First, Wow! Perseverance Rover landed on Mars! Congratulations! What an accomplishment, what a big dream, big wish, big hope for Nasa, and they made it happen, because they didn't give up. Keep in mind our dreams, hopes, wishes and prayers are not answered or reached over night. However, when you believe in your project, you stay at it, you never give it up, you may tweek it, need to practice it, but, you don't give up.

Can you imagine? Having a dream, a wish, a goal, a deadline? We all have them. When you don't give up, battle through the hardships and there will be hardships, you can accomplish what you set out to do. What a wonderful feeling it is. But,
what if you have all of those and don't live to achieve them. Many of us are in this predicament (as an example, I'll use Martin Luther King, "I have a dream" where his dream outlived him,) or know of others who were. None the less, if you don't try it, if you don't attempt it, if you don't give it shot, you will never know. My husband Joe and I often say, "well, we won't be sitting in our rocking chair wishing we would have" because when we have the opportunity, we do it. That's one way to persevere, I'm talking big dreams here. Going after that dream job, moving your family to another state, supporting your wife's passion to make a difference with her nonprofit organization. These are big goals, dreams, wishes and situations that require perseverance.

Click here to download your own Perseverance is my Superpower! Keep goin!

Do'er Duck has some tips to help teach PERSEVERANCE to your own children.

First, a discussion to communicate what it means to persevere is prevelant. Explain to your child what perseverance means, what it looks like, what it sounds like and especially how it feels like. When you are a role model is extremely powerful. Think about how you react when you fail at a task. Are you throwing a hissy fit? Or, do you say, hmmm....that didn't work, lets try it again, and again and again? We know that there are many things in like that are difficult, life is difficult, relationships, learning a new skill, meeting new people, beleiving in who we are all can be difficult. Once you have your mindset to not get discouraged, go in thiniking that this might be a bit hard, but, I'm pretty sure that I can complete this, that I can learn this or that I will do this, your tasks become easier.

The same is true when teaching our children about perseverance. Think about it, they are learning so many new things from the day they're born. While nothing comes easy, anything worth knowing is worth learning. Patience is important, encouragement is crutial, and follow through matters. If and when your child throws a tantrum or shuts down because the task is difficult, stop and breathe, how is your approach to the task? We need to explain things to our children, and sometimes more than once. Be patient, be consistent, be a role model.

1.  Discuss what Perseverance is
2. Introduce your child to Do'er Duck to relate to
3. Print out Do'er Duck, discuss the trait, put your child's name on the pencil, let your child color the page, display and use as a sticker chart
4. Print out the above and use as a Journal cover for your child to draw in and write in about their daily activities which they work hard at to  persevere
5.  Print out the Perseverance Checklist below, read it with your child, display it eye level so your child uses this as a visual reminder
6.  Building off of the Checklist below, build a reward system, when your child has accomplished these, use it for a weekly or bi-weekly reward system. What does your child cherish, more game time, a special treat, use this as encouragement and watch them keep trying to keep trying.

Now, some of you may feel that a child shouldn't be rewarded for things that they should be doing. I encourage you to think about yourself. When you have accomplished something in your life, do you reward yourself? When you lose your first ten pounds, do you allow yourself a cheat, or when you earned a promotion at work, do you celebrate? Celebrate with your child their accomplishments, no matter how small it may seem to you, it is huge to them. We raised our children with praise, it build their self-esteem and always gave them something to strive for. There are no rules here, do what you feel is appropriate for your family, however, when we are role models, when we encourage our children, when we have visual reminders and when we listen to our children, we're building a better tomorrow.

Click here to download your own Perseverance Chart for your child and you.

When I used Do'er Duck in the classroom, the children related to the character and then internalized the trait. I received a phone call one night from one of my students who shared this: "Miss Joni, I lost my keys, I was frantic running around the house and looking for these keys, when my daughter said, "Mom, be like Do'er Duck, Don't Give Up, we'll find your keys" and low and behold, once I calmed down, I did find my keys! I wanted to say Thank you for teaching Jessica about Do'er Duck, we will never give up!

If you enjoy our free print outs, please consider a donation to our organization. Characters of Character is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a firm foundation for children to establish strong civic values.
You can donate here. You can learn more about the characters here. You can learn more about our Tennessee Superhero Activity Box project here for Children's Hospitals. You can learn more about our Texas Superhero Activity project here for Children's Hospitals.  You can learn more about our Mindfulness Project here for Hendersonville. Learn more about getting involved here.

Click here to print out your Valentine's Day Cards! What a great opportunity to not only print out and share these cards with friends and family, but, you have the chance to open up a discussion on each character and the trait that they represent! I'm not sure if your child(ren) are home learning or are able to attend their school, but, these Valentine's Cards are fun!
When our children were young, I was a Room mom for the class parties and one of my favorite things to do! I wish I had a picture of the fun Valentine Bag we would make and hang on the front or side of the child's desk. I don't! It was simple and we made it like this:
1. Use a lunch bag or empty cereal box
2. Cut out a large heart, red, pink, white and design your own
3. Using construction paper or print paper and cut out 1" strips to use for arms and legs. You'll fold them individually accordion style.
4. Cut out white or color of your choice in the shape of a heart or if you're able to cut out cartoon hands and cartoon feet to attach to the bottom of the arms and legs. Glue is best, tape works.
5. Now, glue the arms, one on each side of the top of the heart and do the same for the feet attaching at the bottom of the heart.
6. Glue your heart to the front of the folded lunch bag or empty cereal box.
7. Let your child(ren) get creative and decorate their valentine bags! Many times we added a baseball hat or a princess crown to the top of the heart!

In my world, everyday is Valentine's Day, trying to fill each one with love. It's a beautiful feeling to share your heart! For our Valentine's Day lunch/dinner I always made something red, like pizza, red sauce over pasta, tomato soup, etc. For desert we always had red jello with whip cream and sometimes a plain sugar cookie with red frosting or pink frosting, red and pink are traditional colors of love. You do you! Some of you may be way creative and it's a fun opportunity for your kids to make heart shaped cookies, heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or pancakes with a heart cookie cutter. Involve your child(ren) in the kitchen!

Some fun ideas to gift your own child(ren) on Valentine's Day! And, let's not forget the old fashioned note giving! Who doesn't love a love note, a post it with a positive word put on a dresser drawer, a bathroom mirror, a bedroom door, etc. Waking up to a heartfelt word or message is a great way to start your day!

These are some fun and simple ways to tell your family and friends that you love them, that you care about them, that they matter and to simply wish them ...

Click here for Kindness Coloring Book. Click here to support Characters of Character

Click on the picture below to print out your own page to discuss and color with your children. Plus, we have a lot more activities for you to do on Character Corner!

Just as Miss Joni talks about in the video above, it's so important to be kind and to teach our children to be kind. Remember to make eye contact when someone is speaking, be sure you're listening and be sure to keep your hands to yourself. Come back again soon as we are always adding new lessons, activities and videos to help teach and reinforce good character in our children. Together we can make the world better! Feel free to contact me. Feel free to check out Warm-Hearted Walrus's page on our website. Feel free to learn more about the Characters of Character and feel free to donate to our organization. It's with people like who who help us continue to make a difference in the life of a child. Please share us with others to help bring awareness of our organization and if you're interested in becoming a Sponsor for our Children's Hospitals in Tennessee, click here. If you're interested in becoming a Sponsor for our Children's Hospitals in Texas, click here. If you're interested in becoming a Sponsor for our Hendersonville Has Confidence Project, please click here. Thank you for your interest and support with all the Characters of Character! If you would like to donate from our Amazon Wish List, please click here. Thank you!!