It's officially a new school year! And the beginning of what can be a scary - but exciting - time for children, with lots of change and new experiences. See what's new this week by scrolling below.
Resources for Military Families
We recently received a request from a member to create resources for families where a main parent/carer may be away for long periods of time. Perhaps they work away for months of the year, or travel frequently. It can be quite hard for children to grasp why parents or loved ones have to go away, and the impact that this can have on their routines can affect their mental health too.
Each Day You're Away - These countdown calendars are perfect for helping your children understand how long their parent or loved one may be gone. Use the monthly or weekly calendar to shade each day that passes. This helps them to realise that they will be coming home, and allows them to focus on their return.
A Note From the Heart, When We're Apart - You may be communicating via video call or email regularly, or perhaps the time difference means staying in touch is a little harder. For days that seem harder than others, have your child fill in one of our Notes From the Heart. You can purchase or recycle a glass jar, decorate the jar, and place the notes inside for their parent/loved one to read on their return. This exercise allows children to feel like they are communicating with their loved one and helps them to write down everything that's on their mind. Perhaps there is something extremely pressing that they can't wait to tell them - they can write it down on our Note From The Heart!
'Til Then, Penguin - Again this activity allows your child to focus on the date of return, reinstating the fact that their parent/loved one will come back soon. Have your child write the date of their parent's return on our penguin's belly, and colour in/decorate the penguin. The 'Til Then Penguin can be used in two ways - by displaying it in your home it acts as a visual reminder that their parent/loved one will return, or your child can choose to send it away with their loved one to display whilst they're apart! For extra fun, make sure you end your phone calls or emails by saying ''Til Then, Penguin!'
Resources for Back to School
Back to School Affirmations - This month's affirmations cards focus on helping children feel confident and ready to learn! As usual, you can either download and cut out or swipe online.
School Colouring Sheet - Perfect for the classroom or to unwind at home - relax, colour in and enjoy this mindful activity.
The Calming Caterpillar - For those little ones starting school, or those in younger years heading back to school, we've come up with our Calming Caterpillar. Follow the fun and calming steps on the caterpillar to help ease anxieties, worries, defuse anger or panic attacks or just for a bit of fun. We also have a blank one so that your child can have a go with coming up with their own calming strategy or routine!
5 Finger Breathing - A super easy breathing technique that can be done anywhere! Have your child learn this breathing exercise by tracing the outline of their fingers as they breathe in and out. Learning this means they can use this at home, or at school, whenever they feel stressed or overwhelmed.
September Mood Tracker - Our mood trackers are incredibly popular at the moment so this is going to be a new monthly resource, each month we will have a different themed tracker for you! This is an excellent way to track your child's emotions and moods throughout the month and will help to identify any patterns and see their most prominent mood. Over time, you will be able to see whether their mental health is worsening or improving.
Five Senses Sorting Activity - Lastly this week, we have our Five Senses Sorting Activity. This cut and stick exercise helps your child to engage and learn about their senses, which are important in grounding, mindfulness and wellbeing. It includes five mats and 25 sense cards.
Do you like this week's resources? What is your favourite this week? Remember, you can always feedback to us in our Hub or leave us a review to let us know how we're doing!
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