Gallery Archives - Helping Ninjas™

Lavender Helps Headaches?

Today I was at a Helping Ninja party and I had a headache. I used lavender and it helped my headache. It took it away a little bit. I would like to use it again because it smells good and helped my headache.

We decided to learn about lavender.

We looked it up on the Internet.

Lavender has been used for over 2,500 years. Ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans added the flowers to their bathwater to help wash and purify their skin.³ In fact, the word “lavender” comes from the Latin word “lavare,” which means “to wash.”

If you get migraines, you may be want to try lavender.

I have headaches on the front on my forehead. I also just learned that this is the name of the headaches that I have: frontal lobe headaches.

We learned this from Helathline:

Triggers to front lobe migraines:

sinus infection
jaw or neck pain
allergies
eye strain from computer use
insomnia or other sleep disorders
certain foods, such as meats with nitrates
dehydration
anxiety
weather changes
poor posture
tension

Lavendar also can do these things, we learned this from HealthLine:

• Relieve pain. It can help ease sore or tense muscles, joint pain and rheumatism, sprains, backache and lumbago. Simply massage lavender oil onto the affected area. Lavender oil may also help lessen pain following needle insertion.
• Treat various skin disorders like acne, psoriasis, eczema and wrinkles. It also helps form scar tissues, which may be essential in healing wounds, cuts and burns. Lavender can also help soothe insect bites and itchy skin.
• Helps with Inflamation According to Texas-based dermatologist Dr. Naila Malik, it’s a natural anti-inflammatory, so it helps reduce itching, swelling and redness.
• Keep your hair healthy. It helps kill lice, lice eggs, and nits. The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCB) says that lavender is possibly effective for treating alopecia areata (hair loss), boosting hair growth by up to 44 percent after just seven months of treatment.
• Improve your digestion. This oil helps stimulate the mobility of your intestine and stimulates the production of bile and gastric juices, which may help treat stomach pain, indigestion, flatulence, colic, vomiting and diarrhea.
• Relieve respiratory disorders. Lavender oil can help alleviate respiratory problems like colds and flu, throat infections, cough, asthma, whooping cough, sinus congestion, bronchitis, tonsillitis and laryngitis. It can be applied on your neck, chest, or back, or inhaled via steam inhalation or through a vaporizer.
• Stimulates urine production, which helps restore hormonal balance, prevent cystitis (inflammation of the urinary bladder), and relieve cramps and other urinary disorders.
• Improve your blood circulation. It helps lower elevated blood pressure levels, and can be used for hypertension.
• Keeps mosquitoes away Lavender oil can help ward off mosquitoes and moths. It is actually used as an ingredient in some mosquito repellents
Info Above From HealthLine: Lavender Health Migraine

Blog post written (with a little help and guidance) by Helping Ninja, Ethan, Age 9

Kids Need More Recess

I think kids should go outside more and I think we kids, need to have a longer recess. Five to ten minutes outside is not enough for kids our age. A school day is eight hours long, kids need more recess.Kids need to be outside more. Because it’s good for their health and social skills. I like playing tag and I get to talk to my friends at recess.

Written By Leo Berry, Helping Ninja Founder/Creator, Age 9

I think kids should go outside more and I think we kids, need to have a longer recess.

Five to ten minutes outside is not enough for kids our age. A school day is eight hours long, kids need more recess.

Kids need to be outside more. Because it’s good for their health and social skills. I like playing tag and I get to talk to my friends at recess.

At my school we only get that , five to ten minutes. The thrid grade classes, we’re supposed to go outside at 12:00 and recess ends at 12:10, but it sometimes ends at five minutes early because the recess teacher wil l say that we have lunch at 12:25. And cuts our time outside, because we have to go inside to get ready for lunch.

But, after recess and before lunch, we read a book or an e-book or talk with a classmate for up ten minutes. (Or with our heads down on our desk because someone acted out and got the whole class in trouble.) I think we should use this time to spend more time outside.

On average, American children spend four to seven minutes a day in outdoor play and spend seven or more hours in front of a screen.

A recent study by the Seattle Children’s Research Institute says on average, children aged 10 to 16 spend only 12.6 minutes a day on outdoor activity and spend 10.4 hours of either indoors in school or watching tv or playing video games.

The study says on average, children aged 10 to 16 spend only 12.6 minutes a day on outdoor activity and spend 10.4 hours of watching tv or playing video games.

When I read this, I flipped and thought, “why are they on so long?”

I think that is too long. And definitely not enough time outside.

Kids should have longer recess because it improves physical activity and social skills. Being outside helps kids to exert more energy. This is sometimes a problem our class. Kids sometimes roll around on the floor or talk too loud because they have more energy and they don’t have a way to get it out. And, they get in trouble.

Doctors say that being in nature is good for kids health.

And that just being outside will help our mind and body get strong.

I think that schools need to think about how they can add more recess time into their school day. And if the school curriculum rules say that they cannot add more reccess, they may need to think about it and maybe rethink the rules. And, teachers maybe they could try to mix outside and our work. Like incoroprate going outside into our daily lessons. Some studies say being outside improves chidren’s creativity and foucs.

I have a freind who is on focus medicine. Some studies and doctors say that it improves this too. That being outside helps you focus better when go inside. There was a big article in the New Yorks Times about how nature helps kids mental health. Maybe it would help my friend if we had more recess and help other kids too.

Another reason kids should go outside more as it helps kids focus and concentrate on class work and also improves the five senses. And being outside also helps your body’s defenses from getting sick – going outside improves your immune system. It also helps the development your brain. It helps with being more friendly and talking – helps your socializing skills .

And, here’s the best part about it – being outside, it’s also proven, that it makes kids happier.

Leo, Central Park, New York City, New York
Helping Ninjas Photo Copyright December 2018

Helping Ninjas Rock Climbing at Central Park, New York City, New York
Helping Ninjas Photo Copyright December 2018

Helping Ninja Mission: Blessings In Back Pack

Hi, I am a Helping Ninja. My favorite thing to do is draw and do arts and crafts. So, I really liked making cards for children who get Blessings in Backpacks. I am lucky that I am not hungry on the weekends so I want to help. It was fun helping this charity because n the weekends there are more than 1.6 million hungry kids in our country and this charity gives food for them to eat on weekends. You can see how it works on the website Blessings In Backpacks. Basically, it costs $100 to feed one child for the whole school year. Our Ninja Mission was to make cards for the kids who get a backpack. Maybe my card will help make someone smile.

Maddie, Helping Ninja, age 9, Third Grade

Here are examples from their website that other have donated too! Click on the picture to learn how you can start making cards today!