Mental health education for children age 6-12

Children in this age group won’t be able to fully understand the depths of mental health and everything associated with it, but you can still teach them about mental health in a playful way. During these years children start learning about themselves and the world, and it’s important that they learn that someone cares about them and that their feelings are valid and that it’s ok to talk about their emotions.

Emotion flashcards

You can teach your child about emotions with these flashcards, Or you can make it a fun activity and make flashcards yourself! Instead of asking your child how school was you can ask him what emotion card best describes his mood, and you can talk about how he feels about it. It’s a fun way to bond with your child while he learns that emotions are normal. Around this age children start to associate emotions with good or bad. Explain to your child that emotions change all the time and that all feelings are a part of life.

Arts and crafts

Another fun way for your child to learn about mental health is by doing fun arts and crafts activities together. Draw facial expressions on a bear for example. At this age children start to learn about self-esteem, you can help them by telling that things don’t have to be perfect. Another fun activity is to let your child scribble something and turn it into something beautiful together; you can teach your child that making mistakes is ok because it can always be fixed.

Safety

In this age group, children depend a lot on the safety that their parents give them. You can teach your children that they can also create this feeling themselves. Children will often already do that; think about how you crawled under the covers when you were scared or put your hands in front of your eyes when you saw something scary. You can teach your child that they can ‘create’ a safe place, a ‘hideaway.’ A fun way to do this is by making a blanket fort, or if you want a more permanent spot, you can get a teepee. Whenever your child feels overwhelmed or needs some alone time, he can crawl into his safe place and recharge.

Behavioral effects on others

It’s still hard for your child to understand their behavior on other children at this age but you can show them this little experiment. You take a regular piece of paper and ask your child to crumple and stomp on it; then you ask him to unfold it and smooth it out. He will realize that it’s not the same as before and this is the perfect opportunity to educate your child about what effects bullying and other bad behavior can have on other people.

Teaching mental health by reading.

Children love stories, so what better way to teach children about mental health by reading to them.

Child yoga and mindfulness

Children love to play and like to be involved with whatever their parents are doing. Next time you practice yoga, include your child. Explain that mommy is trying to be healthy and encourage your child to follow your lead. A friend of mine recently told me this story how she was meditating with a closed door, and her children kept knocking, so she opened the door and explained that she was trying to make room in her head by being really quiet and she encouraged her kids to do it with her. Lots of habits are formed in the early years, the sooner your child learns to take care of their mental health, the better. Read my article about mindfulness if you are not familiar with this technique yet.

Self-care list

Make a self-care list with your child. Think of fun ways that your child can relax and wind down after a busy school day. Help mom bake cookies, watch Dora or go for a walk with the dog. Make the list beautiful with glitter and colors and hang it up somewhere for easy access.

ByDimph