Have you signed up to receive our free weekly resource yet? You can join our mailing list and check out this week's free resource at the bottom of this page!
This week we're back with more downloadable mental health resources to help your children with anxiety, grief and feelings of frustration. We have a new winter warmer for you with our Soothing Soup and an activity all about teaching your children some much-needed patience. Find out more below.
Classroom Gratitude Banner
Studies show that expressing gratitude can improve overall physical and mental well-being, boost self-esteem and even enhance sleep quality. In the modern world it's easy to focus on the things we don't have, gratefulness changes our perspective and forces us to look at the things that we do have and the things that are going well in our lives. This can act as an instant mood lifter!
Teach children the powerful art of gratitude and help them to think about all the amazing things in their lives with our Classroom Gratitude Banner! Print a sheet out for each child in your class and have every child draw or write something they are grateful for on their banner. Colour in, cut out and attach to string - your gratitude banner is ready to display! You can also do this at home by printing out around 5-10 sheets and having your child write a different thing they are grateful for on each banner.
Soothing Soup - a Wonderful Winter Warmer!
Have you ever noticed how comforting a bowl of soup can be? Especially during the cold dark evenings of winter. To bring some comfort to your home this week, we've created our Soothing Soup activity! Task your child to come up with their own soup recipe - ingredients can include food items or things such as a hug, someone to talk to etc. - then draw their soup and decorate their bowl. Complete the breathing exercise by imagining their Soothing Soup is too hot and they need to cool it down.
Fuzzy Feelings Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are great mindful activities helping us to process our surroundings and feel more present in the moment. Our Fuzzy Feelings Scavenger Hunt challenges your child to find objects that make them feel all these nice, warm, fuzzy emotions! Have them write the object they find next to the monster and draw the emotion on the monster's face.
Space Emotions
Our Space Emotions is about helping your child communicate how they're feeling - perfect for any astronaut in training! Included in this resource is a Space Emotions print and two activities.
No Hitting!
Help children understand why they may hit or kick when they feel frustrated or angry. Children who display aggressive behaviours may be struggling to communicate how they feel. This No Hitting activity explores why your child reacts this way and helps them to think about what they can do when they feel their emotions bubbling over. We've also included a short, guided calming activity - The Calming Gloves gives your child a new way of channeling overwhelming emotions.
The Very Patient Snail
We know from personal experience that most children are averse to patience! Time passes so slowly in a child's world. Help children explore patience and how they can be more patient when they are struggling to wait. You can also talk about all the things in nature that take their time - from flowers to trees and even snails!
My Grief Bouquet
Help children who are grieving the loss of a loved one with our flower craft. Explore why we lay flowers for loved ones and how this helps us to process our own feelings. Writing messages to people who have died can help us to channel our emotions, show respect and say things we may not have got to say. It may not be plausible for a child to go out and buy their own flowers, but they can commemorate a loved one with our bouquet craft. Colour in and decorate our bouquet and write a message in the heart. Cut out and fold the lines over the flowers, then stick the heart over the top to hold in place.
My Small, Medium and BIG Worries
This is a great activity for any child with anxiety or intrusive thoughts, helping them to categorise the worries that are making them the most upset. This allows you to then tackle and talk about these worries first.
When I Feel Good/Bad...
Think about how our feelings impact our thoughts and actions in this activity. What do we think, do and feel when we feel good? We may smile more and be kind to others. But, what do we do when we feel bad? We may misbehave, cry or shout. A great activity to help children understand how our behaviour and thoughts are linked to our mental health and emotions.
This week's FREE resource! - For Mailing List subscribers only
Rainbow Breathing
Rainbow breathing is a fun and simple exercise for kids that can be used as a mindfulness activity or coping tool. It is also a great introduction to deep breathing - helping children to learn to control their breaths and use their breathing to calm themselves.
Directions: Have your child place their finger at the top of the first colour, trace their finger down the colour of the rainbow, slowly taking a deep breath in. Hold for a few seconds, then, heading back to the top, slowly breathe out as they trace their finger down the second colour.
To help children easily remember when to breathe in and out, we have included prompts at the top of each line. For those not confident with reading, they can breathe in as they trace the spotty lines, and out as they trace the block colour lines.
If you'd like to receive a free resource each week, make sure you're signed up to our mailing list! You can sign up at the bottom of any page.
Comentários