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Building Blocks For a Healthy Future

Welcome to Building Blocks for a Healthy Future, SAMHSA’S website where parents, caregivers, and teachers of children ages 3 to 6 can find lots of great tips, materials, and ideas for spending time with their children and learning together.

Parent involvement is just as important to young children as it is to older children.  Visit the Family section to find parenting tips to help your children make healthy decisions as they grow up.  Here you will find ideas for conversation starters, positive discipline, and fun family activities.

Preschool teachers are always looking for creative curriculum to keep children engaged and interested in learning.  Visit the Educators section to find lesson plans to help with your preschool curriculum development and get ideas for classroom games and activities that preschoolers will love!

Work with the children in your life as they learn problem-solving and communication skills, and practice positive reinforcement as you guide them through the Children section.  This section includes children's games, songs, and activities that will have children laughing and learning for hours!


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Coping With Trauma
Adults, as well as children, can have difficulty dealing with acts of senseless violence and trauma. For information on how to cope, visit “SAMHSA—Coping with Violence and Traumatic Events.” Resources include tips for talking to children (PDF 1.24MB) and information about SAMHSA’s Disaster Distress Helpline, where free, confidential, and multilingual crisis support services are available via telephone (1-800-985-5990) and SMS (Text ‘TalkWithUs’ to 66746).  Additional information and resources are available in the Building Blocks family article and educator lesson plan on children and traumatic experiences.

Questions?
Want to know more about Building Blocks or how to help children grow up healthy and happy? Ask SAMHSA.

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What's New

This Month: Smart Risk Taking

Family Article: Letting Go…Taking Smart Risks

Family Activity: TAKING CHANCES

Quiz: Should I Risk It?

Lesson Plan: TAKING SMART RISKS

Want to stay up-to-date on new articles? Sign up for the Building Blocks Bulletin!

Want to suggest a new article topic? Contact Us.



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Updated on 1/16/2013