Hi everyone! For many children and youth March break is just around the corner. With that being said, I thought it would be a great idea to share some possible things you can do during the break. The purpose for this, is to provide ideas for young people to do things that might interest them. Additionally, it will provide the opportunity to enjoy their break by practicing self-care. There are variety of different things you can do like staying in bed sleeping in, to playing your favourite games, readings your favourite books etc. I remember I would like to catch up on sleep or go visit my friends. As we know we are still in a pandemic so it might be hard to go on adventures and visit friends or friends in large settings. Here are some ideas on what you can do virtually or independently at home. · Play your favourite video game or free online games with your friends or by yourself · Bake your favourite treats (cookies, cakes, cake pop) Note: make sure you are supervised by an adult · Artistically create new things (painting, drawing, colouring, playdough etc.) · Read books you have been wanting to read during your spare time · Catch up on movies and tv shows · Sleep in! Get in those extra hours of sleep to make yourself feel energized · Video chat your friends and play games or do activities together virtually If you will be doing any activities from this list, please share what you will be doing! If you have some ideas that are not on the list, please share! Hope everyone has a fun and safe March break!

SMART GOALS This year may not be how you expected it to be due to the pandemic, it is important to still make some goals and new year resolutions for yourself. Goals give us a sense of direction, motivation, and clear focus on what we expect or hope for ourselves. What are SMART Goals? S.M.A.R.T goal is used to help guide goal setting and will help you focus and increase your chances on achieving your goals. It stands for: Specific: Well defined and clear Measurable: Specific criteria that will help you measure your progress. What are my indicators of progress? Achievable: Possible to achieve? Do I have the resources and capabilities to achieve it? Have other done it successfully before? Realistic: It is reachable and realistic making it relevant to your life. Am I able to commit? Timely: With a defined timeline, including a start date and a target goal date to help you create urgency and effort to reach the goal. Some support I use to help me collect and make note of my progress for my goals is using an agenda and journal. I tend to stay focuses and organized that way to build it into my daily routines. I suggest looking into what will be easier for to focus and put efforts into achieving your goals. Even if you tend to not achieve your goals by the end of this year, THAT IS OKAY! If you put in effort and tried that is something and you are aware you have the capability to slowly reach it. Take notes of what worked out or what you may need to change and revise your SMART Goals as time goes on. Share below on some goals you have for this new year or how you are planning to achieve them!