Tutu-booklet for the 4-year old
Tutu the car was created over 30 years ago. At that time Deborah created stories for her children, about Tutu and the animals he met driving around. The car returned to life in 2018, when Cecilie presented her dream of creating an assembly scheme for kindergartens.
In this scheme, it was important to talk to children about life's themes, for better or for worse. And how we can handle everything that life consists of, in the best possible way. Deborah got the idea that Tutu could be part of this scheme. This led to the children's book about Tutu and the Magical Room..
In cooperation with Rotary Sande, we have now further developed Tutu and The Magical Room and created a special booklet for 4-year-olds.
The purpose of the project is to distribute the booklet free of charge to 4-year-olds and give parents, who wish, a separate lecture on how to use the booklet.
Cooperation with Rotary
In the spring of 2022, Sande Rotary contacted Deborah Borgen.
They wanted to direct focus on children's mental health, in a preventive perspective. The result was a special booklet about Tutu and the Magical Room.
Sande Rotary received funding from the District Grant, in addition to the club's own contribution. Holmestrand Rotary and Unique Mind ESP have also contributed financial support. The booklet has now been written, and illustrations have been made by Sveen & Emberland..
A booklet for good conversations with children
The booklet can be used for good conversation with children, and include a separate guide for adults. How to help the children to sort feelings, thoughts and experiences in a good way?
In the booklet, the children learns a little bit about how we function as human beings. That the environment and our thoughts affect the body. How the child, with the help of the magical room, can have a quiet room for themselves, where they can find peace of mind and balance between thoughts and feelings before taking actions.
Promotes good mental health in children
When it comes to children who have experienced stressful life events, there are two things that are particularly important in terms of how well they cope afterwards.
One is that they’ve had at least one adult in their life, who has seen them, and given them an experience of being seen, heard and understood. That is why we have written a separate guide for adults, in the booklet.
The second is that they have developed good language skills. This is because language gives the child the opportunity to sort out their feelings, thoughts and experiences.
It is not necessarily a painful experience that makes life difficult, but how this experience was handled and understood. If, for example, a child experiences not being allowed to play in the nursery one day, this can quickly be experienced as painful and difficult for the child. But if an adult is close by (parent or kindergarten staff) and helps the child to sort out the incident; "maybe they didn't realize you wanted to join the game, ask one more time and I'll help you", then the same incident won't be as difficult. That is why we have written stories about minor and major things in the booklet, which help the child to practice sorting the experiences they make.
We also want children to have good experiences of reflecting on life, feelings, experiences, etc., in their own quiet room. What we call “The Magical Room”. When children gain early experiences in such reflection, and with adults around them who support them in such a process, they will gain a good basis for handling life's minor and major tasks and challenges.
Progress in the project
The booklet was distributed by the foundation, in collaboration with Rotary Sande, at Holmestrand and Sande library on Saturday November 12th 2022.
The work on this project resulted in further working on distributing the booklet to children of toddler age and supporting adults in good conversations with children.
Rotary Sande has been a good partner and will continue the collaboration on Tutu. This helps to promote good mental health in children and youth.
You can read more about the project on Rotary Sande's website.