Mind Yourself resource pack and instructional videos
This resource pack is a companion publication to the Mind Yourself: The Mental Health and Wellbeing Reading Guide which was produced in response to the pandemic in 2020. The guide was a ‘first aid kit’ for worries, sadness, loneliness, anxiety and any number of feelings and hopefully a great many young readers found relief and solace in seeing their lives reflected on the page and gained an understanding of what others may be quietly going through. Aimed at primary schools, the pack was created to encourage conversations about mental health and well being through children's books.
For this resource, we have taken twenty-one of these titles and explored them further, creating a useful guide for ages 0–12, with questions, activities and other suggested resources. The age-ranges attached to each title are a suggested guideline, you will know your class or reading group better. Very often the suggested activities are suitable for all ages, even when the book itself is recommended for older or younger readers (and remember older children gain great benefits by reading picturebooks – so don't be afraid to use all the titles for older groups). You could always run the activity ‘without’ the book, or use it to complement your exploration of an entirely different book altogether.
The range of activities vary from arts and crafts to games, thought experiments, sensory exploration, mood check-ins and more. Some are individual, some collective, indoors, outdoors, some will leave something physical behind; others will have an effect that is less tangible. They are designed to help children feel calm, safe, happy, heard, loved and connected.
