Children’s Mental Health Week
This week, 1-7 February 2021, is place 2 be Children’s Mental Health Week with the theme express yourself.
Watch the charity’s Royal Patron HRH The Duchess of Cambridge’s video message to mark the start of the week.
Here are some idea and activities you could join in with and do at home:
Draw your feelings – draw an outline of your body and pause for a moment to think about how you feel right now.
- What does your tummy, feet, legs, shoulders feel like right now?
- What kind of colour could they be?
- Can you colour/draw lines/patterns of how you feel?
- Talking about the different emotions as you go.
Colour match – talk about different emotions you feel.
- What colour would you give them?
- Can you find different objects the same colour in your house and group them together?
Dance to music – How do you feel?
- Do you feel like dancing to fast or slow music?
- Can you find music you want to stamp your feet to if you are angry or jump up and down to if you are happy?
Make a positive affirmation jar/bottle/box
- decorate the outside of your bottle etc, cut up strips of paper and write some positive affirmations on the them (” I am kind”, “I am loved”, “I am safe”, “I am smart”)
- Get your child to pick one a day and read it them and talk to them about the statement.
Make your own worry monster/doll/teddy/animal – this could be out of recyclable materials i.e. kitchen roll, shoe box, pegs, teddy bear etc.
- Tell your worries to the monster/doll and talk about them to see if there is anything you could do to make the worry smaller or go away completely.
Read a story – Reading a story together can promote a feeling of well-being and relaxation, increase child’s willingness to communicate thoughts and feelings. Some good books you could listen to are –
The colour monster
Ruby’s worry
My big shouting day
Guess how much I love you
Silly Billy
It’s important to remember that some emotions are comfortable/uncomfortable but all are ok to feel them, we just need to find ways to express them and work on self regulation.
You can find out more information at-
www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk
Here also is a poster you and your family might find useful:-
