Supporting children's mental health week 2020
29 January 2020
Next week (3rd - 9th February) is Children’s Mental Health Week (#childrensmentalhealthweek) and we love the fact that this year’s theme is Find Your Brave! We’re passionate believers in the power of outdoor play to have a positive impact on children’s mental health… and we know that being brave and giving things a go (whether that means interacting with others or swinging from the Monkey Bars) is what makes it so beneficial. As the clever people behind the campaign said:
Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes and is different for everyone. Bravery can be about sharing worries and asking for help, trying something new or pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. It can build your confidence, self-esteem and make you feel good about yourself.
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves! In our last Impact Survey we found that behaviour (43.4%) and positive attitudes to learning (36.3%) were significantly better as a result of improvements to their outside space and, most importantly, happiness (54.1%) and well-being (42.8%) were massively improved too.
That’s why we’re supporting Children’s Mental Health Week… and keeping it running for the whole of February. We’ll be sharing information about some of our most popular products for supporting health & wellbeing in children, through outdoor play. We’ll also be talking about the different ways outdoor play can be used to encourage positive mental health in children (and sharing some lesson ideas). Just a taster...
? Imaginative play – This is great for encouraging collaboration and communication as well as for creating shared experiences.
? Physical play and sport – There’s a reason they say a healthy body leads to a healthy mind… the science of physical development is linked to cognitive development and future success… but it goes further… active play is great for helping children to build resilience, understand turn taking, adapt to challenges and learn how to be a good sport.
? Discovery and exploratory play – This is great for getting children working together to solve problems, developing communication skills as well as their understanding of the world.
? Connecting with the natural world – Let’s not forget the importance of helping children to engage with the natural world through sensory play, as well as providing calming spaces for quiet time and reflection.
To stay up to date with everything going on for Children’s Mental Health Week you can follow the organisers @Place2Be on Twitter, as well as our own social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
Back to News