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by Jean Mason Davids (adapted for children) I once lived in the most spectacular place you can imagine – right on the wild, windy cliffs of the Cape of Good Hope. From my little home I could look down, down, down onto the sea, where huge waves crashed against the rocks all day and all night. Sometimes, if I listened carefully, I could hear the creak of an old shipwreck stuck below the cliffs. The … Continued

How today’s Heroes are paying it forward – and how you can, too. Every so often, a concept as old as time is invigorated with a trendy new take. Paying it Forward is one such concept that will never get old, mostly because the impact is always quite profound. As a social enterprise Hero in my Hood experiences this impact every single time we get to distribute our books to children who receive them with … Continued

What I learned when exploring gamification “Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning.” – Diane Ackerman There is no doubt that we learn best through play. In fact, it’s vital for our development; from infancy, we play with our fingers, toes, rays of sunlight…. with our parents, siblings, friends. We learn language and social skills as well as a massive amount of information about ourselves, our environment and others before going to school. At … Continued

‘Encouraging children to be courageous and kind’ is Hero in my Hood’s tagline, our brand slogan. I was surprised to discover that this is not a given with all children; courage and kindness is learned, and children need to be taught to understand feelings and emotions. The Freestyle Stars, a story activity book that deals with bullying, focuses on feelings and how we express them. In a fun activity, children are encouraged to pass their feeling … Continued