

A New Boy

1. When have you been a newcomer somewhere?
2. When have you felt left out? What helped?
3. When has someone you loved had to leave for a while, how did you feel? What did you do to feel better?

Lon Lon’s Big Night

1. Mistakes are for learning (not self-blame “What an idiot I was to…”, or regret, “Why did I run after…I shouldn’t have…”)
2. Problems are for solving (When Lon Lon finds himself alone, he looks about for what he can do to find his home.)
3. Curiosity – How can curiosity help us? What is it good for?How can we find ways to satisfy our curiosity without getting into trouble or danger?
4. Courage (or bravery) – Courage means to feel the fear but than to overcome it. If somebody doesn’t feel afraid than he is not courageous. Lon-Lon is courageous when he is threatened by the Eagle-owl: He panicked for a moment but than he decided to save himself. He believed in himself and did not surrender to the fear.
5. The circle of life (maybe this could be a topic for the older children). Lon Lon discovers some facts about life. He finds out that he is a link in the chain of life, which could be very cruel sometimes. He is about to become a predator soon, and on the other hand he might also become a prey. Are the predators really “bad” like we tend to see them?