Facilitator’s Manual

Overview

These frequently asked questions provide an easy overview of Building Blocks for a Healthy Future. This information also is included in the PowerPoint presentation and notes to help you present the information to workshop participants. Of course, the best way to gain a full understanding of Building Blocks is to go through the kit on your own.

What is Building Blocks for a Healthy Future?

Building Blocks is a program created by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). Its goals are to:

• Educate parents and caregivers about the basics of risk and protective factors.
• Assist parents and caregivers with ways to reduce risk factors.
• Reinforce skills that will enable caregivers to better nurture and protect their children in order to reduce substance abuse and to promote healthy lifestyles.

Building Blocks provides the developmentally appropriate tools parents and caregivers need to help young children:

• Express their feelings and thoughts through good communication.
• Form healthy, lifelong habits and positive attitudes.
• Learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy activities.
• Practice making decisions, gain confidence, and improve self-esteem.

Who should use Building Blocks?

Anyone who is involved with children ages 3 to 6—parents, caregivers, teachers, community groups—should use these materials at home, at school, or in community centers. The materials appeal to a broad range of learning styles and cultural norms.

How much does Building Blocks cost and how can I get the materials?

Building Blocks is a Government-funded project and is free to everyone. Check out our Materials page to view, print, or order the Building Blocks materials.

If Building Blocks is aimed at parents and caregivers, how does it work in a classroom situation?

Building Blocks activities are perfect when working with young children individually or in small groups. The activities and suggestions are easily adapted to the classroom. All parts of the kit and specific activities have been correlated to the curriculum framework for Head Start and the National Standards for K–1.

Building Blocks is also an excellent tool to guide paraprofessionals who work with individual students or to help a student’s parent or caregiver reinforce needed skills at home.

What materials does Building Blocks offer?

Please note-to view these materials, you must have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software. If you do not already have this software installed on your computer, please download it from Adobe's Web site.

• The Family Guide (or Guía Para Familias) provides parents and caregivers with information about prevention and an overview of the Building Blocks materials and how to use them. Also included are discussion starters and activities that guide exploration and discovery.
• The Activity Book (or Libro De Actividades) corresponds to the Sing Along Songs (listed below) and includes activities and games that reinforce positive, skill-building behaviors. It is divided into ages 3–4 and ages 5–6.
• The ABC Coloring Book (or Libro para Colorear) provides simple coloring activities that reinforce pre-reading skills, including letter recognition and alliterative language.
• The Know Kit Cards, divided into 3- to 4-year-old and 5- to 6-year-old sets, feature age-appropriate discussion starters and activities that parents and caregivers can use with their children.
• The Character Cards provide children the opportunity to “bond” with the characters and to validate their own feelings and actions based on what the characters like to do and how they feel about themselves and others.
• The Sing Along Songs, with their funny lyrics and toe-tapping music, capture the imagination and put the lessons of the Activity Book into rhymes and rhythms that will reinforce healthy behaviors.
• The “Play Day in the Park” Easy Reader for 3- to 4-year-olds and the “Look What I Can Do!” Easy Reader for 5- to 6-year-olds feature the familiar Building Blocks characters and encourage children to play outside and exercise and discover the world around them. Use these oversized, colorful books in the classroom or at home to engage young children in reading and counting, problem-solving, and making healthy decisions.

What is the research rationale for Building Blocks?

In more than 20 years of research, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has found that the most critical areas for prevention programs are building positive family and peer relationships.

The major precepts of the Building Blocks prevention program relate directly to what NIDA researchers and substance abuse prevention professionals call family-related “protective factors,” situations and conditions that decrease a child’s chances for engaging in drug-related and other risky behaviors.

The Building Blocks Friends are characters specifically developed to appeal to 3- to 6-year-olds. Their physical appearance and their names and characteristics address diversity while stressing inclusiveness.

What is the educational and philosophical foundation for Building Blocks?

Building Blocks is built on six action steps for parents and caregivers.

1. Good Talking, Good Listening encourages parents and caregivers to establish and maintain good communication with their children by talking with them in a positive, caring manner to foster warm relationships and build strong, positive bonds within a pro-social family.
2. Time With Your Kids encourages parents and caregivers to get involved and stay involved with their children through day-to-day activities at school, home, and other environments. Setting aside special time with children when they are younger will develop a habit that will likely continue as children grow.
3. Living With Rules helps parents and caregivers set clear rules of conduct and enforce them with consistency and appropriate consequences. Setting rules and helping children understand the consequences of not following the rules sets a pattern of responsible behavior.
4. Walk the Walk helps parents and caregivers understand that being a positive role model for children means modeling a healthy lifestyle and avoiding illegal, unhealthy, or dangerous drug use.
5. Kids With Kids encourages parents and caregivers to teach children to choose friends wisely by helping them develop strategies to feel comfortable, develop leadership skills, and act appropriately in social situations. As a result, children are more likely to make their own choices rather than follow inappropriate behaviors.
6. Show and Tell guides parents and caregivers to monitor children’s activities with friends and parents at school and in other places; set up regular check-in routines; and provide structured, healthy activities.

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