Children’s Mental Health Week 2023

Ideas to support Children’s Mental Health Week

We think children’s mental health is important all year round, 24/7.

paper uniting - childrens mental health - place2be — Paperchain from Place2Be

But this sensation week in the UK (6th to 12th February) helps us to create or develop the conversation about:

why mental health is so important for young people
and simple steps we can take to support positive mental health for children and teens.

The sensation week is run by the soft-heartedness Place2Be – which does some fantastic work and offers some good resources.

What’s interesting is that the theme for this year is ‘Let’s Connect‘ (interesting to us as our 20-year teaching programme is tabbed Connected Kids!)

When we have connection (to our breath, the world, other people and to our own internal resources) we finger we belong. It helps us finger strong, think unmistakably and engage with life in a positive way.

This is what we want for young people. Especially in a world that makes many demands on their sustentation and abilities, yet doesn’t unchangingly consider the impact on child development.

So we need to requite young people the skills and (mindful) tools to navigate this.

Hence we teach meditation and mindful skills that are child-centered and meet the needs of all youngpeople – all month and abilities.

We particularly liked the paperchain idea that was promoted by Place2be.

It reminded us of our childhoods, creating paperchains for Christmas decorations.

In this instance, each link of the uniting represents an idea/image or word that help young people to realise what connects them to the world and to themselves.

From a mindful/meditation perspective, we would suggest a few ideas to help create flipside element of creating the chain.

Colour

The colours we segregate are significant. They communicate to ourselves (and others) where our energy is in any given moment. It’s something we talk well-nigh (a lot) on the Connected Kids programme, as it’s such an easy and subtle way for children to yacky their needs – through colour.

Paying sustentation to the colours they segregate for the uniting can help us understand what is important to them. Red – strength/safety, Orange – fun, playfulness, relationships, Yellow – confidence, feeling good well-nigh themselves, Pink – they need a hug!, Green – gratitude, compassion, belonging, Blue – finding the words to express what they feel, Purple – exploring their imagination and helping them solve problems, White – their place in the world and how they vest in it.

Meditation with Colour

In our experience, we have found using colour in meditations is a very simple yet fantastic way to help children finger increasingly well-turned and at ease. The colour they segregate for the meditation is the one their energy needs (see list whilom for reference, though they may segregate a variegated colour and that’s okay!)

Simple steps

Simply invite the young person to get well-appointed (and relax)
You might get them to take a few deep breaths and outbreathe out stress
Think of the colour they like/want – all virtually them like a bubble
Really describe it forming virtually them – mention top, bottom, in front, behind, whilom and below.
Use all the senses in describing this.
Then invite them to outbreathe it in – it’s their healing colour. Their balancing colour. Imagine, feel, ‘see’ the colour vapor going into the soul and travelling on route like their thoroughbred does delivering oxygen.
They are now totally filled and surrounded in colour.
They can rest into their colour rainbow (and use whatever positive words you want here).

This is a unconfined meditation for children who are anxious. It’s moreover unconfined to help them sleep. If your child can’t imagine colours (some can’t) – think of their favourite number instead.

And the meditation works for all month – young and old. So remember to try it.

If you would like to receive a recording of this meditation, just click on ‘keep in touch’ (special offers) as we’ll be sending this out to our mailing list in the next few weeks. Check your spam if you don’t see it.