As parents, teachers, caregivers, or facilitators, you want the best for the girls in your life. You want them to be confident, focused, and empowered to achieve their dreams. One way to help them on this journey is by teaching them about their brain’s powerful tool—the Reticular Activating System (RAS). While it might sound complex, explaining the RAS in simple terms can help tween girls understand how they can use their thoughts and focus to achieve their goals.
In this blog post,I'll break down what the RAS is, how it works, and give you some fun activities to help girls understand how to use their RAS to focus on their dreams.
What is the Reticular Activating System (RAS)?
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is like the brain’s personal assistant. It helps filter out unnecessary information and brings important things to your attention. For example, have you ever noticed how you suddenly start seeing the same type of car everywhere after you’ve been thinking about buying one? That’s your RAS in action!
The RAS works as a filter, sorting through all the information we experience every day and bringing the important things to the surface. For tween girls, understanding this filter helps them realize that their thoughts and focus can shape their reality.
How the RAS Affects Our Thoughts and Beliefs
What we focus on becomes more visible in our lives. The RAS is programmed by what we repeatedly think about. If a girl tells herself, “I’m not good at math,” her RAS will start pointing out all the moments that reinforce that belief, like when she struggles with homework or makes a mistake. On the other hand, if she tells herself, “I can improve at math,” her RAS will help her notice opportunities to practice, learn, and get better.
This is why it’s so important for girls to develop positive beliefs about themselves and their goals. Their RAS will highlight the things they see as important, whether those things are positive or negative.
How to Teach Tween Girls to Use Their RAS to Achieve Goals
To help girls understand how their RAS can work for them, start by encouraging them to set clear and specific goals. For example, instead of saying, “I want to be better at basketball,” guide them to say, “I will practice my shots for 15 minutes every day.” This gives their RAS a clear task to focus on.
Next, encourage them to focus on positive thoughts and affirmations. These positive statements will help reprogram their RAS to notice opportunities that align with their goals. Examples of affirmations include:
- “I am capable of improving every day.”
- “I am becoming better at whatever I put my mind to.”
One powerful way to reinforce this is through journaling and visualization. Have them write down their goals, visualize achieving them, and express how it will feel. When girls repeatedly focus on their goals in this way, their RAS becomes trained to highlight opportunities that help them succeed.
Fun Activities to Strengthen RAS Awareness
Goal-Setting Activity
Guide girls through a goal-setting process. Have them pick a specific goal and break it into smaller steps. For example, if their goal is to write a story, the smaller steps could be brainstorming, outlining the plot, and writing a little every day. Encourage them to visualize what it would feel like to finish the story and imagine themselves holding a completed book.
Positive Affirmation Craft**:
Create a vision board or art journal filled with positive affirmations. Use magazine cutouts, drawings, or printed words to make it fun and personal. This visual reminder will help reinforce their positive beliefs and keep their RAS focused on what they want to achieve.
Gratitude Practice
Every day, have girls write down three positive things that happened. This could be something as simple as someone giving them a compliment or completing a task they were proud of. This practice teaches their brain to focus on the good things, training their RAS to notice more positivity in their lives.
Overcoming Obstacles with the RAS
Of course, everyone faces obstacles. It’s important to teach girls that setbacks don’t mean they’ve failed or that they should give up on their goals. When challenges arise, their RAS might focus on negative thoughts like, “This is too hard,” or “I’ll never be able to do it.” But with a little guidance, they can reframe those thoughts to say, “This is a chance to learn” or “I’ll get better with practice.”
Help them see that challenges are part of the journey and that their RAS can help them find solutions when they stay focused on their goals. Encourage problem-solving strategies, like brainstorming ways to overcome a challenge or asking for help when they need it.
Conclusion
The Reticular Activating System is a powerful tool that can help tween girls focus on their goals and shape their reality. By teaching them how to use their RAS, we empower them to direct their attention toward positive thoughts and opportunities. Encourage them to set specific goals, use positive affirmations, and visualize their success. With continued practice, the RAS will become their greatest ally in achieving their dreams.
By sharing these simple yet effective tools, you’ll help the girls in your life realize that they truly can achieve what they believe.
Visit WhimziePop Tales here for free fantasy fiction, expressive writing, and art journaling activities for tween girls. When you purchase a WhimziePop Tales art journal, or my book, Amberly and The Secret of the Fairy Warriors, you are supporting my efforts to share girls empowerment with others!
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