Holidays may be a time that many children and young people enjoy, some children and young people find themselves without their usual mental-health supports!
The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families have complied toolkits identifying both healthy and unhealthy coping strategies. They have a toolkit available for primary students, as well as secondary students. Feel free to share these resources with your child and/or young person – or go through the resources with them!
The toolkit available for primary pupils includes interactive resources, such as videos, templates to be filled in, and board games. There are resources on:
- Creating of a self-care plan
- Helping identify tools for managing emotions
- Mindfulness exercises
- Resilience-building
The toolkit created for secondary pupils includes some of the same information and resources, as the toolkit aimed at primary pupils. However, it is more bespoke to young people:
- Includes suggestions, such as joining a local youth club
- Describes self-help techniques, such as breathing exercises, in more detail
- Includes information on the importance of sleep, emotional connections and friendships, etc.
- makes suggestions for physical exercise
Both toolkits are also aimed at adults. They explain concepts such as self-harm and eating disorders in children and young people, which you may find helpful.
