Photo Credit:The Public Health Image Library from the CDC
Photo Description: man in long sleeve shirt standing beside girl in pink shirt washing hands
February 7th | Awareness, Informative, Mental Health
February 6-12th marks Children’s Mental Health Week! Children’s Mental Health Week is an annual event dedicated to raising awareness about children and young people’s mental health. This important event is a wonderful opportunity to open a discussion about mental health and well-being with children, young people and their families.
Here are some fun mental health activities you can do both with your own children or if you are in the mental health field or the field of education.
Create a journal
It is quite common for children and young people to find it difficult to verbalize their emotions for fear of being judged or abandoned. Journaling can be a great outlet for children that are uncomfortable with or have a difficult time labeling and expressing their feelings. Journaling can become a safe space to openly express what they are feeling as well as a place to be creative and practice their writing skills. Done consistently, journaling can help to relieve stress and help mental health recovery.
Practicing Gratitude
Practicing Gratitude is an effective tool for mental health recovery! A gratitude exercise for pre-k kids might be to simply start the day by asking them to list three things that they are grateful for. For older children, creating gratitude jars that are filled with notes of gratitude statements each week can be very helpful. Practicing Gratitude can help change negative thoughts to positive ones and aid in the recovery process for all ages.
Try Breathing Exercises
It’s easy for kids to get caught up in fear or negative feelings. Breathing exercises can be a great stress reliever for kids. Breathing exercises can also go hand in hand with meditation and mindfulness. During deep breathing, children become more in tune with the present moment. This helps them let go of worries and experience a sense of calm.
Music Therapy
Music can be helpful both to relax and to encourage movement! Calming music can help children control and grow their self-regulation, whereas upbeat music can help express joy, anger or other emotions in a healthy way. Streaming platforms such as YouTube or Spotify have playlists that are designed for kids’ music therapy and are often free!
Raising Awareness
This week can help to build awareness of the importance of mental health for children, young adults and their families in simple ways as described above or through community fund raising. Some ideas might include a local car wash, Bingo Night or a Raffle with Prizes at the local elementary and middle schools. By creating a fundraiser, you and your child can help to shape a world that is more educated and as a result kinder in general! Together we can create positive change for mental health through all ages!
Citations
https://www.gofundme.com/c/blog/mental-health-activities-for-kids
Resources
https://www.teachwire.net/news/11-films-for-teaching-childrens-mental-health-week/
https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/tools-resources/children/index.htm
https://www.mhanational.org/childrens-mental-health
Written by: Patricia Morris , MSW-C
