Many of these activities will have an accompanying demonstration video which you will be able to find on the Unlocking Potential Youtube Channel and on the site below. We hope you enjoy receiving our Weekly Well-being activities and find them useful!
Frontline workers are doctors, nurses, train drivers, bus drivers, policemen, postmen and women, garbage collectors, social workers, delivery drivers and anyone else who is helping keep us safe during this time and they have been amazing! This activity will help your child write a poem for our frontline staff to thank them for their awesome work. Once they are done, they can decorate their poem and put it in the window!
After your child has written their poem, colour in this rainbow to go with it! They can decorate it with the different words that they used in their poem, or even with other words that they feel represent the values of the hardworking frontline staff keeping us safe right now!
To help you and your child organize their day and check items off when they are done! You can watch the video below to help you learn how to use it.
As parents, it can be difficult to find time for self-care. That being said, it is actually really important to fill ourselves up so that we have enough energy to fully care for and be present with our children. Here are 5 tips to help you think about how to care for yourself and your family during this time.
Food, Water, Rest
As parents/carers it can be really hard to get a good amount of sleep and time to yourself to be able to function at your best. It’s challenging to be the peaceful and open parent you would like to be if you are mentally or physically exhausted. One activity that can be useful is to make two lists of things that help you be your best self; on the first, list all things that you can do together with your children that help you feel calm and centered (eg exercise/colouring in/reading something that lifts your spirits quietly for 5-10mins etc), and on the second, list things that you can do by yourself (eg a refreshing shower or relaxing bath). Put your list up somewhere where you will see it every day and try to do one or two of them each day to keep your self-care cup topped up and keep you in balance.
Safety
Feeling safe is vital for our wellbeing. We can’t even think about feeling happy or excited if we do not feel safe to start with and it can be really difficult for everyone to feel safe right now. What are the things/people/places that help you feel safe? Maybe you can reach out to a friend or family member or visit you favourite park or try some of our breathing and grounding tips on our resources page– try to do something this week that helps you feel safe. As parents, we also want to help our children feel safe and secure. Children pick up on our feelings very easily and might be sensing our unease around COVID-19 more than we think. In response to this, it can be helpful to be genuine by letting them know you have things on your mind, but ensuring you don’t over-share, keeping it simple and age appropriate, and being sure to check in with them to see how they are feeling.
Love and Belonging
After safety, love and belonging are the building blocks of wellbeing. When we are feeling loved, we have more love to give to our children, partners and family members. What or who makes you feel loved? Maybe you can set aside an hour to connect with someone dear to you without your children this week. Deep and intimate connections with loved ones, friends and family can help make our hearts feel a little bit fuller.
Laughter
You may have heard that laughter is medicine for the mind. It eases the stress hormones flowing through the body. It helps us to bond better, so we feel safer and warmer towards each other. When families laugh together it lessens sibling rivalry and encourages teamwork. When everyone is laughing together it can ease the tension of being together all the time. For example, you can watch your favourite comedy or funny clips on-line, or have your own family Britain’s Got Talent. The goal is simply to create opportunity for laughter and positive touch which creates the happy hormones to circulate in our bodies and gives us a feel-good boost!
Kindness
Part of self-care is being kind to ourselves through our actions, words and thoughts. It may be easy to listen to that self-critical voice inside of our heads that says we are not doing or being quite enough. When you feel overwhelmed or upset, it helps to remind ourselves to take one step at a time. Forgive yourself for not being perfect (who is?!) and treat yourself as kindly and gently as possible, the way you would treat your best friend if they were stressed. You are doing the best that you can with what you have. You are more than enough.
