Childhood Mental Health Archives - Parents With Confidence

10 Best Restorative Mental Health Day Activities for Kids

July 12, 2021 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach Leave a Comment

“Even if I was ok giving my child a mental health day, what would we even do?

As it turns out, this is a common question and stumbling block for many parents considering offering their stressed or overwhelmed child a mental health day off of school, or their regular day-to-day responsibilities.

The good news is, the answer isn’t complicated and requires no preparation or financial investment.

While your child may want to escape what’s on their mind by binging on screen time all day, spending time doing a few of these mental health day activities for kids will make the most of their time off, and give them the best emotional reset moving forward.

Having a conversation early on in the day to discuss both of your expectations, and letting your child help choose some of the following activities, will go far to get them on board and on the path to calm confidence again.

Here are the most powerful well-being boosting mental health day activities for kids that have a long history of research and evidence backing them up.

10 Best Mental Health Day Activities for Kids

1.Connect

Hands down, the best thing you can do for your child during a mental health day is to connect with them emotionally and relationally. What does this mean exactly?

Giving your child full undivided attention and fully listening with the intent to understand their thoughts and feelings, and not just listening to respond.

When parents respond to their children with sensitivity and warmth, kids are more likely to develop secure attachments – loving, trusting relationships that promote confidence and emotional health. In addition, studies show that sensitive, affectionate, responsive parenting protects children from toxic stress. – Gwen Dewar Ph.D

Pro Tip: Connection with younger children happens less through direct conversation and more through play and shared activity, so be aware of when and how your child usually opens up

2. Move

Physical movement is amazing for mental health in so many ways. Body movement allows emotions to move through us as well as creating a release of feel-good endorphins and a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol.

Aerobic exercise specifically has been found to be as effective as both medicine and psychotherapy for depression and anxiety, and it’s one of the strategies that will come naturally for your child.

According to the American Psychological Association:

“On average, young people who exercise more have lower levels of depression, stress and psychological distress, and higher levels of positive self-image, life satisfaction and psychological well-being”

Pro tip: Ask your child if they’d like to choose an activity to ‘move our bodies or if they’d like you too. This way you can offer them some control if necessary, or not if they’re overwhelmed.

3. Slow down

Sometimes life feels kind of like running on a treadmill. One activity after the next and pretty soon, we’re not sure why we’re on the treadmill anymore or where we’re headed.

In order for your child to find the perspective needed to reflect, their brain needs the quiet time and space to do so. Our brains also do important regeneration and growth during quiet time.

“Silence offers opportunities for self-reflection and daydreaming, which activates multiple parts of the brain. It gives us time to turn down the inner noise and increase awareness of what matters most. And it cultivates mindfulness — recognition, and appreciation of the present moment.” -Cleveland Clinic

Pro Tip: Simply allow an open and unscheduled chunk of time for your child to navigate. Pretty easy right?

4. Play

Play is not only how children learn almost everything from their cognitive development to social skills, it’s also how they blow off steam and express unprocessed emotions.

Megan Gunner Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota helps clarify how play reduces stress for kids:

Play is the best medicine in stressful times like this. Play gives children a sense of control because, by definition, play is what we engage in because we want to, not because we have to.

Fantasy play allows children to create a world where they decide what happens and they can predict what goes on. Control and predictability are two pillars of stress reduction.

Pro-tip: Push through your adult discomforts and don’t be afraid to get silly with your child! Allow them to direct the play and meet their needs for control and predictability.

Related read>> 75 Calm Down Strategies for Kids (that Actually Work!)

5. Journal

Journaling is a powerful activity for a mental health day, and for your child to externalize their emotions in a safe way. That is, get them ‘out of their head’ and into a productive outlet where they can be reflected on, understood, and worked through.

Clinical Social Worker Yanique Chambers explains why kids should journal:

Some kids keep their feelings to themselves because they don’t feel comfortable saying them out loud. They fear being ridiculed or believe that their thoughts and feelings aren’t important enough to share openly. Journal writing gives kids a judgment free space to self-explore and find their creative voice. They can use their journal as a place to dream and set goals. They can also use journal writing to find solutions to internal conflicts and solve problems.

Pro-tip: Use these engaging emotions flashcards for kids (fresh off the press!) to prompt them in writing how they feel and why.

6. Create

Another way to help your child release and work through overwhelming emotions on a mental health day off school, is by creating art. Not only will be they be given an avenue to express their emotions, but art also provides a conduit to emotional regulation and mindfulness.

Art materials provide a safe outlet for emotions. Feelings and ideas can be reduced to a manageable size and manipulated as desired. Movement, image, color, line, and imagination all help children express themselves in a multidimensional way. This is a way that words may not be able to do, or that may be more comfortable for them than words. – The Artful Parent

Pro-tip: Prepare an inviting surface (this might mean putting down a table cloth, tray etc) for your child, and set out a few different art tools for them to choose from.

7. Music

There’s a reason that music therapy has been incorporated into most pediatric hospitals. Music is extremely beneficial for encouraging rest and relaxation in children, as explained by early childhood educator and composer Nancy Kopman.

Children’s Music for Rest and Relaxation can be used as an effective tool in helping children establish, strengthen and manage their own self-regulation. Knowing how to help oneself relax and focus is a healthy foundation for managing/coping with stress.

As much as music has the power to generate excitement and make kids want to get up and move, it can be equally effective at helping kids slow down their breathing, thoughts and bodies.

Pro tip: Spotify has tons of great playlists for relaxation or check out Nancy’s great collection of music for kids.

7. Nourish

The typical child diet leaves a lot to be desired these days with an overabundance of processed foods and sugary sweets. Taking the opportunity to incorporate more nutrient dense and unprocessed foods on your child’s mental health day could possibly improve their mood and even their future habits.

The relationship between food and mood is a two-way street. What you eat affects your mood, and your mood can affect your food choices.

There are hundreds of risk factors that contribute to mental health and mood issues such as anxiety, depression and behavioural disorders. But of all of those risk factors, food is one of the most controllable. So even if you have a genetic predisposition to one or more of these, what you eat can make a significant difference. -Jessica Donovan, Founder of Natural Superkids

Pro tip: Make a healthy recipe together with your child and reap the benefits of a better mood, fun and connection.

Related Read>> 75 Ways to Show Love to Your Child and Boost Their Self-Esteem

8. Meditation

If you haven’t tried mindfulness activities for kids with your child yet, a mental health day is a great time to do so. Meditation is one way to practice mindfuless with kids and simply means paying attention and becomming aware of the present moment, and will literally help shift your child out of their bodys stress response system and into the calm and focused part of the brain.

Studies show that the benefits of mindfulness for kids may include:

1. Increased focus, attention, self-control, classroom participation, compassion.

2. Improved academic performance, ability to resolve conflict, overall well-being.

3. Decreased levels of stress, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior.

Pro tip: Check out the best tools for mindfulness with kids that promote calm and focus

9. Problem Solve

A mental health day with your child is the perfect time to step back from the daily grind and reflect on what’s going well and what may not be.

Without intentionally planning, problem solving and goal setting it’s unlikely that long-term and meaningful progress will be made in a timely manner in the areas your child is struggling with.

Reasons WHY your child should learn goal-setting include: teaches them to take responsibility for their own behaviors and learning, promotes a “can-do” attitude and it forms a powerful lifeling habit. -Big Life Journal

Pro Tip: Use these goal setting resources for kids to make it super simple for you and your child.

10. Go Outdoors

The benefits of nature for kids have been documented for many decades and spending time outside during a mental health day will certainly allow your child to reap these benefits:

Specifically, we have learned that nature tends to result in reduced circulating levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol and the inflammatory marker immunoglobulin A. It is also associated with lowered blood pressure, improved “affect” (or short-term emotional experience), blunted “perceived stress” after stressful life events, and lower short-term levels of anxiety and depression.

Pro-tip: Bring an ‘indoor activity’ outside! Simply grab your lunch, some books or a boardgame and do them outside instead.

Mental health day activities for kids are powerful

While you might assume your child’s days of new learning, making friends and just growing are full only of childhood wonder and joy, mental health professionals know otherwise.

Whether it’s pressure to acheive high academic scores, making it onto a club sports team or just navigating social conflicts with peers, your child faces a number of stressors everyday out in the world, and sometimes it all starts to feel like too much.

Allowing your child to take a load off and engage in these mental health day activities for kids will help them accomplish the 3 R’s that we could all use a little more of, relaxation, reflection and reset.

This article is the third in a 4-part series on mental health days for kids.

Check out the other articles in the series:

Kids Need Mental Health Days- 9 Misconconceptions that Need to Change Now

7 Surefire Signs your Child Needs a Mental Health Day

Want to Raise an Emotionally Healthy Child that will thrive out in the world? I created a free 5-day parenting course just for you! (sign up below)

7 Surefire Signs Your Child Needs a Mental Health Day

June 21, 2021 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach Leave a Comment

Inside: Just like adults, kids need mental health days to keep their stress levels under control and maintain good emotional health, here are 7 signs your child may need one.

“I’m not going to school, today mom!”.

Every once and a while my fourth-grader drops this line on me in the midst of the eating breakfast-taking vitamins-making lunches chaotic morning shuffle.

After many years of being in this situation, I’ve learned that this sentiment usually passes if I don’t immediately respond by demanding that she go, and instead ask, “what’s up?” or acknowledge that it sounds like she might be feeling stressed about something.

More often though, she just needs me to make space for her feelings at that very moment.

(Similar to how I whine out loud to myself “I don’t want to do the laundry today!!” and then slog into the laundry room to throw in the whites.)

In a couple of instances throughout her school career though, these comments started to appear day after day, signaling to me that there may be a bigger and more ongoing stressor she’s dealing with, and more often than not, the 10-minute window of chaos before we leave for school is not going to give her the time she needs to work through it.

Do kids need mental health days?

While the concept of taking a mental health day has slowly begun to find its way into popular culture for adults, for some reason there continues to be a misconception that children don’t need mental health days, and many parents buy into the common misconceptions about mental health days for kids such as taking the day off school for mental health may create patterns of avoidance or that their child will begin to ‘take advantage of the system’.

Admittedly, it took me years to become self-aware in regards to the many unhelpful mindset traps I’d find myself in when my daughter would send out stress signals before school, but the more I learned about the way the brain works under stress (the higher thinking part of the brain shuts down in some capacity when the brain’s emotion center is activated), the more I became convinced that sending her to school overwhelmed or anxious wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

Navigating moments like these with your child might be new territory and it may feel particularly tricky to know whether or not your child really needs a mental health day, or if they’d be just as well off heading out to participate in their daily routine.

You can take your child’s temperature to see if they’re physically ill, but how do you take your child’s emotional temperature?

While each child’s signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety will be as different as their unique fingerprint, there are common behaviors and patterns that are clear indicators that your child may be experiencing emotional stress and that taking the day off for mental health is warranted.

7 signs your child might need a mental health day

1. All the feelings

When your child is stressed, the body’s stress response dictates that the emotional area of their brain calls the shots much more often than usual, meaning all emotions have the potential to be heightened.

Does your child seem more irritable and reactive? Are they getting angry very quickly and perhaps crying more than usual? If you’re noticing an ongoing trend of your child having all. the. feelings moreso than their typical emotional baseline, it could be a sign of stress and anxiety.

2. Resistance

“I’m not going to school mom”. After I’ve heard my 8-year old make this comment several mornings in a row, her behavior is cluing me into the possibility my daughter is having anxiety over something at school.

After all, if something is stressful or overwhelming a natural coping response is to avoid it.

If your child has been increasingly resistant when it’s time for them to go to daycare or soccer practice, it may indicate the need for a mental health day. There’s always a reason for this resistance, and the reason often falls into one of the two categories…

3. Friendship woes

In addition to academics, your child is getting a lot of real-life experience building friendships in most learning environments.

Social dynamics such as conflict resolution, communicating their needs politely to peers, and bullying can be challenging for many kids and cause overwhelm.

Taking a mental health day off from the usual routine allows you to drill down into the particular dynamics/situations stressing them out and make a plan to build their skills and confidence in this area.

(School guidance counselors are amazing resources for building positive social skills and navigating peer conflicts respectfully too.)

::::: Want to teach your child to manage their emotions in healthy ways? Give your child the lifelong superpower of emotional regulation skills with the Calm Kids Set

4. Performance anxiety

“I’m not smart at math anymore mom, I got 5 questions wrong on my test”.

Somewhere along the line, many children pick up the message that mistakes and imperfection equal failure, instead of reality, which is that mistakes and imperfection equal learning.

In both spheres of academics and athletics, the pace and expectations are in many cases faster and higher than they were for generations past, and when the expectations of schools and athletic organizations surpass age-appropriate developmental skills, it’s a surefire recipe for stress and overwhelm.

It might be time to ask the following questions during a mental health day with your child to get a clear picture of what they’re feeling pressured about, to turn down the heat in their academic or athletic pressure cookers:

What is stressing you out the most about school right now?

Do you feel that what’s being asked of you at ______ is fair and realistic?

Is there anything you could let go of for now to simplify and take care of yourself?

How can I support you to do your best while also taking good care of yourself?

Big Life Journal has amazing resources to help teach kids about growth mindset, positive thinking, and avoiding perfectionism, as this will likely be an ongoing conversation to help your child foster healthy attitudes and self-compassion in regards to achievement.

5. Changes on the homefront

Moving, separations, job changes. Learning to deal with difficult changes and losses that happen in our families is part of growing up.

However certain ‘environmental stressors’ may cause excessive stress for some kids, and they may require additional support to work through their thoughts and emotions.

For example, children can experience grief and loss in many different situations, but the way it’s experienced and processed will be different for each child.

Taking a mental health day with your child will allow you to set the stage for open discussion around any challenging topics or upcoming transitions and related emotions and coping strategies.

6. Frequent stomachaches or physical complaints

Frequent stomach aches, headaches, and even cramps can be related to your child’s stress response being in a state of overdrive.

When the limbic system is activated in light of a perceived threat, many bodily systems slow down to conserve energy including the digestive system and blood flow to the extremities.

This may leave your child feeling the physical side effects, including stomach aches, pains in their extremities, and headaches.

If these complaints come and go on a regular basis (with no other signs of physical illness) ask your child if there’s anything they’ve been thinking about a lot lately or anything that’s worrying them.

Books (aka bibliotherapy) are a great way to explore an abstract and sometimes overwhelming topic with your child.

While your child takes the day off school for mental health, use the opportunity to explore an age-appropriate book from this wonderful list of books about anxiety for kids from fellow therapist Natasha Daniels.

7. Bids for connection

If your child seems to be requesting your attention (in both positive or negative ways) more than usual they may be feeling a healthy need for increased connection (aka time and undivided attention) with you, and a mental health day off school may be the best chance for them to get a therapeutic dose of it.

Your child’s connection and relationship to you continue to be their emotional ‘home base’ throughout development.

It is from the consistent and unconditional acceptance and validation of attachment figures, that your child gains the confidence to master new skills out in the world each day.

The busy schedules and increased technology of modern culture make it even more important that connecting with your child is prioritized with intention.

If your child needs a mental health day, in most instances, giving them your undivided attention is the most healing and restorative thing you do.

How do I actually know if my child needs to take a mental health day?

Ultimately, the goal of offering your child a mental health day is not to serve as a ‘cureall’ for your child’s stress, but as an opportunity to get curious about their emotional health and to access if there are any areas they need more support ongoing.

Abysmal Mental health statistics on children and adolescents continue to clearly show us in no uncertain terms that Mental Health Days for Kids are just as necessary as days spent home sick with a fever or cough.

If certain areas of your child’s life are out of balance and it’s taking a toll on their emotional health, your child may tell you with their words or their behaviors.

Just make sure you’re listening.

Want to Raise an Emotionally Healthy Child that will thrive out in the world? I created a free 5-day parenting course just for you! (sign up below)

Kids Need Mental Health Days- 9 Misconceptions That Need to Change

May 27, 2021 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach Leave a Comment

Inside: Learn the most common reasons parents won’t allow their child to take a mental health day and why they need to consider changing their mind.

How about a quick game of ‘Would You Rather?’

If you needed to take a sick day at work and had to choose one of the following reasons to explain your absence, which would you rather use?

I’m giving myself a mental health day or
I’ve been stricken down by a horrible case of diarrhea.

If, after some genuine contemplation, you’re surprised to find yourself leaning towards option B, it turns out you’re not alone.

Recently, I asked the parents in my online community if they currently offered their child mental health days (and why or why not), and my friend responded with this exact story.

She’d called in to ask a colleague to please mention to her supervisor, upon their arrival, that she’d be taking a mental health day.

To which her colleague quickly responded, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I tell him you have a bad case of diarrhea or something?”

It was impossible to ignore the message that echoed throughout this response and many others; mental health stigma is still alive and well when it comes to how we’re approaching the health and emotional well-being of the next generation.

I anticipated the responses I’d receive would be varied, but what I didn’t expect was the flood of emails with a very similar theme: No, I haven’t, and if I’m being honest, I would hesitate a bit to allow my child to stay at home for a mental health day.

Even more interesting, all of these parents agreed that, in theory, mental health days make complete sense, and mental health should be regarded with the same importance as physical health.

But when it came to applying the concept of a mental health day to their own child, there was a mental impasse. The question is, “Why?”

The parents in the Parents with Confidence online community (with the very mission of raising emotionally healthy children) generously offered their reasoning as to what gives them pause when it comes to mental health days, and it was clear that the hesitancies fell under 2 main categories, both of which are unsurprisingly underscored by the stale and stigmatizing views that continue to haunt the life-saving concept of mental health:

Navigating real-world logistical hurdles such as limited ‘sick days’ from work and strict attendance policies in schools that stem from a lack of cultural support/awareness of mental health care.
Fear and irrational thinking patterns about the unknown, related to the ‘uncharted waters’ of doing something out of the cultural norm.

Let’s take a deeper look at what might be holding you back from validating mental health days for your child, along with the reasons why thinking about the bigger picture of your child’s health and well-being in that way are flawed.

Reasons why parents avoid mental health days for their children

1.”What if my child starts thinking they can take days off whenever they want to?”

The idea of a child possibly ‘taking advantage’ was the most prevalent. Parents thought that if their child was allowed to take a day off for mental health, they’d run the risk of their child inappropriately requesting more days off in the future.

The flaw: It defaults to the unhelpful and untrue mindset that children are dishonest, sneaky, manipulative and don’t have the ability to genuinely reflect on their state of mind.

The best starting place to default in any endeavor with your child is always assuming the best of them.

::::: Want to teach your child to manage their emotions in healthy ways? Give your child the lifelong superpower of emotional regulation skills with the Calm Kids Set

2. “What will other people like teachers and coaches say?”

The people-pleasing tendency that so many of us picked up from our own childhoods is real.

I’m going to get vulnerable here and tell you that I, as a mental health professional of 15 years, have hesitated to offer my children mental health days because good lord I’d have to actually tell the people at school something they’re not used to hearing, and what if they judge me??

Even though I believe, in my SOUL, that good mental health is infinitely more important than academics.

Even though I pride myself on putting my child’s emotional well-being above most all else.

Even though I know that if my child’s amygdala (the emotional center of the brain) is in overdrive, they won’t be able to access much of the higher thinking part of the brain they need for school anyhow.

The flaw: Others’ opinions of you are being prioritized over your child’s health and well-being.

Changing old habits and patterns of thinking is HARD, but the ability to do just that is what makes us uniquely human.

3. “What if taking a mental health day off teaches my child to avoid their problems and challenges?”

Many parents responded to the idea of giving their child a mental health day with the fear that it could lead to a habit of avoidance.

The flaw: Ideally, the child takes time away from regular responsibilities to think about and reflect on their current thoughts and emotions, thereby providing the opportunity to confront the challenges weighing them down, and move forward in a better place.

A day off simply pulls them out of survival mode and gives them permission and space to slow down and turn inward.

4. “What would we even do to make a mental health day ‘worth it’?”

The idea that taking the day away from regular responsibility wouldn’t be ‘enough’ was another parent concern. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”

The flaw: This fear-based thinking likely stems from the inexperience we have as a culture with offering time and prioritization of mental health as well as our constant glorification of productivity.

In many cases doing nothing at all and stepping away from the stressors of daily life is actually all that’s needed to get back to a baseline of emotional regulation.

5. “What if taking the day off for mental health doesn’t make them feel better?”

The human mind is not a big fan of uncertainty. We’d like to know the answer and the outcome, and we’d like to know that now, thank you very much.

When things feel out of our control, we shy away from them. You can control taking your child to school, but controlling their mental health and state of mind?? …not so much.

The flaw: There is no proof that a mental health day will provide any given outcome you’d like to see.

Instead of trying to control the outcome and speculate on the future, let’s meet our children where they’re at right at this moment, and do the right thing for them in the here and now.

6. “My child would get even more overwhelmed having to make up for the work they missed.”

After recently pulling my older children out of school for a week to take a family trip, this one hits home. Missed schoolwork can equal added stress.

The flaw: A day’s worth of make-up work is not going to make or break your child’s stress level, whereas not taking a day off when it is fully needed may in fact do just that.

7. “My spouse doesn’t support anything related to mental health and would think it was ridiculous.”

Sadly, I believe this response is probably more common than many of us would like to admit.

The flaw: When we fear the unknown and don’t take the time to gain an understanding of issues that don’t directly affect us, it has a negative ripple effect.

It can make it harder for our culture to progress in the consideration and treatment of mental health conditions as well as the regard we have for our mental health in general.

When we know better, we can do better. This is the perfect situation to open a respectful dialogue on the topic of mental health with a partner and take the opportunity to explore its meaning and importance together.

8. “I don’t have enough sick days at my place of employment to take extra days off.”

There are many stresses that modern parents have to contend with today, and the cultural constraint of rigid paid/unpaid time off policies in the workplace is a very real one.

Sick leave for employees varies based on the country and, on top of that, geographical areas within each country. But overall, sick leave, vacation time, and parental leave benefits are considerably lacking in the US in comparison to other developed countries.

The major flaw: When companies and institutions continue to prioritize productivity and financial gain over the quality of life and well-being initiatives for their employees, they’ll continue to discourage the prioritization of emotional well-being and mental health in our society.

While some progressive companies are indeed beginning to pave a path toward prioritizing mental and emotional well-being through company incentives and more flexible time-off policies, a clear takeaway is that at a minimum, we need to start having discussions on the prioritization of mental health in both public and private sectors of business.

(Clearly, this is a complex and loaded question with many systems and layers involved, and this discussion merely offers a very general jumping-off point.)

9. “What if my child doesn’t talk, and we don’t get anything figured out?”

Just to be safe, expect that your child won’t be able to ‘figure it all out during the course of one mental health day off from school.

While it may be helpful or come naturally for some children to work through their stresses verbally, others will prefer different outlets for their emotions and stress such as art, nature, journaling, exercise, etc.

The major flaw: Here’s that ugly control monster rearing its head again.

You can control the tone of the physical environment your child is in by creating a supportive and responsive atmosphere through questions and dialogue, you cannot control what your child tells you and if or when they tell you anything at all.

For example, “You seem stressed, what’s up?”, “I’m here to talk whenever you need” and “A lot of times, talking helps to feel better and figure out the next steps to move forward” are all great ways to control the dialogue on your end. Then be quiet, wait, and if they decided to share listen, listen, listen.

All is not lost if your child doesn’t open up at that very moment. The gift of consistently giving your child the space to do so when they’re ready is everything.

It’s time to normalize mental health days for kids (and everyone while we’re at it).

We can all agree that some of these parent viewpoints are understandable and even unavoidable.

More so than ever in the past year, mental health is a topic finally getting its due recognition.

Sadly, this has come in the form of the continued decline (if you thought it was ‘good’ before the pandemic, you’d be incorrect) of good mental health in our youth.

The grim statistics on anxiety, depression and suicide in our youth continue to beckon us to open our minds to new approaches towards our children’s mental and emotional health.

Here are just some of the many questions it would behoove us to start asking in our families and communities…

Why did it take a global pandemic and economic crisis to open the door to vital discussions around mental health?

Can a society without bigger systems onboard to accommodate good mental healthcare truly expect to see concerning statistics of mental health conditions decline?

What factors play into a society undervaluing mental and emotional health and where might small shifts in these mindsets be made in our own family?

What are the factors that have historically given mental health a ‘backseat’ to physical health? (Lack of research? Lack of clear physically visible symtoms?)

Let’s be honest, parents reading this post are likely more progressive than the general public in regards to the topic of mental health.

How and where can those of us that are already invested, start having meaningful discussions about the value of our children’s mental health?

Long-lasting positive change doesn’t happen overnight, but with small intentional actions.

My hope is that, together, we can start sending out small, yet powerful, ripples of action into the systems intertwined in everyday life, so that not only our children, but the children of future generations will have a better quality of life.

*Because of the broad scope and nature of the topic of mental health days for children, this post is the first in a series of four

Want to Raise an Emotionally Healthy Child that will thrive out in the world? I created a free 5-day parenting course just for you! (sign up below)

125 Positive Affirmations for Kids to Skyrocket Strength, Confidence and Self-Love

September 21, 2020 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach 7 Comments

Inside: Discover why science says affirmations are so powerful and learn 125 positive affirmations for kids that will boost their Confidence and Self-Esteem.

“I don’t understand my math problems at all and now my day is ruined!”.

My 10-year-old daughter tends to be a bit of a ‘black and white’ thinker.

In her quickly moving mind, most situations are deemed either all good or all bad within a matter of seconds, and she struggles to see the grey possibilities that exist in-between.

[Read more…]

A Child Therapist’s Best Tips for Parenting a Child with ADHD

February 10, 2020 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach 1 Comment

These vital tips for parenting a child with ADHD may surprise you, but will lead your child to better behaviors now AND a more successful future later.

My 9-year-old client sits down on the couch in my therapy office and I can tell already by his slumped shoulders and downward gaze that he is having a rough week.

“How’s your week been bud? Should we start with the highs or the lows?”

“I hate school and I never want to go back again”. [Read more…]

What to do When Your Angry Child Refuses Coping Strategies

February 5, 2020 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach 2 Comments

Inside: Learn how to proceed when your angry child refuses coping strategies.

“What do I do when my child refuses the coping strategies I offer?”

[Read more…]

75 Awesome Calm Down Strategies for Kids (that they’ll want to try!)

January 3, 2020 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach 4 Comments

⭐️Free 9-page Expert Master guide⭐️>> 5 Secrets to MORE cooperation and LESS conflict with your strong-willed child (Click here to grab it)

Inside: These science-backed calm down strategies for kids are easy, engaging and will help your child develop strong emotional regulation skills.

When it comes to children’s emotional development you’re going to be hard-pressed to find another skill as important (and as predictive of future success) as emotional regulation.

[Read more…]

40 Astounding Benefits of Outdoor Nature Play for Kids

July 29, 2019 by Angela Pruess LMFT, Child Therapist + Parent Coach 2 Comments

Inside: Time kids spend outdoors in nature play has been steadily declining for decades and it’s costing them enormously when it comes to their physical and mental health.

I feel my shoulders relax.

My lungs open up and I breathe.

I just feel… lighter.

And all I have done is to simply step out my own front door.

THIS is the power of being in nature. After only a brief few moments in nature, I can literally feel the onslaught of positive changes in my mind and body.

I can understand why nature is one of the best calm down strategies for kids (and adults alike).

There is something incredibly powerful that nature and nature only is capable of doing to our minds and bodies. Since the beginning of time, humans have been closely connected to the natural environment.

We lived off the land and often used natural spaces as a natural extension of our homes. Many cultures remain close to the natural world and as a result, reap profound benefits to both their physical and psychological health.

In our Western modern culture, however, our kids are growing evermore disconnected from their natural environment and researchers have gone far enough to call this phenomenon ‘Nature deficit disorder’.

Studies show that while screentime and indoor time have increased for children, time spent outdoors in nature play has dramatically decreased.

The proof of nature play is in the research

It’s been hard to say exactly what the direct impacts of decreased green time on children were, but we now have the first epidemiological studies that show an association between less contact with the natural world in childhood and worse mental health in adulthood.

“Collecting data from nearly 3,600 individuals in four different European countries, researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health have found that these childhood experiences are associated with feelings of nervousness and depression in adulthood.

“The results show that participants who scored lower on the mental health tests also had less exposure to nature in childhood, and this was true regardless of how much time they spent in nature as adults. What’s more, these participants didn’t seem to place as much significance on natural spaces in general.” (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)

This is just one of several studies now showing causation between more time spent playing in nature during childhood and mental health in adulthood.

Another recent study found that children who grow up in natural surroundings have up to a 55 percent lower risk of developing a mental disorder as an adult.

The studies author Kristine Engemann reported further that “the protective effect grows stronger with more years spent living near nature. We found that association was stronger when we calculated a cumulative measure of green space from birth to age 10 compared to measuring green space at one single year, this indicates that the positive association builds up over time and that being exposed to green space throughout childhood is important.” (Study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

The positive effects of nature play for children go far beyond psychological. Nature has been proven important to children’s development in every major way—intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually and physically (Kellert, 2005).

40 amazing benefits of nature play for kids.

Mental and Emotional Health

Improves cognition and thinking
Increases focus
bolsters resilience against stress
Increases mood
Decreases anxiety
Builds confidence
Provides regulation sensory input for the nervous system
Builds mindfulness skills
Improves short term memory
Decreases anger
Reduces ADHD symptoms
Boosts confidence
Improved self-regulation skills

Physical health

Lower blood pressure
Decreased rates of obesity
Provides sensory stimuli
Increases energy levels
Increases vitamin D levels
Reduced risk of bone disease
Reduced risk of heart disease
Improves nutrition
Improves eyesight
Improves balance
Improves range of movement
Promotes muscle development
strengthens immune system

Character development

Higher levels of creativity
Increases appreciation and regard for the environment
Builds imagination
Teaches responsibility
Creates opportunities for awe and wonder
Encourages healthy risk-taking
Promotes experimentation
Develops critical thinking skills
Improves social skills
Improves self-discipline
Develops empathy
Promotes a deeper understanding of the world
Increase life satisfaction
Increases levels of kindness

Every child desperately needs nature play

There’s no denying we have some work to do when it comes to getting our kids outside. For both their mental and physical health and well-being, we now know for a fact that getting back to our nature roots plays a powerful role in combating mental health conditions and serves as an enormous protective factor for our children.

What are you child’s favorite types of nature play?

Grab your free printable list of the Benefits of Outdoor Nature Play!

This post comes with a free printable list of the benefits of outdoor play for kids! (Keeping them close by will remind you to get those kiddos off their screens…and back outside!)

Here’s a peek at it…

Download the benefits of outdoor play list. You’ll get the printable, plus join 10,000+ parents who receive my weekly insights, tips, and strategies on how to raise emotionally healthy kids who will change the world, every week!
Print.
Place it on your refrigerator or in a centralized area (and start improving your child’s well-being today!)

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