Children’s Mental Health Week: Know Yourself, Grow Yourself

Children’s Mental Health Week: Know Yourself, Grow Yourself

This week is Children’s Mental Health Week, 3rd-9th February, and 2025’s theme for Children’s Mental Health Week is ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’, helping kids understand and express their emotions. By taking a step back to focus on how we’re feeling we can greatly improve our emotional awareness, and teaching this to children from an early age can help with their development in building a stronger sense of self. Understanding what causes different emotions can positively affect a child’s ability to connect to others, build stronger healthy relationships, and better handle challenging situations.

So how can we help our children understand themselves and grow as people?

1.        Help children recognise and express their emotions

Encouraging children to share how they’re feeling and why can help them be more comfortable in themselves. We can do this by simply having daily check-ins and casual conversations to give children the chance to open up and connect with their emotions.

2.        Active listening

Placing full focus on what a child is saying and responding in a thoughtful way, showing that you understand and care about what they are telling you, can help children feel more confident in communicating their thoughts and emotions because they know they will be heard and supported.

3.        Reflect on emotions, especially after challenging situations

Taking a moment to reflect on difficult emotions after a challenging situation can create a safe space for children to share what they’re experiencing and develop healthy ways to navigate life.

4.        Setting goals

Working towards a new goal can help a child focus on their hopes and dreams, reminding them of what they’re able to achieve, and figure out how they can work towards it.

5.        Working with others

After taking part in group activities, encouraging children to reflect on the experience and share what they were able to learn about themselves can be a fantastic way to help them develop a stronger understanding of who they are. This is also a great chance for a child to explore their strengths and areas for development so that they can learn how to better connect with others.

6.        Creativity

Embracing creativity helps children express themselves either visually or audibly so that they can experience the emotions inside of them in a new way. This can help children deal with and better understand difficult emotions, allowing them to release negative thoughts or feelings through a constructive outlet.

Conclusion

In short, the mental health of our children is a top priority, and as grown-ups it’s down to us to help kids better understand themselves and feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings. Simply sparking a conversation or taking a moment to pause and give your child a chance to reflect on how they’re feeling can boost their confidence in communicating what they’re experiencing, and gives you the opportunity to guide them in the right direction so that they can learn how to deal with difficult situations. Working on emotional awareness can also be made fun by getting creative and letting your child’s mind wonder free – through sports, art, music, or writing, children can learn more about who they are as people while creating something new or personal to them. So, take a second to listen, be creative, or set new goals and watch your child flourish and grow!

Thanks for reading!

If you would like any further information on Children’s Mental Health Week, please visit: https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/

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