Have Fun while Boosting Mental Health
aws Studios is all about helping kids and adults build mental health skills (often referred to as social emotional learning [SEL] or skills)! This past Saturday, at the Golisano Children’s Hospital Run and Stroll fundraiser in Rochester, NY, I picked up the University of Rochester Medicine’s Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness “Coping Kit.” It was full of excellent mental health skill-building resources meant for kids, but adults can use these kits too or get ideas of what they would want or need in their kits. They are guaranteed to add fun and easy ways to build your mental health.
(I like “Chill Kits” instead of “Coping.” I think “Chill” is a little more fun and not as “heavy” as “Coping.” Heaven knows, we need to make mental health skill-building as fun as possible!)
Coping or Chill Kit contents:
- A cute, small vial of bubbles and a “Bubble Breathing” handout teaching the skill of deep, slow breathing to help us calm down when feeling upset using the bubbles.
- A colorful handout of fun and easy yoga poses for kids from “Kids Yoga Stories.”
- Another handout explaining the four (4) benefits of physical activity for kids’ mental health or “emotional wellness”: 1) Exercise fights depression; 2) Decreases stress; 3) Increases self-confidence; and can 4) Improve sleep. Who doesn’t need all of this?! So, to help kids get out there and move, the kit also included:
- A fun, colorful jump rope
- A Stress ball
- A Mini plastic frisbee and a foldable fabric frisbee (or cooling fan)
- And some sports stickers to top it all off.
Thanks to UR Medicine
Thank you to the UR Medicine’s Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness department and their “Coping” or “Chill Kit”! I made my granddaughter get her own! I wanted mine all to myself!
Easy DIY Kit
Everyone needs a “Chill Kit”! Do you have one? You could make your own. What would you put in yours? (I was thinking for adults, crayons and a coloring book!) Tell me what you think in Comments below!
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