The Heads Up Kids Colour Carnival supported children to develop positive mental health and celebrate their individuality.
Heads Up Kids is a charity dedicated to promoting positive mental health through social and emotional wellbeing education. Heads Up Kids are committed to raising a generation of children with a positive attitude towards mental health. Here are some tips and tools for building your child’s positivity:
Everybody is different:
We are all different, and when we acknowledge and celebrate our differences and uniqueness, we help children to feel accepted for who they are – this builds self esteem.
Your relationship with your child:
A child’s relationship with their caregiver is central to how they feel about themselves. Delight in your child, let them know that you enjoy being around them and find the small moments to talk and share.
Friendships:
Our connections with others are vital to our emotional wellbeing. When we have positive connections we feel safe, supported and good about ourselves. We can encourage healthy relationships by helping children to notice what makes a good friendship, and helping them to understand that friendships have ups and downs. It’s important to support children to work out their own friendship difficulties first and step in only when needed.
Finding joy:
Help your child to find things that they love and enjoy and emphasise the importance these activities have in supporting us to feel positive day-to-day. Try to praise the effort or joy rather than the achievement or result. Share the things that you love and enjoy.
Growing independence:
We can give children options and choices. This helps to teach them to make decisions, trust their judgements and value their wants and wishes. Encouraging children to do things for themselves and take on responsibilities can help them feel capable, confident and independent.
Ways to build resilience:
- Normalise failure – share your own examples of things that you had to try over and over again before mastering
- Trust your child’s judgement – if we jump in too quickly when things are difficult, we limit their ability to not only trust themselves but also to build their resilience.
- Create familiar routines and boundaries – these help children to feel safe and secure, this in turn helps them to try new things and manage when things don’t go to plan.
Some children are predisposed to be more positive than others. However all children can be supported to develop positive thinking and resilience. Like most things, the more we practise, the easier it becomes.
