April 30, 2021
Mental Health Awareness week, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, takes place from 10-16 May 2021 and, the theme this year is ‘Nature’.
There is something to be wondered at in all of Nature
There are a range of paint projects that children could use over Mental Health Awareness Week on Purple Mash. They could design their garden or use one of our nature paint projects to draw scenes that they can see, from trees, to rivers, sunflowers to leaves there are a range that children can use during the week. Children could use 2Publish to produce a poster to encourage people to #ConnectWithNature and the benefits of being outside.
Children could take a walk around the school and ask them to use their senses to #ConnectWithNature they could then write a poem on their return focussing on what they could see and hear around them. They could also use our template 6steps to Good Mental health to note down different ways that you can have good mental health.
The Porchester Park Project in Serial mash would be perfect to read during this week. Freya’s favourite place is her local park but it is a wild and overgrown place and if the park is not tidied up in time the council will close it. The book includes 7 chapters and a range of activities related to improving a local area.
The week would also be a great time to share with parents our toolkit for wellbeing, which supports important conversations around mental health and wellbeing and includes a range of steps and strategies that they can use.
Dot Com Digital supports children’s personal, social and emotional development and helps provide a safe space for them to develop their skills. Through Dot Com Digital, children will be given the knowledge and empowerment to make their own decisions regarding their wellbeing, health and relationships. It offers comprehensive coverage of the Life Skills curriculum and through dot’s real-life stories, children can learn about risks they might come across in life and how they can deal with them in a safe way.
For Mental Health Awareness Week, we have included a new story linked to the theme of nature and also included 3 sample lesson plans.
Striver has been created with a sole purpose: To improve primary aged pupils long-term physical and mental wellbeing. Alongside over 400 PE lessons it also house 6 wellbeing units including one looking at mindfulness. Mindfulness helps us with our mental wellbeing. It can support us as human beings to foster more healthy living habits and understand our unique emotional and physical needs. When we practice Mindfulness it helps us to become more aware of the present, the world around us, and understand ourselves better. When we become more aware of the present moment, we begin to experience fresh things that we take for granted. Our 6 Mindfulness Pocket Postcards would be perfect to use during the week. For school, for home, or for self. Created for different settings to be able to reach, read, use, and action. They are purposeful, practical, and easy to use for a variety of ages and environments.
Mentally Healthy Schools have produced a toolkit of mental health resources and guidance to support schools and colleges to raise awareness of mental health now through this year’s theme of Nature, and all year round.Download your copy here.
Whatever you do for #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek we would love you to share how you #ConnectWithNature on either our Twitter or Facebook pages.
