Wellbeing

Taking care of your mind as well as your body is really important while staying at home because of coronavirus (COVID-19).

You may feel bored, frustrated or lonely. You may also be low, worried or anxious about your health or those close to you.

It's important to remember that it is OK to feel this way and that everyone reacts differently. Remember, this situation is temporary and, for most of us, these difficult feelings will pass. Staying at home may be difficult, but you are helping to protect yourself and others by doing it.

The tips and advice here are things you can do now to help you keep on top of your mental wellbeing and cope with how you may feel while staying at home. Make sure you get further support if you feel you need it.

Maintaining healthy relationships with people you trust is important for your mental wellbeing. Think about how you can stay in touch with friends and family while you are all staying at home – by phone, messaging, video calls or social media – whether it's people you usually see often, or connecting with old friends.

Lots of people are finding the current situation difficult, so staying in touch could help them too.

For the latest government advice for parents with regards to home learning click the link below -

Help primary school children continue their education during coronavirus

These activities are designed to help you, as a parent or caregiver, to help your child process their thoughts and feelings without getting into negative thought cycles, all whilst maintaining the directions for self-isolation. It’s a tall order, and we hope this helps!

Worry box/book

This is a place where your child can drop in their worries at any time, they need to have access to it in the home, and then at the end of the week (or perhaps the end of the day at the moment), you take some time to address the worries they might have. This is also very helpful for children who struggle with more obsessive worries. If you explain to the child that once they have placed the worry inside the box or book they don’t have to think about it until the time when you talk about it, it can help them reduce the frequency of their worries. It can also help if you give them the chance to decorate the worry book or worry box whilst you explain its purpose!

Mindfulness and meditation     

Meditation always sounds like it should be for adults, but it is very helpful for children too. If you are already thinking “There’s no way I can get my child to sit still for two minutes!” – Don’t worry. This type of meditation/mindfulness is not necessarily about physical stillness but rather mental relaxation. It is about giving your child time and space to relax in their mind, which if they are experiencing worry and anxiety, will be a very noisy place. For a child, mindfulness can be the quiet that comes over them when they are being read a bedtime story - even gaming can be good for mindfulness! 

 Exercise and chores

Your children might already be feeling the impact of less exercise already with community groups closing their doors. Exercise is very important for your child’s mental wellbeing as it gives them a serotonin boost and gives them a way to expend excess adrenaline which can cause anxiety. So how do we find ways to exercise with children during self-isolation? You might have to get imaginative with it. Try exercise videos online that you can do together, or a good old fashioned run around in the garden or a kick about with the football. Take your child out for a daily walk (unless advised otherwise by the government). If you find yourself stuck inside, you might consider using chores as exercise! Everyone knows nothing gets your heart pumping like a good bathroom scrub! it’s also important for children to have some structure in their day. A period of time doing something “boring” will only make the periods when they can do what they want more fun. It’s also a good way for you to give rewards for a good job done, and encourage your children to be more active!

Jar of Joy

One of the hardest things about self-isolation for children can be boredom. After four days inside, even the Xbox can become boring! As we know, a bored child can be prone to anxious thoughts, bad behaviour, and low mood. Sometimes, however, a child just doesn’t know what to do with themselves and even your suggestions of their favourite activities are deemed “soooo boring!” The great thing about the jar of joy is that it brings an element of surprise and variation into the day. At the start of isolation,or at any point, get your child to write down different activities that they enjoy (inside and outside, but maybe limit them to your own garden). They can be as time-consuming as watching a movie, or as little as playing with a pet. Then, put all the activities in the jar. When your child cries boredom and you need to distract them, pull out the jar!