Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week is 7th – 13th February 2022. This year’s theme is ‘Growing Together’.
This year, the organisers of Children’s Mental Health Awareness, Place2Be, are calling for children to consider how they can grow emotionally, and help others to grow too.
At times when there is a high level of uncertainty, the idea of emotional growth may seem daunting.
Encouraging emotional growth during uncertain times is more important than ever. Trying new activities can give us a new focus and build resilience. Overcoming challenges can also make us more confident and boost our mental health and wellbeing.
Similarly, having support from our classmates and peers to help us grow, can make us feel supported and enhance relationships. This is a theme we focus on in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshops for students.
Here is a great activity to support the Growing Together theme for Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week:
How I’ve Grown
Ask your students to choose a skill or area they have developed in.
E.G: Baking, Writing, Meditation, Running, Reading, Riding a Bike, Cooking, Skateboarding.
Ask your students to draw a picture of a tree with five branches, and write: ‘How I’ve Grown’ at the top, along with the skill they are focusing on. See the example below:
On each of the branches, your students can answer the following five questions:
What did you do to develop this skill?
E.G – Learnt how to mix ingredients safely, learnt how to hold a pen correctly, read for 30 minutes a day.
What challenges did you experience?
E.G – I found reading some words hard, My biscuits burnt a few times, I spelt some words wrong.
Who helped you?
E.G – My Mum, My teacher, My friends from school.
What did you learn?
E.G Different cooking times for different cakes, new words, how to ride my bike without stabilisers.
How can you grow more in this skill?
E.G – Learn a new recipe, read a more advanced book, write my own story.
You can then display the posters in your classroom, and make a display. Or, your students can take home their posters.
Would you like to support your students further with their wellbeing?
OpenView Education specialises in age appropriate, interactive Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshops from EYFS – KS3. Find out more and contact us now.
