171. Changing Patterns: a meditation and story for your bedtime routine

Brandon the block likes to follow a pattern in his art but today the kids are creating something new. Will he like it? Hello everyone!  We hope you enjoyed our new story this week. Now, welcome to Favorite Friday! Sometimes we like to listen to our favorites again. Please enjoy “Changing Patterns" and we’ll be back with a new story on Monday! Narrator: Male Final 3 Dragon Breaths: 7:20 Changing Patterns Excerpt: The pattern blocks sat in their usual spots, all neatly placed according to size and shape in their container. Brandon the purple triangle block smiled. He felt contented. Everything was just as he liked it: neat, orderly, and all the blocks ready to follow the directions on whatever pattern the kids picked. As he wondered what their next pattern would be, the lid to the container opened and light spilled inside. It was time to play! Brandon watched carefully to see what pattern the kids would pick, but they left the direction cards in their spot.   Brandon felt confused. What could the kids be doing? All the blocks were already organized nicely. The purple triangle block watched as the kids took out large, red rectangle blocks and stood them on their side, in many different patterns. None of the patterns were like anything Brandon had seen before. Now the purple triangle block felt a bit worried. This was something new. He was unsure what would happen next. So he watched. The big orange squares were next, and the kids set them on top of the red blocks in some places and not in others. All the blocks were talking, wondering what was happening. Brandon started to feel upset. Then he remembered his deep dragon breaths. He took a deep breath in and out and watched carefully. The kids were smiling and the red and orange blocks seemed more curious than upset. He took another deep breath in and out feeling better. “Ok,” he thought. “Let’s see what’s going to happen. Everyone seems to be happy and safe. Maybe the kids have something really fun planned.” He still wasn’t sure how they could make anything without a pattern. Today’s Meditation: Draw gentle shapes in the soothing sand as you prepare for today's story. Looking for stories with positive learning moments for your little one? You'll find them on Ahway Island®. Be Calm on Ahway Island® Podcast offers original bedtime stories, like "Changing Patterns," paired with meditations for kids. We help them drift off to sleep with a guided relaxation and a calming story. Gently nestled within each podcast episode are mindfulness techniques and positive learning moments.  To learn more about our mission at Ahway Island and our team, please visit our website. Creating the original bedtime stories and art for Be Calm on Ahway Island takes a lot of time and care. As a listener-supported podcast, we truly appreciate our members on Patreon. If you're not already a member, please consider joining! Writing, recording, editing, and publishing episodes and managing digital platforms is an enormous endeavor. Our Patreon program will help continue to grow Ahway Island and we hope you will support us! You can choose from 3 different Membership Levels, all of which include access to our Archives and an extra episode each week! Are you and your children enjoying our stories and self-soothing meditations? We hope your child loved “Changing Patterns!" We ask for your positive reviews to help others find us, too! Please leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app (such as Apple Podcasts). And, please follow, like, and/or share our social media profiles (Facebook,