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It’s almost Friendsgiving in The Imagine Neighborhood™! Scotty and Vac have been working on their thank-you jar all year: every time they feel thankful, they put a penny into the jar. And every year on Friendsgiving, a mythical yeti collects everyone’s jars and donates the money to help the Neighborhood—unless Tantrumus Maximus gets his way . . . This year, Tantrumus Maximus is determined to ruin Friendsgiving. If nobody has anything to be thankful for, maybe everyone will pay attention to him instead. Tantrumus tries every idea in his evil ideas vault to make Scotty and Vac feel less thankful. But even with burned desserts, a pixie pandemic keeping their friends at home, and Tantrumus stealing the thank-you jar for himself, Scotty and Vac manage to find things to be thankful for—including a surprise visit from a mystery guest! It can be hard to find reasons to feel thankful, especially when things go wrong, and especially when a pixie pandemic keeps everyone from being together in person. But that’s a great time to start a thank-you jar! Even if you only get to see your loved ones in BrineBlox instead of in person, you can still drop a penny (or a note, or a poem, or a drawing) in the jar. And if you start filling it up now, maybe you’ll get a visit from the yeti next year!   If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and ideas with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

Hey, everybody! Do you ever have questions for your friends in The Imagine Neighborhood™? This week on the show, we’ve got answers! I got to hang out with Macho Supreme, Princess Donnasaurus, and Count Vacula, and answer questions from listeners all over the country. If you have a question for us, you can find us on Stitcher or Apple Podcasts and put your question into a review (and while you’re there, you can let us know what you think of the show). Or you can email your questions to kind@imagineneighborhood.org. Check out the episode, and hear what Macho, Princess Donnasaurus, Vac, and I are up to.  And then send us a question of your own! We can’t wait to hear from you.   Thank you so much for sending in all of your feedback, ideas, and submissions so far! Keep sharing your drawings and ideas with us, and follow our Infinite Refrigerator to see creations from listeners like you. And we’ve got a new suggestion for listeners: Julie’s Library is a podcast for families that will inspire a love of reading across generations. Learn more at julieslibraryshow.org. We’ll see you again soon in The Imagine Neighborhood. In the meantime, I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe, happy, healthy, and kind. Scotty  

It’s Blurghsday AGAIN in The Imagine Neighborhood™. On any given Blurghsday, we get a new rule that changes everybody’s plans for the whole day—usually we can just “Blame it on Blurghsday.” But when too many Blurghsdays happen in a row, Scotty and Doctor Apocalypso start to feel stressed. They need to “get small to deal with it all,” which means taking a break so they’re ready to tackle the next challenge. But when a tidal wave of deli meats threatens the Neighborhood, they realize it’s time to “get large and take charge,” which means to step up and be a helper. We can feel stress when there’s too much to handle, and it can feel different to different people.  You might feel it in your body, or in your thoughts and feelings, or in all three. It can make you feel crummy, and it can make it hard to focus your attention or remember to be kind. Sometimes your neighborhood may need you to “get large and take charge.” But if you’re feeling stressed, it’s also important to “get small to deal with it all.” Everybody has their own ways of “getting small” and taking a break from stressful things. You could try spending some quiet time in a private place, or reading a book, or even making some music, just like Doctor Apocalypso.  With special guest voice, Mike Harrington!   If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

It's Macho's time to shine at the Space Marines Annual Smelling Bee! But there's just one problem: Macho is full of worries. And when Macho's worries get out of control, they become worrywarts that get bigger and bigger! Macho needs Scotty's help to calm down, talk about his worries, and prepare for the things he's worried about—before the worrywarts turn into a worrycane that blows away his chance to win the Smelling Bee! Sometimes we worry about everything at once—even the things we can't change. But it's important to calm down and talk about our worries. Otherwise, our worries might turn us into a worrycane! And then we won't even be able to help fix the things we can change. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by pre-election stress, here are a few techniques that can help! And if you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

Dr Kelly Mendoza from Common Sense Education, drops by to talk about what grown-ups can do about cyberbullying.  We'll talk about resources and tools grown-ups can use to help keep their kids safe and kind online.  For more information about Common Sense Education's amazing programs, hit the link and visit their website.

Today in The Imagine Neighborhood™, Scotty is inside a video game called BrineBlox. It’s a place where you can build castles, dance studios, koi ponds, or whatever you want—all out of pickles! Everyone’s having a good time . . . until a malevolent bird starts blowing up other players’ creations and leaving mean comments. That’s no way to be a friend—not in a world made out of pickles, or in any game, or in real life. Macho and Scotty decide to get to the bottom of this bullying behavior—and find a big surprise.   In online and computer games, sometimes we forget that our words and actions can cause real hurt feelings. But meanness can’t be solved by more meanness. It’s important to remember to be kind and be a good friend, whether you’re playing on the playground or in a video game made of pickles!   This episode was created in partnership with Common Sense Media. They’re a leading source of entertainment and technology recommendations for families and schools, and they offer resources on online bullying as included in their Digital Citizenship curriculum. If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

It’s Halloween in The Imagine Neighborhood™! Scotty and Vac have built a super-spooky haunted house, and they can’t wait to scare the socks off of everyone. But when Alakazambra stops by, there’s just one problem: she doesn’t feel scared.   Alakazambra invites Scotty and Vac over to her house for a truly terrifying time, where she conjures the scariest creature in the universe! But this time, Scotty and Vac aren’t scared. It turns out that different people can feel differently about the same things—and that it’s always kind to understand our friends’ perspectives (and maybe help them chase down a monster on the loose). If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

Bonus Episode.  Dr Aisha White from the University of Pittsburgh's P.R.I.D.E. program joins us to talk about different ways to discuss racial identity with kids. She mentions some great resources in the interview which can be found below. Raising Race Conscious Children Embrace Race PBS Kids: Talking About Race  

Today in The Imagine Neighborhood™, Scotty and Vac visit a robot wrestling championship. Vac is so excited that he decides to be exactly like his new hero, the intergalactic robot wrestling champion Destructivir! It sounds like fun . . . until things get a little out of hand.   Vac decides to switch his robot code to change how he acts, and he builds himself a new robot body to change how he looks. But it turns out that being just like his favorite battling robot makes Vac miserable! It takes a visit from Destructivir to show Vac that the way you look is just one part of being a robot, but it’s not the most important part.   Destructivir reminds us that the way you look is only one little part of who you are. Being kind—and being yourself—is the best way to be a robot. (Or a person.) If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

Listeners write in with questions, we have answers!   Got a question for Scotty or any one on the show?  Send it in to Kind At Imagine Neighborhood.org.

It’s a sad day today in The Imagine Neighborhood™. Doctor Apocalypso’s motorcycle, Giganticus, has gone kaput. He really meant a lot to her; she built him from scratch and they had so many epic adventures riding through the Wasteland together! In a lot of ways, he was her best friend. At first, Doc doesn’t know how to feel. She wants to be happy, but she really feels angry and sad. She wants to celebrate Giganticus’s life, but she is so upset that she decides to quit her band. Scotty, her family, and her friends all want to help Doc find a way to feel all her emotions—and they want her to know that she has people around who support her, even when she’s sad. When you lose something or someone that is important to you, things can be confusing and really hard. The world feels upside-down for a while. It’s good to feel all of those big feelings, and it can help to talk to a friend or grown-up about what you’re going through. Remember, you have people who love you and who want to know how you’re really feeling. And you will feel more like yourself again someday, but it will take some time. Take that time you need to feel the feelings that come up. And if you have a friend or family member who lost someone or something important to them and is feeling big feelings, let them know that you are there for them.   If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

This week, in the The Imagine Neighborhood™, a powerful wizard comes searching for Count Vacula. It’s Alakazambra the Demon-Hunter! To complete her magic spell, she needs the teeth of an angry vampire. But . . . Vac’s not angry. In fact, he’s usually hungry and a little bit nervous. Alakazambra needs some help figuring out how other people are feeling. This skill can come in handy, whether you’re making a new friend, trying to figure out what someone else needs or wants, or finding angry vampire teeth to complete a magic spell! When you’re trying to understand what another person is feeling, you can look for clues in their face, body, and situation. Are their eyes wide open, narrowed, or closed? Are they standing with their arms crossed or fists clenched? Are they at a surprise birthday party, a petting zoo, or a spooky haunted house? All of these things can help you identify what they might be feeling. Alakazambra gets some good practice, and you can too! If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

This week in The Imagine Neighborhood™, Scotty needs a little help learning to use his assertive voice with the dreaded Nose Stealers. Have you ever had someone play a game of “got-your-nose,” but you really didn’t want to play? Or did someone tickle you or pinch your cheek when you’d rather not be tickled or pinched? When you don’t want to play anymore or don’t want to be touched, that’s totally okay. You can strike a confident rock star pose and say, “No, thank you,” or “I’m done playing,” or “Please stop,” loudly, respectfully, and clearly. If the other person keeps trying to play and doesn’t stop, that’s when you get a grown-up or someone you trust to step in. Even the Nose Stealers learn it’s not okay unless everyone wants to play. If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And you can share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!Play the Nose Stealing Game! (Two or more players) Player One is the “Nose Stealer” and tries to steal Player Two’s nose. Player Two fends off the Nose Stealer by striking a rock star pose and saying loudly, respectfully, and clearly: “NOSE, THANK YOU!” Then, the Nose Stealer must stop, and the players switch roles. If the Nose Stealer ever steals a nose anyway, even after being told “Nose, thank you,” the Nose Stealer must ask to steal the nose for the rest of the game. If they steal the nose without asking first, they are then out of the game.

Next week we're back with a brand new episode, but this week we wanted to answer questions from our listeners. If you have a question you'd like answered,  have your grown up go to ImagineNeighborhood.org, or ask them to call 206-438-6528  (206.4.FUN.LAVA).  You can leave us a message there!

It’s Take Your Scotty to Work Day at Princess Donnasaurus’s castle! Princess Donnasaurus has a productive workday planned . . . until the messenger monkeys show up. They all have messages that need her attention right away! How can Princess Donnasaurus choose just one monkey to focus on when the rest are wreaking havoc?! Fortunately, Scotty’s got an idea for a way to help her pick one and get it done. In this episode, we learn about focusing attention. Life is full of fun ideas, and it can be hard to choose just one thing to do. Sometimes your brain might feel too full of thoughts, like too many monkeys trying to get your attention. That’s when it’s time to shake your monkeys off. You might want to take a ‘shake break’ by shaking your body, or go for a walk, or sit quietly. You can even get up and dance! Once you’ve shaken off the distracting thoughts, you can pick one thing to do—and get it done. If you want even more of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for our newsletter. Every week, you’ll get additional discussion questions and activity ideas for kids and grown-ups. And feel free to share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you might see it featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!

This week in The Imagine Neighborhood™, Scotty and Macho Supreme are taking on a dangerous creature: the Toucan’t! I’m sure you’ve heard of toucans before, but what about the dastardly Toucan’t? Have you ever had a voice in your head telling you that you’re no good at something? Maybe you’re trying something new or doing something really hard? A Toucan’t is that voice in your head telling you that you’ll never get it. But never fear! Macho and Scotty find a great way to shut that Toucan’t down—and so can you. In this episode, we’re reviewing the concept of a growth mindset: the idea that your brain gets smarter and stronger the more you practice new skills. If you get stuck learning something new, that’s okay! Take a few deep breaths and try again when you feel ready. Even if it’s still challenging, you can always remind yourself that you’ll get it SOMEDAY! If you want to keep the discussion going after each episode of The Imagine Neighborhood, sign up for the weekly newsletter. Each newsletter will include additional discussion questions for kids and grown-ups, as well as some activities. We’d love to see your drawings and reflections—and you could be featured on our Infinite Refrigerator!  

In this episode of The Imagine Neighborhood, our friendly emotion scientist, Dr. Sherri, P!H!D! drops by to discuss some back-to-school questions and concerns. With school districts still making decisions about the safest possible plan for students and teachers, there are a lot of unknowns. What can you do to help prepare your kids for more remote school this fall, and/or for going back to the classroom only a couple days a week? And how can you help your kids handle big emotions if everything still feels up in the air? If you have any questions you’d like to ask Dr. Sherri, or if there are some other themes you wish we’d talk about on the show, let us know! We love getting your feedback. 

  Welcome to The Imagine Neighborhood! We’re back after a nice summer break to talk about how it feels when things don’t go according to plan. Every once in a while in The Imagine Neighborhood, we get thrown an extra day in the middle of a normal week when everything is topsy-turvy: that’s Blurghsday! There’s no right way to prepare for it, so you’ve just gotta roll with the punches. Scotty and Cap’n Marion both have a lot of adjusting to do and flexibility to practice when this week’s Blurghsday takes them by surprise. In this episode, we’re learning about being cognitively flexible—being able to change your plans when unexpected things happen. Unexpected things may throw you for a loop, and you can’t prepare for every possible scenario. Take a few deep breaths and name your feelings, then make a new plan. Sometimes you’ve just got to say, “Blame it on Blurghsday!” If you want to expand upon the themes in each episode, sign up for our newsletter. Every weekly newsletter will include additional discussion questions for kids and grown-ups as well as some suggested activities. Feel free to share your drawings and reflections with us—we love seeing what you come up with, and you could be featured on our Infinite Refrigerator! And an extra special thank-you to Marc Sanchez from the Brains On! podcast. Brains On! is an award-winning science podcast for kids and grown-ups to enjoy together. Check it out today!  

As many people are getting ready for back to school, we know that school might look very different than we're used to.  Maybe you'll be in a smaller classroom, or maybe you'll be doing online school again.  We're bringing back our Pixie Pandemic episode right before our next season starts. Plus, this episode has special shoutouts to some of our amazing listeners who called our audio postcard hotline.  If you have a question about the show, you can ask your grown up about calling 206.4.FUN.LAVA and leave us an audio postcard.     It’s pixie season in the Neighborhood. Everybody has to stay inside – even Macho Supreme. Macho was really looking forward to the Glamour Flex contest, and now he can’t go! Scotty and Macho discuss feeling frustrated, why we sometimes need to stay in to help everybody out, and tons of stuff you can do while you’re stuck inside.   In this week's episode, Scotty and Macho discuss how it feels to be frustrated, and why it’s disappointing when you can’t do the things you were looking forward to. Feeling disappointed can feel like a real loss, so it's important to acknowledge those feelings before jumping in with alternative things to do.   If you’re stuck at home, have you tried making new friends… from scratch? You and your child can try building your own Cardboard Scotty, or other friends, family, or imaginary characters. You can draw signs or pictures to put up around your house or your neighborhood (which you can share with us on the Imagine Neighborhood website!) And you can discuss how it feels to be frustrated or disappointed when you don’t get to do something you were looking forward to.   This week's music is Cornerstone by Benjamin Clementine.

In our final summer short episode we hear from the entire Imagine Neighborhood gang about how they take slow breaths.  Special Guest Host, Dr Sherri P! H! D!   If you want to share how you take a slow breath, call our audio postcard hotline at 206.4.FUN.LAVA