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 get our #PullYouRweeds® SEL Program in her school for the 22/23 school year, as well as organizing all our events. We already planning something pretty huge for our May assembly with the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at Matthew Jago School....stay tuned! ~Gardener Shanna Did you know that along with our SEL school assemblies, you can also book an author visit with Shanna Truffini for your school? The 30 minute 'You Are An Author' presentation includes a You Are a Gardener® book reading and a fun slideshow highlighting the steps it takes to write and self-publish a book. This inspirational presentation also features tons of tips, tools and resources available for young authors. It's all about planting your dream and watching it grow! *To book an Author Visit with Shanna Truffini please email flowers@youareagardener.com or via our contact page. Order a personalized & signed copy of our children's book, You Are a Gardener for your school or classroom today!

Just like all plants have a life cycle, so does the foundation of You Are a Gardener™ . The roots of all our programs encourage children to identify, communicate and manage uncomfortable emotions, feelings and thoughts, through a positive and empowering process using the power of the words flowers, weeds and seeds. Let's take a look at each of the different phases of the You Are a Gardener® "Garden Cycle": ✺ Pull Your Weeds: A lot can occur in a day that can make a child feel sad, scared, frustrated, mad...identifying these feelings and emotions and talking about them with someone they trust is what #PullYourWeeds® is all about. Getting young 'gardeners' to recognize the importance of talking frequently about negative feelings, thoughts and challenging emotions is one of the most powerful tools gardeners have. Keeping that line of communication open is key especially for children. ✺ Plant Your Seeds: Your seeds are what you learn about yourself and others when you "pull your weeds" and use your gardening tools. The positive approach to manage these negative feelings, thoughts and emotions can be very empowering. It is through helpful conversations and activities that we can provide children with all sorts of tools and skills to help them proceed confidently and calmly. ✺ Gardening Tools: Gardening tools are the healthy activities and exercises we use to help us manage our stress and challenging emotions. As gardeners we need a lot of 'gardening tools' to help keep our gardens growing healthy and strong. Some frequent gardening tools we use are: breathing exercises, music, arts & crafts, cooking, mindfulness techniques, taking a walk, getting fresh air, reading a book...) ✺ Enjoy The Flowers Along The Way: As gardeners we work hard to get our flowers to grow and these positive feelings, thoughts and emotions inspire us to keep us moving forward and growing. These 'feel good' experiences are worthy of gratitude and appreciation. Flowers can also operate as a positive distraction for gardeners when they are struggling with a weed. By getting a child to think about and describe a happy thought, memory or experience can help them get to a calmer state. The flow of the You Are a Gardener® "Garden Cycle" encourages one to evolve and grow by learning from each stage of the process. Most of the programs we create at You Are a Gardener® are for children but the message is truly ageless. Keep pulling your weeds, planting your seeds and enjoying the flowers along the way...you are a gardener. CLICK THE PHOTO FOR A FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THIS YOU ARE A GARDENER® INFOGRAPHIC To learn more about the many social and emotional learning (SEL) programs created by Shanna Truffini--CLICK HERE! In this quick 2 minute video, Shanna Truffini highlights the roots and foundation of her You Are a Gardener® children’s book and her #PullYourWeeds® Programs for children ages 4-11. Press Play to Watch Now > Get a signed copy of our children's book today! Our book is rooted in empowering children with the vocabulary, mindset and tools to help them manage stress and challenging emotions through a healthy and empowering process. Turning weeds into seeds! "Weeds in a garden will come and will go...that's just a natural fact, but as gardeners when we see a weed...we've got to pull it out!" Shanna Truffini #PullYourWeeds | #TheFutureIsBright

Hello Gardeners! There are a handful of plants that love to climb tall, spread their reach far & wide, and create strong woven networks by wrapping around itself. Have you ever seen them? They are called vines! When vines are healthy they can grow extremely large and very quickly. What if the energy that fueled the growth of vines was kindness? Kindness spreads by sharing something thoughtful with a friend, helping a stranger, smiling when you walk down the halls, or encouraging a classmate. When we work together we create strong support systems, so let's give it a try? What you'll need: Colored pencils Hole punch Green yarn/ribbon/string Copies of the leaf cutout below Have your students write their kind moments on the leaf, color the leaves, and attach them to the string using the punch hole at the base of the cutout. Hang your vines of kindness throughout your classroom and watch the kindness spread! Did you try this in your classroom? We would love to see the results! Email flowers@youareagardener.com or tag @youareagardener. Always remember to be kind to one another and don't forget to #PullYourWeeds! HEY TEACHERS: We love to help spread SEL seeds in the classroom. Check out more free resources to use in your classroom here: CLICK HERE! PICK UP A COPY OF OUR BOOK FOR YOUR CLASSROOM! Our children's book is rooted in empowering kids with the vocabulary, mindset and tools to manage stress and challenging emotions with a positive & empowering approach. Dig into raising a new generation of emotionally empowered kids! #youareagardener | #pullyourweeds | #plantnewseeds

"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 game of bingo has tons of social and emotional learning (SEL) benefits! Gardener Bingo Has SEL Roots In: 🌸 Builds Social Connections 🌸 Fun Group Activity 🌸 Requires Listening & Attention To Detail 🌸 Positive Impact On Your Memory 🌸 Gives Cognitive Skills A Boost CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GARDNER BINGO BOARDS & CALLING CARDS Grab some Limited Edition PullYourWeeds® Pencils as Bingo Prizes for your students! #PullYourWeeds

Hey gardeners...do you like pickles? Do you like cheese? If so, then do we have a snack that is sure to score some big points with your families and friends this Super Bowl Sunday! These delicious Bacon & Cheese Pickle Bites are super easy to make and only require 3 ingredients! Scroll down for the recipe, a step-by-step video and a quick tip on how to put a spin on this simple snack . Recipe For Gardener Aidan's Bacon & Cheese Pickle Bites -Spray muffin tin with cooking spray -Layer bottom of tin with shredded cheddar cheese -Add a dill pickle chip to each muffin tin -Cover pickle with more cheese -Sprinkle bacon on top of each Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with ranch dip. For more family friendly recipes: click here! Gardener Aidan's Bacon & Cheese Pickle Bites Put a spin on this simple snack and try swapping the cheddar with parmesan cheese & instead of a pickle use a thicker slice of pepperoni and dip them into marinara sauce. Yum! Cooking and baking with kids is wonderful for their social and emotional development. It helps build confidence, encourages creativity and helps take your mind off your stress aka 'weeds'! It is also one of Gardener Anna's & Gardener Aidan's favorite go-to 'Gardening Tools'.

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 'weeds'. We CAN choose to use healthy 'gardening tools' to help get us out of the 'weeds' and back to a calmer, more confident mindset. Check out our list below of common 'weeds' gardeners of all ages can experience on a daily basis and some helpful 'gardening tools' to use to help get us get back to watering our flowers...and not our weeds. Weeds -----> Gardening Tools Scared -----> Count Your Flowers (Gratitude) Sad -----> Journaling Mad -----> Exercise Nervous -----> Flower Breathing (Deep Breathing) Embarrassed -----> Read a Book Lonely -----> Do a Puzzle or Craft Hey gardeners...what are some of your favorite 'gardening tools' to us to help you when you feel stressed? Send us an email to flowers@you areagardener.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming post! #PullYourWeeds®

Dig into a fun and easy way to raise money for your school or organization. Schedule a You Are a Gardener® Keep It Growing Book Fair & we will donate 10% of all sales back to your school/PTO or group. Scroll dow to learn more about how it works! This video clip is a book signing from our 'Keep It Growing' Book campaign for the Hopewell Valley District. Collectively their schools purchased over 90 books which we donated 10% back of all sales to their PTO. --> Get a personalized, signed copy of our book: click here <-- Here's How The Keep It Growing Book Fair Campaign Works: -Receive an exclusive web link for your school's families or your group to purchase signed copies of You Are a Gardener® (copies can be personalized ) -We will provide you with all marketing materials needed to circulate -All books sold can be shipped directly to the home or can be delivered to your school/place of business -10% of ALL SALES purchased through this link will be donated back to your school/PTO or organization ** Click on the photo above to download a pdf to circulate to your school or group** Is your PTO or organization ready to dig into a fun and EASY way to raise money? Host a Keep It Growing Book Campaign Today. All books are signed and can be personalized for no additional fees! Contact Us Today Here: https://www.youareagardener.com/contact

Today we are excited to share a very special behind the scenes video of our Second Edition of You Are a Gardener® being printed at 48 Hour Books. The quality, attention to detail and outstanding customer service makes self-publishing with a company like theirs such an enjoyable process. Partnering with a USA, family owned printing company like 48 Hour Books adds an extra special feel to our book and brand. We print all our books in small batches, and often no two batches are exactly the same as some minor changes and edits may occur. Thank you to Kyle from 48 Hour Books for this exceptional video. It is such a treasure to have, and we are so grateful to share it with our community! Have you gotten your signed copy yet of our new book? Dig into raising a new generation of emotionally empowered kids! You Are a Gardener® uses gardening vocabulary as emotional metaphors to help children find healthy and positive ways to manage stress, challenging feelings and emotions. Click Here to get yours today! "A question I get asked a lot is why did you self-publish your book instead of going down the traditional publishing path. The short answer is, I didn't want to wait. When I wrote my book over five years ago on a note in my phone, I knew I had created something special but how it changed our family's life in such a short amount of time is what motivated me to get it out there and share it with others." ~Shanna Truffini

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 >> Dig into raising a new generation of emotionally empowered kids! Our You Are a Gardener® children's book uses gardening vocabulary as emotional metaphors to help kids find healthy and positive ways to manage stress, challenging feelings and emotions. What started out as a children's book in 2017 quickly took root into an entire platform dedicated to empowering kids with a vocabulary, mindset and tools to help them grow forward feeling confident and calm. It's all about turning weeds into seeds! This may look like a children's book but the message is truly ageless. So...Who's ready to dig in? Let's Grow! #PullYourWeeds® | #LimitedEdition | #Hardcover | #SocialEmotionalEducation

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 like a fun plot for a children's book). Their welcoming staff and energetic student body made this experience a true delight from start to finish. A big thank you to Cucinella School's PTO who generously gifted our SEL Assembly to their school. You are gardeners! Scroll down to read some gardener reviews from a few teachers at their school! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE REVIEWS OF THE #PULLYOURWEEDS® SEL PROGRAM Is your school ready to dig into the #PullYourWeeds® Program? Send us an email to flowers@youareagardener.com for more information! Let's Grow!

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 talented Illustrator Kelsey Jordan) and we even added a few surprises at the end. The Second Edition of our You Are a Gardener® children's book is now available to purchase! We have officially retired the First Edition...but keep those copies, you know what they say about First Editions 😄 << CLICK HERE TO GET A SIGNED COPY TODAY >> We can't wait to hear your feedback! Email us at flowers@youareagardener.com and tell us what you think...we also love seeing your photos with our book too😉😉! Tag Us @youareagardener and use #pullyourweeds

Give your mobile phone a makeover for 2023 with our inspirational and uplifting signature wallpaper! This is a fun way to plant some positive seeds this year for gardeners of all ages! We are giving you 3 for Free to celebrate 2023! Scroll down to download your favorite You Are a Gardener® custom phone wallpaper today... Do you have a favorite inspirational quote and would like to share it with us for a chance to create your own signature wallpaper? Send us an email to flowers@youareagardener.com!