The best products to help children’s mental health during lockdown

* Disclaimer: I was gifted products for review, but all opinions are my own.
I had a number of submissions for this piece and I handpicked the best and most suitable products to genuinely help children’s mental health. All products have been trialled by my own family.

Week 10 of lockdown: whilst some businesses are starting to re-open, people can travel further and meet up with others (at a distance), it’s safe to say normality is still a way off.

Our eldest child is in reception, and so one of the year groups (seemingly randomly?!) chosen by the Government to return on June 1st and, although I’d love for him to see his friends, return to his routine and get stuck back in, I just don’t feel it’s the right thing for us right now. I have so many worries about the potential impact that really, the safest place for him, both mentally and physically, is at home; where he can play with his brother, have access to learning, be cuddled and cared for with the people he loves and trusts the most. 

He’s only 5, so I can just about manage the schooling (just don’t test me on phonics!): we write, read, practice basic maths, look up interesting facts online, watch zoo live streams, craft, exercise. It’s not easy but at least I sort of know what I’m doing. But with mental health, where do I start? Whilst some adult techniques, like breathing, positive affirmations or basic yoga, can be translated across, nurturing a child’s mental health is a different kettle of fish. And I think most parents feel that way.

So I’ve been reaching out to small businesses who specialise in looking after the minds of our little ones to bring you a specially curated list of thoughtful and practical products to help you support your child in lockdown and beyond, strengthen the trust between you and really nourish their mental health.

Little Active People

“Little Active People is a children’s website for clothing products and activities to help keep children active both mentally or physically with the aim of reducing screen time. With so many pressures nowadays, so many clubs, opportunities & the fast pace of the world we live in, we want to give children the opportunity to come back to being children, being creative & support their mindfulness.”

I’m basically obsessed with Little Active People. Its founders, Jemma and Gill are two Mother’s, whose understanding of the pressures the modern world can have on the mental and physical health of our children drove them to be proactive and do something about it. They’re my kind of women!

Little Active People is THE resource you need as a parent. On the website there’s everything from mindfulness downloads to virtual travel activities to challenges, like how to set up an indoor scavenger hunts. They stock engaging products for indoors and outdoors, and bold colourful patterned clothes. It’s all about fun, learning, and the joy of being a child!

My eldest isn’t great at expressing his feelings and often has a tendency to shut down when cross, scared or even when he’s hurt himself. At first I felt so frustrated that he wasn’t having a ‘normal’ reaction to things. I had to recognise that it was just different and figure out a way to navigate it with him.

So my top product picks right now from Little Active People are The Little Book of You, Me and My Feelings and My Little Book of Worries. They are absolutely brilliant ways to encourage children to explore their emotions, recognise them, and find words for them. And to make that a journey that, as a parent, you’re a part of too, so you can get a real insight into the mind of your child and find the specific set of tools that you need to help and communicate with them.

Book Therapy

I don’t think that the power of books can be overstated. Through books, we can journey into the past to learn about ancient cultures or discover creatures that live in the deepest sea or darkest rainforest. We can fly to the moon or save the world! With lockdown, that ability to be transported has never been so important.

And Bijal, founder of Book Therapy, feels the same. As a book curator and bibliotherapist, she understands the importance of books on our mental health: both the positive impact they can have on our state of mind, as well as their ability to equip us with real-life coping techniques. In fact, she actually prescribes books as a kind of medicine – how wonderful is that?

Sometimes though, children can need a little more persuading. So Bijal has developed a wonderfully thoughtful set of reading affirmation cards, to encourage children to discover the pleasure of reading and its many benefits.

I really recommend them – the messages are simple, engaging (some allow the child to write their favourite book or place to read) and really capture the imagination, helping to foster a love of reading and the wonderful effect it can have on their mental health.

“What’s Going On?: Asked Belinda Fitz-John”

If you have children aged 3-10 and want to talk about Covid 19 but aren’t sure where to start, then What’s going?: Asked Belinda Fitz-John is for you.

It follows Belinda as she navigates a new ‘normal’ as the Covid 19 pandemic disrupts her daily life. Through illustrations and friendly rhymes, Belinda shows a young audience how to take care of herself, stay healthy and stay happy.

Written by parents, it was specifically created as a tool to help other parents guide their children in recognising their feelings and give them strategies to manage them. As much as we don’t want to scare our children, often staying silent is worse – talking to them in an age appropriate way, through the non-threatening medium of a picture book, is a great way to ease anxiety and bolster mental health during lockdown.

You can buy the Kindle version on Amazon or follow Belinda on Twitter if your children would like to ask her advice directly!

Therapy with Kemi

Kemi is a child and adolescent therapist and believes that investing in children’s mental health today is investing in and setting the foundations for who they become tomorrow. I could not have said it better myself!!

When lockdown first happened, she felt overwhelmed by all the focus on homeschooling and, whilst homeschooling obviously has its’ place and importance, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed that there wasn’t as much of a focus on children’s mental health.

So she created a Children’s Wellbeing Pack. Utilising resources she’s used with children over the years to facilitate discussions around feelings, it also includes coping strategies, mindfulness and affirmations. 

And I’m absolutely in love with it. Because whilst it’s obviously for families and is age appropriate, it really doesn’t baby children and is clearly led by Kemi’s impressive qualifications, career and understating. It’s not flannel for gullible parents, it’s really insightful and genuinely helpful. There are things in the pack that I didn’t know myself (did you know there are 27 different human emotions?!), it contains some brilliant activities and practical techniques and is flexible enough to use with any age child. The listening circle was a favourite for us, and I loved talking to my eldest about how to turn negative thoughts into positive ones.

I really can’t recommend the Children’s Wellbeing Pack highly enough. Right now families are looking for ways to bond, communicate, understand and look after each other and Kemi’s wellbeing pack facilitates that in a really positive and healthy way.

Natterhub

Supporting children’s mental health isn’t just about looking inwardly though; it’s also about looking outward to those vital relationships with friends and teachers that are sorely lacking right now.

Natterhub is a brand new online platform which connects pupils with their teachers and each other in a safe, gated digital environment. Whilst children are currently away from school, they’re losing the direct and very regular support they receive from their teachers. On top of that, not being able to communicate with friends except through unsafe or unhealthy channels such as social media or extended time playing online video games means children are being posed with threats to their general wellbeing.

Natterhub is a free platform which aims to facilitate healthy contact between children, their teachers and their classmates whilst also providing key guided lessons about online safety, meaning they’ll also have a safe space and a strong digital understanding when lockdown is over.
Have a read of their blog to find out more.

I truly hope you find these products as inspiring as I do and I hope to bring you more helpful tips, ideas and products soon!