SEARCHi ng

for t hi n g s to do
d u r i n g fami ly
l o ckdown?
A C OL LECT I O N O F I D E AS A N D ACT I V I T I E S
TO S U PP O RT YO U R FA M I LY ’S WE L L B E I N G BAS ED
ARO U N D T H E V I S I B L E WE L L B E I N G
SE ARC H PAT H WAYS

VISIBLE WELLBEING™
P r o f e s sVISIBLE
o r WELLBEING™
L e a Wa ters AM PhD
© Lea Waters PhD
1
www.leawaters.com
STRENGTHS
Strengths are positive personal characteristics, including personality traits,
psychological abilities, moral qualities and talents, that feel natural and
enjoyable to use.

SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH STRENGTHS AT HOME...

Not
Strength Games sure wha
strengths t your
Download the following games from the Strengths Exchange haven’t a are? If y
lready do ou
website to play with your kids: the family ne it, get
survey to to do the
• Strengths and ladders find out y VIA strength
The surv our top s
• VIA-ingo ey is ava trengths.
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are...
• Pick a strength for the day and see if you can find a https://ww
movie you think it might be used in. w.viacha
racter.org
• After watching the movie discuss with your kids when
you noticed the strength in the movie, were there any other
strengths that you noticed?
• How did the characters use their strengths – what happened as a consequence?

Strengths Card Activities

If you have a set of Strength Cards, try one of the following activities:

• Card Pick: have each family member randomly pick a card from the deck and chat
about the strengths that were picked. Ask family members to commit themselves
to practising the strengths that were picked during their day. This activity promotes
strengths flexibility.
• Strengths Growth: have family members choose a strength they would like to grow and
get better at. Use the natural opportunities that arise during the day to promote their
chosen strength. This activity promotes strengths development.
• Strengths Artwork: Pick a card and then get creative! Draw, paint, or create a piece of
art that represents that strength. This activity promotes strengths awareness.
There are many versions of strengths cards you could use, here’s a link to Lea’s cards...
https://www.strengthswitch.com/product/strength-stars-cards/
Or for Lea’s online parenting course on strengths visit...
https://vwb.thinkific.com/courses/the-strength-switch

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

2
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 EMOTIONAL
MANAGEMENT
Being present with one’s emotions and being able to identify, understand
and manage one’s emotions (i.e., reduce negative emotions and increase
positive emotions), is a key aspect of positive functioning.

SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH EMOTIONAL

The
MANAGEMENT AT HOME... better we
are
at namin
better ch g e m o tions, the
ance we
Feelings Chart able to m have of b
anage th eing
Print out a ‘How are you feeling today’ chart and use it for ose emo
To find ou tions.
check-ins during the day – put it on your fridge and have a t more ab
how we c out emoti
an get be on
magnet for each person that they can move around. tter at rec s and
them visit o gnising
E.g., https://www.pinterest.com.au/ ...
pin/520939881876384054/ https://do
2learn.co
organiza m/
Emotions tiontools/
Mood Music ColorWh
eel/index
htm .
Create a mood boosting playlist for the family and pump it out
when you notice you need a lift.

Emotion Charades
Get ready for games night and have a game of Emotion Charades. To prepare, print or
write out a list of emotions on paper, chop them up and put them into a bucket. Have family
members choose a random emotion from the bucket which they then have to act out. The
family members in the audience have to guess the emotion based on body language and
facial expressions.

Share the Good & Foster Gratitude

Amplify the good times, when you feel a positive emotion such as love/awe/joy/pride – name
it and share it with your family – tell them what’s making you feel this way and let the emotion
become positively contagious. Put a blank piece of paper on your fridge and have family
members write what they feel grateful for. Your goal is to fill the piece of paper by the end of
the week.

For more about how positive emotions can become contagious watch Lea’s Tedx Talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80U__KwX0iU&feature=emb_logo

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

3
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ATTENTION &
AWARENESS
Attention is our ability to focus, whether on inner aspects of self, such as emotions
and physical sensations, or on external stimuli (e.g., the teacher’s lesson in a
classroom). Awareness refers to the ability to pay attention to a stimulus as it
occurs. Wellbeing is improved when individuals are aware of, and can consciously
direct, their attention.

SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH ATTENTION & Can’t get

your kids
AWARENESS AT HOME... still long to sit
enough?
Don’t wo
rr
Savouring Lea Wate y, research by Pro
rs shows fessor
practice m that even
Savour the good, notice the simple pleasures in life and indfulnes if we can
default it s as pare
take a moment to really feel them. Maybe the warmth of the helps out nts,
our kids to by
morning sun, the smell of your morning coffee, the connection https://pu o!
in a twinkling smile. Be in the moment and then take a mental rsuit.unim
easing-yo elb.edu.a
ur-child-s u/articles
snapshot so you can savour it again later. -back-to- /
worries school-
Mindful Moments
Use moments of mindfulness in your everyday doings – like take the
time to breathe slowly when washing your hands, or find a time when
you can come together as a family and have focused attention on a sound,
a thought, a prayer etc. Some mindfulness resources:
https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app
https://www.headspace.com

Game Flow
Play a board or card game – find a game that gives your family the opportunity to get into a
state of flow and connection. Here are some indoor game ideas you could try:
https://whatmomslove.com/kids/active-indoor-games-activities-for-kids-to-burn-energy/

Spicks and Specks

Practice being able to focus attention and not get distracted by playing the Spicks and Specks
game “What’s that Song”. This game helps to develop their ability to narrow their attention onto
a specific target. This game requires you to sing lyrics from one source (can be another song,
a book, or poem) to the tune of a different song. Family members then try to guess the song
by the tune. An adaptation to this activity can be to use any piece of music and spend time
focusing on the sound of each instrument.

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

4
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RELATIONSHIPS
A child/teen’s social skills play an important role in allowing him/her to
develop nourishing relationships with others. Understanding and managing
our relationships with others is a key pathway to wellbeing.

When
we see s
SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH RELATIONSHIPS AT being kin omeone
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immediate family. Even if you are all in your own online effect here ore
zones for school and work, set a reminder or alert to all come https://ww ...
w.thegua
world/vid r
together to interact/stretch/have a glass of water as a screen eo/2020/m dian.com/
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Virtual Connections ity-
video
Find ways to maintain connections with friends – virtual cooking
classes, Lego sessions, book clubs & crafternoons are just some ways you
can get together with a smartphone and still connect in the cyber realms with your kids and
their friends as an alternative to gaming.

Three Good Things

Remember to practice gratitude for what we have and the people around us. One short
check in you can do before bedtime is the “Three Good Things and Who Contributed”
exercise. Choose a time in the past to reflect on, and recall three good things that happened
to you during that time. Then think about what other people contributed in order for those
three good things to occur. This helps us remember and value the importance of those close
connections.

RAK Attack
Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) are almost always guaranteed to bring a smile to
someone’s dial. Brainstorm with your kids to come up with a spontaneous action that directs
kindness at another person, such as giving them a drawing, motivational statement or
helpful act, and how you could do it virtually.

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/for-educators

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

5
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COPING
Having the resilience to cope with adversity is an essential life skill. Coping
can be thought of as being able to balance the demands of life with the
resources we have to manage those demands, and being able to bounce
back when we get thrown off balance.
Sometim
es
SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH COPING AT HOME... coping m
practising e a ns
and not fe a little ‘self-care’
e
Silver Linings selfish do ling like you’re be
ing it. Wh in
Draw some clouds on paper and ask each member of your time out en we tak g
to nurture e the
refill our
family to draw or write inside their cloud the up-side of being bucket, w ourselves and
respond e are bett
in lockdown. Go round and share what everyone has done to, and c
a
er able to
others. M re for, the
and see if you can connect your silver linings together with a ore on se needs of
lf-compa
common (silver) thread. s s ion here..
https://ww .
transform w.m in d fu
ative-effe l.org/the-
Treasured Values Chest cts-of-min
self-comp dful-
Make a Treasured Values Chest - Having a sense of meaning a s sion/
helps to build resilience when times are tough. What are the things
you value together as a family? Create a special treasure chest/box
with bits of paper beside it where each family member can write/draw
things that they value and add it to the box. After a few days open the box at dinnertime and
see what your family values as a collective. Use this to start a conversation about things we
can do to ensure our actions are consistent with our values, as the things we value often
give us meaning.

SEE/HEAR/FEEL
Don’t forget to use the SEE/HEAR/FEEL practice to check in with each other. What do you
see, what do you hear, what do you feel during lockdown? This will help make your family’s
wellbeing visible so you can better see when members need a little extra support.

Breathing Helps us Cope

Before doing a breathing activity, ask your kids to rate their stress levels out of 10 before the
exercise and after.

• Activity 1: Pay attention to your in-breath and out-breath and try to keep your focus on
this for 1 minute. Notice how your body releases tension.
• Activity 2: Ask your kids to take a deep in-breath for 3 seconds and then release the
out-breath slowly for 4 seconds. Keep this pattern of 3:4 going for 1 minute.

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

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 HABITS &
GOALS
Habits are those automatic processes that we do without even thinking
about them – they can be both beneficial and detrimental to our wellbeing.
Knowing how to break bad, and create good, habits can help us progress
towards our goals. When we set goals it can provide us with a sense of
purpose, mastery and direction in life.

SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH HABITS & GOALS AT HOME...

Family BHAGs (pronounced “bee-hag”)

Do you have a goal you’d like to achieve as a family during lock- When it c
g oa omes to
down? Goals tend to work well when they are SMART (Specific, ls , it turns o
journey a u t tha
Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound), but if you nd not the t it is the
make it a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), it could drive that has th destinatio
e greater n
wellbeing
you to even greater heights! What’s your family’s BHAG for . Researc impact on our
striving’, h shows
lockdown? Brainstorm this with your kids. especially th
our value when cen at ‘goal
s, gives o tr ed aroun
a great b ur happin d
o o st. So do e s s levels
If-Then yourself if n’t be too
things do hard on
Think about what habits you might need to form to bring n’t go exa
ctly to
plan
your BHAG to fruition. To make a habit stick, be specific https://ww ...
about when and how you are going to do it and make an w.forbes.c
om
implementation intention with an ‘if-then’ plan.
E.g., If ...(so and so happens)...then I will ...(decide on how you will
overcome it).

Habit CARs
Another way to make a habit stick is to use a CAR (Cue/Action/Reward) to get you there!
Consider the Cue/Action/Reward (CAR) for your family’s new habits and try to tack the cue
onto something related in your usual routine.

Cue: What could be a trigger to help you remember to do your habit? See if you can attach
it to a related habit that you already have e.g., if you want to start flossing, use brushing your
teeth as a good related cue.

Action: This is the habit you that you want to create e.g., flossing.

Reward: A reward doesn’t have to be big, just something to trigger a little dopamine to make
you feel good. In the flossing example it could be as simple as savouring the feeling of your
super clean teeth.

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

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 FAQs
What is Visible Wellbeing (VWB)?
Visible Wellbeing is an approach developed by Prof. Lea Waters, used by schools around
the globe to help teachers and students see and manage their wellbeing more clearly. The
approach combines three areas of Prof. Waters’ expertise: Positive psychology, education
and organisational psychology, to provide schools with a range of strategies to support the
wellbeing of both staff/teachers and students.

Through using the approach, students are taught to use simple techniques and activities
to shift wellbeing from a subjective, internal experience to a more tangible, observable
phenomenon that is visible for others to see. When wellbeing becomes visible it becomes a
resource for learning. By teaching in a way that makes wellbeing visible, students learn how
their emotions influence their learning, see patterns in their wellbeing and can draw from
a tool-kit of strategies to support their wellbeing during times of need. VWB is an evidence
based approach underpinned by the SEARCH framework’s six pathways to wellbeing.

What is the SEARCH Framework?

SEARCH is a data-driven, wellbeing framework developed from a multi-year, multi-study
project led by Professor Lea Waters AM, PhD, based on science from positive psychology
and positive education. The SEARCH framework has been developed and published in
academic journals and has been adopted by schools in Australia, New Zealand, USA,
Canada, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. SEARCH covers six over-arching
pathways to wellbeing: strengths, emotional management, attention & awareness,
relationships, habits & goals.

The SEARCH framework is the result of three

key stages of science conducted by Prof. STRENGTHS
Waters: 1) a large scale published bibliometric
review of the field of positive psychology that
analysed 18 years of psychological research HABITS & EMOTIONAL
from 18,400 studies to see what the science
GOALS MANAGEMENT

tells us about higher-order pathways to

wellbeing (Rusk & Waters, 2015), 2) an action
research project involving ten schools to road
test the data-driven, meta-framework (Waters,
2017) and 3) a systematic review of school COPING ATTENTION &
intervention studies involving 35,888 students AWARENESS

from Australia, NZ, Europe, the UK, Asia and

North America demonstrating the effectiveness
of the framework and each individual pathway
RELATIONSHIPS

on student wellbeing and student learning

(Waters and Loton, 2019).

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

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 FAQs
Is Visible Wellbeing only for schools?
No, Visible Wellbeing can be used for families and organisations as well. It is an approach
that is relevant to anyone hoping to support wellbeing, and reap the benefits of having good
wellbeing.

Who is Professor Lea Waters?

Professor Lea Waters AM, PhD, is an Australian academic, psychologist, author and
speaker who holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology and is a world expert in School
Psychology and Parenting. She is the Director of the teacher training program Visible
Wellbeing and has developed student e-wellbeing resources for teachers to deliver to
students via online and virtual classrooms.
Professor Waters was the Founding Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology, University
of Melbourne where she has held an academic position for 24 years. She currently also
holds a position on the Science Board of The University of California, Berkeley’s Greater
Good Science Center. Lea has published over 110 scientific publications and has
been awarded academic prizes for research excellence by the American Academy of
Management and the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management.

In 2015, Professor Waters was listed as one of Australia’s Top 100 Women of Influence by
the Financial Review. In 2020, Lea was honoured by the Governor-General of Australia and
made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) which is one of the highest civilian honours in
Australia. She was made a member based on her leadership in psychology, education and
the mental health sector in Australia.

Lea is the recent Past President of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA)
(2017-2019) and is a Board member of IPPA as well as being the Patron for Flourishing
Education Japan and the Ambassador for Positive Education Schools Association.

Lea’s parenting book, ‘The Strength Switch’ was the top release on Amazon in the parenting
category and was listed in Top Reads for 2017 by Berkeley University’s Greater Good
Science Centre. It has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese,
Hungarian, Arabic, Spanish, French and Russian. Lea’s work is featured in the Wall Street
Journal, TIME.com Magazine, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, the Toronto Globe, the
Guardian (UK and Australia) and more. Her TEDx talk, Warning: Being positive is not for the
faint hearted!, explores how we can use social media to have a positive impact on others’
wellbeing and has been viewed more than 130,000 times.

For more information about Prof. Lea Waters’ research and her services to families,
schools and organisations visit www.leawaters.com

VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

9
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 FAQs
Is there anything else we can do as a family?
Looking for other activities to do with your kids during family lockdown? Lea’s online course
is packed with activities to help your family find its strengths.

Her book (now you finally have time to read) is a best seller with families all across the world!

Learn how to become a strength-based parent with

practical activities and tutorials in this 5 week online
course based on Prof Lea Waters’ (PhD) game changing
book, The Strength Switch.

&

The Online
The Book
Course

Find out how to throw the “Strength Switch”

and help your children build resilience,
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VISIBLE WELLBEING™ © Lea Waters PhD

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