5 Tips for Teaching Children to Manage and Prioritise Their Mental Health

A child’s mental health is just as important as their physical health. Teaching children skills to help them manage and prioritise their mental well-being from a young age can provide lifelong benefits. Read on as we provide helpful tips and advice for supporting children’s mental health.

• Understand Emotions

Helping children identify, express, and manage their emotions is key to supporting good mental health. Young children often struggle to verbalise how they are feeling. Caregivers can help by naming emotions and validating feelings. For example, “I can see you’re feeling angry right now. It’s okay to feel angry sometimes.” Teaching children that all emotions are normal and temporary helps them develop emotional awareness. Books, songs, and games about feelings are useful tools for building emotional literacy. Validate all emotions, while also guiding children on how to express themselves appropriately.

• Praise Efforts Not Outcomes

Focus praise on children’s efforts, perseverance, and progress. Rather than criticising mistakes or placing excessive emphasis on results, applaud things like trying new activities, concentrating, and asking for help. This encourages a growth mindset, resilience, and self-compassion. Avoid labelling children as ‘clever’ or ‘not clever’ – reinforce that they can get smarter through hard work. Celebrate small successes to nurture self-esteem. This is especially important for children fostered with agencies like www.thefca.co.uk who may struggle with self-worth.

• Promote Positive Self-Talk

Children’s inner dialogue impacts mood and self-image. Negative self-talk like “I’m useless” or “I can’t do anything right” harms self-esteem and mental health. Teach children to reframe unhelpful thoughts into more positive statements, such as “I’ll keep trying” or “I’m doing my best”. Lead by example using uplifting self-talk, and praise children when they demonstrate positive thinking. Activities like keeping a gratitude journal or writing affirmation cards can reinforce this habit. Building self-compassion is vital for good mental health.

• Make Time for Play and Relaxation

Ensure children have time each day for unstructured play and relaxation without distractions like TV or devices. Play relieves stress, boosts creativity and imagination, and supports cognitive, emotional, and social development. Relaxation activities like reading, listening to music, yoga, or spending time in nature can help children de-stress and recharge. Teach calming techniques like deep breathing, visualisation, and progressive muscle relaxation. Limit extracurricular commitments to avoid overscheduling. Downtime is essential for mental well-being.

• Promote Help-Seeking

Encourage children to ask trusted adults for help with worries, sadness, or anger. Some youngsters may think needing help means they are weak. Reinforce that everyone faces challenges sometimes, and seeking assistance is wise and brave. Provide multiple avenues of support – parents, relatives, teachers, school counsellors, helplines like Childline, etc. Check in with children regularly about how they are coping. Watch for signs of bullying, anxiety, or depression. Seeking early intervention demonstrates you take their mental health seriously.

Laying foundations for good mental health in childhood has lifelong dividends. The tips above provide practical ways to help children build self-esteem, emotional awareness, positive thinking, resilience, and self-care habits. By utilising these strategies, parents and caregivers can equip children to thrive and prioritise their mental well-being as they grow.