How 'Ful Are You?

When we think of some of our favorite gardening words we use frequently on the #PullYourWeed® Blog a few come to mind; joyful, grateful, helpful, hopeful...interestingly enough they all end in 'ful! So we did a little digging and a composed a list of some more incredible and encouraging words that end in 'ful. Scroll down to see the list and for a free download of our How 'Ful Are You SEL Activity Sheet to do at home or in the classroom.. Joyful Gardening Words That End In F

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World Read Aloud Day

I was so excited to be invited as the guest speaker at the Matthew Jago School to celebrate World Read Aloud Day with their fifth graders this week! This global effort, created by the non-profit LitWorld and sponsored by Scholastic, is celebrated annually in over 173 countries and is all about bringing people together through the shared connection of reading aloud in all of our communities. Thank you to Ms. Renee Bischoff, Matthew Jago's Reading Specialist for advocating to g

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Gardener Bingo

"There was a gardener who had a fox and Foxie was his name-o... F-O-X-I-E-F-O-X-I-E-F-O-X-I-E-and Foxie was his name-o." Hey gardeners, we have a super fun game for you today to play at home or in school. Our very talented Illustrator, Gardener Kelsey designed us our very own Gardener Bingo. This game comes with 26 different boards and a caller card featuring all our fun gardener illustrations. Scroll down to download our Gardener Bingo cards (for free) and to see why a gam

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Water Your Flowers

Often times when we are stressed or anxious we are thinking about negative, past experiences/encounters or worrying about something that could happen in the future (aka watering our weeds). The long and the short of it is, we are not focusing our energy on the present moment, but rather choosing to focus on things that are out of our control. While we can't change the past and we can't necessarily control the future... as gardeners, we CAN control the way we respond to our

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Flower Bird Feeders

Hey gardeners...did you know that birds burn more calories in the winter to stay warm? They store fat during the short days to keep themselves warm during the cold nights. Even though most birds are well equipped to survive the chilliest of days, providing a food source for birds during the winter can be very helpful to help keep their energy sources replenished. Feeding winter birds can be a fun and educational activity for gardeners of all ages. That's why today's new 'gar

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Limited Edition Hardcover

For the first time ever, we ran a small batch of hardcover books on the newest edition of You Are a Gardener®. Hardcover editions typically cost almost double to print which is we only have a handful to sell. As much as we love the original version of our book, the hardcover came out absolutely exquisite! Benefits Of Hardcover Books: -More durable -More prominent on a shelf -Hold their value -More collectible Get your limited edition, hardcover copy today! Click Here >> D

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School Spotlight: Benedict Cucinella School

At the end of 2022 I had the pleasure of visiting the Benedict Cucinella Elementary School in Long Valley, NJ for a #PullYourWeeds® SEL Assembly for their students in Pre-K-2nd grade. Upon pulling into this pastoral campus I was greeted by several cows grazing alongside the school's entrance. It was like pulling into a story book. Later, I learned that their Principal, Mr. Christopher Perruso has on occasion had to corral a few cows out of their parking lot (which sounds l

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Flower Fortune Tellers

As gardeners there are so many 'gardening tools' available to help us feel more in control of our emotions and help us get back to a calmer and more confident state of mind when we encounter stress. Filling up our 'emotional toolbox' with as many 'gardening tools' as we can is what being a gardener is all about. The more tools we have, the more prepared we are when we encounter challenging feelings and emotions. Today's new gardening tool is all about turning your weeds into

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New Year, New Edition

The Second Edition of You Are a Gardener® is finally here! Making a 2nd Edition of our book has been on our vision board for quite some time and now we can actually hold it in our hands. (You can hold it in your hands too by clicking here). Over the years our voice, vocabulary and mindset has gotten significantly stronger and much more defined. We really wanted this to shine through in the new book. There are several literal changes, new illustrations (by our very own tale

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New Year, New Gardening Tool

Happy New Year gardeners! One of our favorite gardening tools to celebrate the beginning of a new year is a Vision Board. Making vision boards is a fun and helpful gardening tool for gardeners of all ages. They encourage creativity, goal setting, focus and fun with minimum materials needed. Hang your vision board in your room, office, on the fridge, or anywhere you pass by regularly. Dig deep when it comes to visualization; when you look at your board really take the time

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Wrapping it up

In the last 6 weeks we have worked with over 2000 kids from Long Valley to Titusville, New Jersey! As we wrap up 2022 we are so grateful to all the teachers, parents, principals and school counselors who advocated for our #PullYourWeeds® SEL Programs in their schools. Empowering children with healthy and positive tools to manage stress is needed now more than ever and we are confident that each and every child we connected with this year now has the vocabulary, mindset and

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Big Things Growing On...

We've got some pretty big things 'growing on' for 2023. Stay tuned to our #PullYourWeeds® Blog, our weekly 'Weeds to Seeds' Newsletter and on social media @youaregardener in early January of 2023 for some super special announcements! #smallbatchbooks #itsgrowtime #newyearnewgoals #seedsaresprouting

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5 Years & Growing Strong 🎉

This Tuesday 12/6 marked our five year anniversary at You Are a Gardener®! We celebrated this milestone all week along. On Tuesday we had a #PullYourWeeds® Assembly at the Cucinella School in Long Valley, NJ. On Tuesday night we received the very first printed proof of our Second Edition of You Are a Gardener® (arriving soon). On Wednesday we spread some local seeds with a #PullYourWeeds® Workshop at the Kemmerer Library. Our journey has taken us on some beautiful ri

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Now Booking Early 2023

We have just opened up or calendar for Pre-Spring 2023 and now booking In-Person assemblies, workshops and speaking engagements. If you would like to learn more about our SEL services for students, teachers and families --> CLICK HERE to download a PDF featuring everything you need to Know about our #PullYourWeeds® SEL programs! For more information or to book now, send all emails to flowers@youareagardener.com . GET YOUR SCHOOL ON OUR SEL SCHEDULE FOR PRE-SPRING 2023

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Gratitude Garden

Practicing gratitude is one of our favorite 'gardening tools' we use at home home. When you take a moment to pause and think about the things you are grateful for, you are drawing all your attention to a happier and calmer state of mind. As gardeners, the more positive emotions we experience, the more we nurture our emotional well being -aka our gardens. Think of practicing gratitude like a stop sign for negative thoughts- aka our weeds. When you actively choose to redirect

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Grab Some New Gear

Grab some brand new gardener gear in our Fox Shop! We just added some adorable new #PullYourWeeds Pins to our lineup. Shop now and get all 4 custom pins for only $3.99. All merchandise is limited edition...Dig In! <<CLICK HERE TO SHOP NOW>>

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Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover

The beautiful thing about gardening is that anyone, anywhere can start at anytime. Digging into something that makes us feel good, confident and calm is welcome at any age. The You Are a Gardener® children's book and mindset is rooted in the power of 3 little words...flowers, weeds and seeds: -Flowers being our joyful feelings/thoughts/emotions. -Weeds being our negative feelings/thoughts/emotions, and -Seeds being the opportunity to positively learn and grow through every ex

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School Spotlight: Woodland School

From the moment I walked through the front door of Woodland Elementary School in Morristown, NJ, I felt such a warm and welcoming vibe from every single person I encountered. Their beautiful campus is tucked away in the back roads of a quiet Morristown neighborhood. I had the greatest pleasure of presenting my #PullYourWeeds® SEL Program to their entire school of over 300 incredible students. This seed was planted last school year when Woodland's School Counselor, Megan Sto

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Pumpkin Parfaits

No fall is complete without a pumpkin inspired treat! Today on the #PullYourWeeds® Blog we are cozying into a delicious fall recipe that is layered with decadent flavors and tasty textures. Cooking/baking is a wonderful 'Gardening Tool' for gardeners of all ages as it can soothe stress, reduce negative thoughts and builds confidence. This particular recipe is great for small kids because it requires very minimal ingredients and is fun to construct. All ingredients can be sw

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The perfect fall day

Close your eyes and imagine the perfect fall day. Where would you be? Who would you be with? What would you be doing? Notice all of the little details that make up the recipe for your perfect day. Now open your eyes... In just that short amount of time, don't you feel a little bit calmer? Imagery like this activity can instantly help us get to a more relaxed state. Using our positive imaginations and creating a tapestry of happy events can be an extremely helpful garde

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The #PullYourWeeds® Blog was created by Shanna Truffini for the You Are a Gardener platform as a resource for families, teachers, educators and therapists to access tools, activities, crafts and inspirational messages all rooted in the foundation of helping young kids manage their emotions. The You Are a Gardener® programs are rooted in spreading the seeds of social and emotional learning skills (SEL) for kids to be able to positively identify, communicate and manage their emotions. You Are a Gardener™ and the #PullYourWeeds® Blog uses gardening vocabulary as emotional metaphors to help children talk about and respond to what they are feeling. The Pull Your Weeds® Blog help kids manage stress with productive and positive conflict/resolution skills and mindfulness practices.

You Are a Gardener® is not responsible for any and all claims, injuries, damages, losses or suits including attorney fees, arising out of or resulting from the acts, errors, misuse or omissions while participating in any of our programs and activities including the #PullYourWeeds Blog, Hello Gardeners®, Camp Hello Gardeners and educational services.

For more information, to be featured as a guest gardener or to book a #PullYourWeeds Workshop

please email flowers@youareagardener.com

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For more information, to be featured as a guest gardener or to book a #PullYourWeeds Workshop

please email flowers@youareagardener.com

Morristown, New Jersey USA