Wellbeing Resources

Children's Mental Health

Last week Reception talked about worries during their online sessions to link to Children's Mental Health Week. They then made worry monsters that they could share their worries with whilst they were at home. Here are some of the ones made at home by the children over the weekend. Why don't you have a go at making one of your own?

Often when we picture anxiety, we picture the “typical” symptoms — worrying, overthinking, panic attacks etc. However, anxiety can present itself in a lot of different ways.

It’s important for us to recognise that anxiety is often more than just worrying. A child who appears to be oppositional or aggressive may be reacting to anxiety - anxiety they may not be able to articulate effectively, or not even fully recognise their feelings.

Children's emotions can seem big and unpredictable at times. Although these can be natural parts of a developing mind, it's easy for us to be drawn into a "fixer" role and want to make the crying stop.

Here are 10 different ways to acknowledge and validate their emotions, while also giving them the words to make sense of what they are feeling

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Stress Sock

Fill an old sock with something soft.

You could use bubble wrap, foam packaging, a washing up or shower sponge, rolled up socks or scrunched up wrapping paper.

Tie a knot in the top of the sock or use a hair bobble or elastic band to keep the contents in.

Squeeze and release the sock in a rhythm that feels right for you.

Connect with Nature

Spend 5 or 10 minutes every day to connect with nature.

Look out of the window and watch the clouds. Look at holiday photos on the beach or in the countryside. Watch a video of the sea or a walk through a forest. Listen to birds singing or dogs barking nearby. Imagine being outdoors somewhere calm and peaceful by a waterfall or on a mountain path.

Write a Letter

Choose a day that you're feeling happy and write a letter to yourself, either on paper or on your phone, to read when things are more difficult or you're struggling to cope.

Remember to include advice about things that have helped you to cope in the past.

Read your letter to remind yourself that you have days when you feel less anxious and your mood improves.

The Question

Pause and notice what you are saying, doing or thinking.

Write it down.

Ask yourself if that thought or activity is helping you or not right now.

If it's not helping, choose to think or do something different.

You could try getting out of bed and doing 10 star jumps, thinking about a happy memory instead of a sad one or chatting to a friend online instead of feeling alone

Worry Box

Find a box, something small like a shoe box or a chocolate box.

Write down what's worrying you on a piece of paper and place it in the box.

Tell yourself that you don't need to think about the worry at the moment and you can let it go and leave it in the box for now.

You can do this as many times as you like.

Remember to keep the box somewhere private

Breathing Exercise

Breathe and sigh

Breathe in through your nose

Make a big sigh and drop your shoulders downwards as you breathe out through your mouth

Repeat 4 times

Find Freedom

When you're not able to see friends or go out you can feel trapped. It can help to notice the freedom you do have, even if it's much smaller than you're used to.

It might be that you can choose to go to a different room, look out of the window, connect with friends online or set up a video call with relatives.

Think of someone else who has less freedom than you and call or message them so they feel less alone.

Hold and Feel

Find 4 or more items to hold or feel.

You can choose things like a blanket to wrap around yourself, a smooth stone to hold, something that was given to you by someone important to you, the lyrics of a happy song or a poem that makes you feel positive .

Put them in a bag or a box in your room. When you feel under pressure, worried or upset choose 1 item out of the box to hold while you remember a time that you felt safe and calm . After 2 or 3 minutes replace it and choose another.

You can do this as many times as you like.