If you are at all familiar with the works of Walt Disney, you will have come across Pollyanna, the little girl who taught us to play ‘The Glad Game’.

Pollyanna had learnt from her clergyman father that when times are challenging and the tunnel seems long, we need to try to look for the positives in the situation in order to flourish.

So, Pollyanna taught her community about ‘The Happy Texts’.
She says:

 ''Like, ‘Shout for joy,’ or ‘Be glad in the Lord.’ You know, like that…
There are eight hundred happy texts, did you know that?
 
And do you know, my father said that if God took the trouble to tell us eight hundred times to be glad and rejoice,
He must have wanted us to do it.”

So the seven year old at my house had a go at 'The Glad Game' and painted the image above to go with his words:

I am Glad…
 
I am glad I can go for walks in the early morning and
see the wonderful world.
There is more time to discover the deer’s secret pathways as they curve slowly through a hedge.
 
I am glad that there is another way to see each other,
I feel happy as a cheetah that’s just learnt to
run to see my friends on Skype.
 
I am glad that it’s bright and sunny,
I lie down so I feel like a snake basking in the sun.
 
I am glad I can spend more time looking at the wiggly newts in our pond,
they move like miniature lizards with little teeny weeny feet.
 
I am glad I get to do extra baking,
I love the smell of the dough warming up, it makes me feel all cosy.
 
I am glad I have more time to do things I want to,
to make videos of things I’ve made to send to Nanny and Grandad.
They had lots of questions about my space station.
 
I am glad my teachers can still send me work
and messages and help me learn.
The work is sometimes hard and challenging but fun.
I especially enjoyed the capacity work,
pouring sloshy water into different jugs and reading millilitres.
 
I am glad to see my next door neighbours more often
and that we help each other with the shopping.
 
I am glad I get to spend more time with Mummy,
I especially enjoyed helping her by writing this.

We hope you enjoy playing Pollyanna’s ‘Glad Game’ too.