A beloved program designed to help young children understand their big feelings is making a triumphant return to the Portage la Prairie Family Resource Centre this fall.
The "Mindful Munchkins" program is back after a three-year hiatus, ready to equip a new generation of kids and their parents with emotional tools through fun, interactive lessons and the help of some familiar puppet friends.
The program last ran in December 2022, and its absence was simply a matter of shifting focus within the centre.
Program Director Peter Thiessen explains that the pause was natural as the organization developed other offerings and its core audience grew.
"I was really surprised when I saw that the last time we ran it was December 2022," Thiessen says. "We had other programs we were trying to focus on, trying to develop, and also we had run it a couple of years in a row. This is a program that is really for a pretty specific age group... we had just found that a lot of our regular kids had aged out of it at that point."
Teaching tots to tackle their emotions
Now, the "Made in Manitoba" program is back for children approximately 2.5 to 5 years old. The core focus remains on giving children the language to identify and express what they are feeling.
"The basic summary of Mindful Munchkins is it's all about identifying and managing emotions," Thiessen says, "So a big part of it is just reinforcing what these different feelings look like, sound like, and feel like in your body. So giving kids language to be able to express how they're feeling."
He emphasizes that while the activities are fun for children, the educational component is equally vital for the adults in the room, providing them with practical strategies to use at home.
What’s new and who’s back
Having run the program extensively between 2020 and 2022, the Family Resource Centre has an expanded emotional library to draw from this time around.
While the core four emotions—happy, angry, sad, and scared—will be covered, they now have a wider range of topics to potentially explore based on parent interest.
A major highlight of the program’s return is the comeback of its iconic puppet stars.
These characters were originally created for Mindful Munchkins and have since become local celebrities in their own right.
"This is actually where it all started. We got the puppets specifically for this program," Thiessen says. "Puppet Peter and Puppet Shelly will both be making an appearance for this program, helping to do some of the instructional parts of it, some of the conversational parts of it."
He adds that while there is no word yet on the newly-added Puppet Megan will make an appearance in the program just yet, but says it's not out of the question.
Thiessen encourages all families with young children to consider signing up, noting the lasting value of the skills it teaches.
"We really think this is a valuable, valuable topic. It may seem like it's not as exciting as some of our other programs, but we do still make it fun," he says. "People who come really enjoy it. So I would say if it's maybe not the top one on your radar, I would definitely encourage you to at least give it a try."
Families that are interested in attending the program can register at the Family Resource Centre's website.
The program has its first session on Thursday, September 4th.