Persnickety Polly is a short story and a game about perfectionism. Polly likes to have everything planned and perfect. However, one day nothing goes according to plan and she is having a terrible time coping with the challenges. She is challenged to work past the expectations that everything will fall into place, cope with disappointment, and move past a rigid mindset. As she is forced to accept things that she has no control over, she can modify her thoughts and expectations to better cope with the unpredictable.
In the end, Polly learns that her thoughts drive her emotions. As she challenges her thoughts and rescripts them, she feels better and can roll with the challenges of her day. She finds support from friends who can help her manage her problems and work past her rigid mindset.
The game helps children learn cognitive behavioral therapy skills, identify their own stuck points, and discover ways to be more flexible in their thinking. They can slowly push themselves past their comfort zones to better adapt to disappointment and change.
Game Topics:
Adults – This group of cards will help children identify support figures as well as ways adults might trigger anxiety and/or demand excellence.
Plans – Kids will discuss what it is like when things do not go according to plan, whether they like to plan out their schedule, and how to cope with transitions or changes.
Big Mess – Scenarios are introduced to help kids process how to handle messes and catastrophes that are part of life.
Less than Best – Disappointment is guaranteed in life. Kids will learn to come up with alternate plans and ways to cope with disappointment. This includes managing self-talk when they fail to meet their own expectations of themselves.
Stay Loose – These cards are to help children identify ways to have flexible thinking and learn to adapt to unexpected situations.
Rigid Thinking – Kids will identify the caveats of rigid thinking and the inability to adapt to alternate plans.
School Life – These cards will help children explore triggers and needs at school to better prepare for challenges.
Home Life – Kids will discuss challenges as well as support at home to help them cope.
You will receive a PDF document with instructions and a link to the Google Slides document that includes both the game and the ebook. The instructions also contain a video tutorial on how to use Google Slides to play games.
A physical copy of this resource is available here.