The teachers have found some Mental Well being activities to support your learning journey and adventures at home during this time and beyond. We have suggested some different activities for each class but please feel free to try any that you are interested in! As always, we love to see what you have been up to at home so please share with us via Tapestry.
Let’s take the time to pause, breathe and really take in what’s all around us.
This month we’re encouraging you to take some time to look within. Learning to be more mindful and aware can do wonders for our well-being in all areas of life – like the way we eat, the things we notice or our relationships. It helps us get in tune with our feelings and stops us dwelling on the past or worrying about the future – so we get more out of the day-to-day. It can also help us identify what we’re grateful for, which has been proven to help boost your happiness levels!
Children’s Mental Health Week was from the 1st – 7th February this year and we feel more than ever their theme of ‘Express Yourself’ is so important.
We created a set of activities to cover different ways you can explore mental health with your children and how they can express themselves during the week and beyond.
Stories to promote Mental Well-being and Express Yourself
A range of activities to promote positive mental well-being based on the book Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae.
Some activities to choose based on the book The Lion Inside to explore ‘Expressing Yourself’.
After listening to The Koala Who Could, choose one of the activities to promote positive mental well-being with your child.
Some activities to choose between based on the book The Worrysaurus to explore ‘Expressing Yourself’.
Here are some activities for you to think about looking after your own Mental Health and others. Thank you so much to one of our lovely families for sharing a personal, special story and inspiring one of our tasks.
Today’s activities are all about Creating things to help your mental well-being.
Click on the links for some healthy ideas of things you can make and do at home:
Healthy Recipe – Yoghurt Bark 🧑🍳
I Express Myself through…art activities 🎨
Superhero Project 🦸♂️ 🦸♀️
The best way for the children to express themselves through movement is to do whatever it is they enjoy!
Below are some links and videos to inspire (and to have fun!) but you could:
Connecting with friends and loved ones is a great way to look after your own mental health and others. While this is trickier during lockdown, Young Minds has a range of ideas about how to connect with others safely:
How to Stay Connected During Lockdown
We have also created a selection of ways to keep you connected this week and going forward too – we hope some will inspire you!
Outdoor activities you can do from your house, in your garden or during your daily exercise to promote Mental Well-Being.
If you wake up to a frosty, icy morning, here is an activity for frozen bubbles. ❄️
Create your own ice-sun catchers with natural resources, some string and somewhere freezing ❄️
On 11th February there is a new moon, meaning the moon isn’t visible, darkening the sky even further and making so many more stars visible! ⭐️
A way to appreciate and explore how beautiful nature can be 🌳
Choose a spot in your garden where you can imagine fairies or small insects might visit to make your own natural home 🏡
An Outdoor Learning opportunity to slow down and make a rainy day something to look forward to! 🌧
Premier League Stars have set Well-Being challenges to stay safe and healthy at home with some help from some familiar famous friends.
It is so important to make sure we take care of ourselves during these challenging times, from eating healthily to finding ways to feel more positive. To get your children thinking about their everyday routines, radio and TV presenter Roman Kemp is here to set this week’s challenge:
Roman Kemp Daily Routine Challenge
As part of the My Daily Routine challenge, we want pupils to write their own daily schedule using our challenge template worksheet.
The Premier League Stars are joining once again with the National Literacy Trust to bring you another exciting challenge and live event this week!
To explain this week’s challenge, here is top football author, Helena Pielichaty:
Whether it’s to play games, learn from home or stay connected with others, we use the internet in so many ways. But how do we know if the information we find online is reliable and how can we make sure we’re using the internet responsibly?
CBBC TV presenter Katie Thistleton is challenging you to become an internet detective in the new weekly challenge:
To get involved, download the challenge worksheet found in the Internet detectives resource pack. Carry out an investigation of your footballing hero by completing the tasks and then share your Footballing hero template with us for your chance to win a fantastic book; Football Academy by Tom Palmer.
Make sure to also check out Katie’s top tips for staying safe online before you get started.
TV Presenter Ben Shires challenge
For the Super Movers warm-up challenge, they’re asking you to create your very own warm-up routine and Super Move! Get inspired for creating your warm-up and Super Move by using the videos in their challenge pack. The activity sheet in the pack explains why being active is important for our minds and bodies and includes a template for you to set and write your own movement goals for the week ahead, recording how you feel before and after fulfilling them.
Film and send your warm-up routine and Super Move via email at PLPrimaryStars@premierleague.com or on Twitter @PLCommunities using #PLPrimaryStars for your chance to win! By sending us your entries, you could grab yourself this week’s prize book: The Racehorse that Wouldn’t Gallop by Clare Balding, and even find yourself as our Star of the Week on our community page.
Team captains play an important role in looking out for all the members of a team, from diffusing differences between players to boosting morale. For this week’s challenge, former Premier League defender and captain Ashley Williams wants to know if you have what it takes to talk like a team captain.
For this challenge, we want you to write a short team talk to motivate and inspire your team. You could be the captain of any team you choose, whether that’s your favourite Premier League football team, a team at school or an imaginary one. Everything you need to write the perfect team talk can be found in our free challenge resource pack.
A very special St Mary’s friend has put together a selection of Collective Worships to share during Lockdown. The stories are some of our favourites from the Bible and are all told in creative ways. Huge thank you to Paul Rusby for supporting us with this project!
This week we go on a trip to the beach and think about what we can learn from the story of the boy who finds all the starfish on the beach.
We have made a slight change to the Weekly Worship with a special message.
To mark the start of Children’s Mental Health Week, The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of Place2Be, sent a message of support encouraging children and parents to find ways to share their thoughts and feelings, particularly during such a challenging time.
This week, we have chosen a worship (from a little while ago) all about homes for different creatures all around the world. Paul takes us out and about to introduce and share a story of 2 very different houses.
This week we look for some signs of spring and go on a walk to find a river almost in flood. We think about the story from St Mark’s Gospel about when Jesus calms the storm and finish with the really fun song, ‘My Lighthouse’. Keep safe!
