Six years ago, Frozen grossed $1.3 billion at the box office. The release of Frozen 2 this year is even more anticipating. What’s waiting for Elsa and Anna this year? Just like the movie trailer, Elsa and Anna is entering an unknown zone to discover and explore places that they never know. Aside from the beautiful princesses, the lovely snowman, and the hilarious Kristoff and his reindeer, this touching story also inadvertently brings values to its audiences.
Spoiler alert!
1. Step out from your comfort zone
In the ending of Frozen 1, we can see that Elsa and Anna were safe and sound in their kingdom, happily spending time with their people. However, Elsa heard an unknown voice calling for her, thus decided to find the source of the voice by herself. Echoing one of the theme song in Frozen II, “Into the Unknown”, Elsa decided to step out from her comfort zone and find the answer for her confusion, despite her anxiety and trepidity. It’s the same with life. We tend to stay in the comfort zone and are afraid to step out and explore the world outside. Comfort zone is good, yet staying in it for too long can lead to laziness and a loss of motivation.
Parents should do this: Lead the children out of their comfort zone
Like young birds that started learning to fly, our children require a push at the back from parents to make them brave enough to step outside. Children are full of curiosity especially when they are young. Parents should accompany them to explore the beauty of the world, instead of having them looking at the tablets all the time. Take them out for a walk to meet new friends and learn about new things. This also helps in children’s mental development. Parents can also take them to the enrichment centres nearby to learn new skills, such as music lessons and arts lessons.
2. Siblings love matters
Not sure if you’ve noticed, but Frozen is a classic Disney story that doesn’t have the typical “a prince and princess living happily ever” plot. Since the first season, this movie tells how the two sisters understand each other, and rely on each other to survive. There is one scene in Frozen 2 that talks about the intimacy of their sisterhood. Anna ran into the fire to save her sister, yet was scolded by Elsa, who was worried about her sister at the same time. Children at young age may be competitive, and brothers and sisters will always compete for favour. Therefore, parents should take this opportunity to teach them that kinship is the strongest defence in the world when they face problems in life.
Parents should do this: Treat each child fairly
Most of the time, we find that the reason why children quarrel often comes from their parent’s neglect. For instance, parents only give rewards to one of the siblings or parents only punish one party when not only one was at fault. Parents should be fair and just while settling issues between the siblings. The older siblings don’t necessarily have to always sacrifice for the younger ones. Instead, parents should let the younger siblings to know that things have to be shared among each other, and mistakes are to be punished.
Read: 5 Effective ways to teach your children to share and give
3. Do the “next right thing”
There is a quote from Frozen 2 by Pabbie, “When one can see no future, all one can do is the next right thing”. Indeed, the journey of life may be hard. Sometimes, we may be confused about our future. We can’t even find the lights that guide our way. However, what we should do is to stay calm, do the right thing one by one based on the situation and soon we will see the dawn of life.
Parents should do this: Listen to children’s problems and guide them
Many times, children are reluctant to tell their parents about the problems that they faced because they are afraid of the blames from the parents. Thus, parents should pay more attention on the children’s mood swings and give the appropriate advices.
Of course, this is not about parents interfering in their children’s lives. What we meant here is to lead them to do the right thing. For instance, when children find themselves unable to get along with their classmates, parents should not blame them for not fitting in, but to listen and understand the problem. It is important to note that parents must not interfere too much in children’s social life. This might cause them pressured and push them away from parents’ control.
4. Friendship matters
Besides the support from the family members, the company of friends is important as well. When we meet the bottleneck of life, most people would like to have a sympathetic partner to listen to their complaints and frustration. Even if our friends did not say anything, their company solely are enough to halve our stress levels. Besides, it helps to train us to be a good listener.
Parents should do this: Encourage their children to communicate with different people
Children are lively and active especially when they are young. Parents can take their children to the neighbourhood park or the enrichment centres nearby to participate in different activities. This is to allow the children to get in touch with people from different cultures. This not only enables children to be good at expressing their emotions, but also enables them to expand their social life circle. A friendship built from an early age helps to develop a deeper sense of trust and security, which allows it to go longer.
5. Everyone is unique
As compared to the first season, Elsa is braver and more confident in Frozen 2. In the previous season, she was afraid of her own power as she did not know how to control her power. She locked herself in the room after she accidentally hurt her sister using her power. She even ran away from her kingdom to hide herself somewhere in the mountain. However, just like the song “Show Yourself” that Elsa sang in this season, she decided to explore the hidden truth behind her power after she heard the unknown call from afar. This time, Elsa decided to accept the unique in herself, and find the place that fits her.
Parents should do this: Help children to understand themselves deeper
Sometimes, we constantly doubt our abilities due to some negative emotions. We might have the thought that we are unable to do things well, then got stuck in a dead end. Parents should lead their children in understanding their own abilities well. At the same time, they should lead them to accomplish goals that children would like to achieve. Give appropriate rewards for accomplishing a task, and encouragements when they fail. Your company is absolutely the best element to build a child’s confidence.
Overall, Frozen 2 is indeed a good movie to watch with the family. Make sure you take the opportunity to ask what they have learned from the movie! Not to forget, I can listen to their songs over and over again. What’s your favorite song or scene or movie lines in the movie? Leave a comment below and let us know!
This is an interesting take. My daughter love frozen so much