Suffolk Mind shares wellbeing tips for Children's Mental Health Week
The mental health charity is asking parents and carers to help young people express themselves
It's Children's Mental Health Week and Suffolk Mind has shared tips on how we can help young people look after their wellbeing during the pandemic.
With many children unable to go to school due to Covid-19, they are missing out on social aspects of their life which are important for development.
The mental health charity has highlighted the steps parents, carers and older siblings can take to make sure their mental wellbeing is catered for.
That includes things like making sure they have fun tasks to look forward to throughout each week.
Louise Harris, children and young people's facilitator as Suffolk Mind, said: "We can do adjust the things we are doing at home, making sure they remain connected to other people through video calling or sending messages.
"We can also make sure children are meeting their own needs for privacy, it's really important for children to have time by themselves to do different things."
Louise said it's also vital children maintain physical activity, where they usually would in playgrounds or activities at school.
She added that keeping a routine at home is also beneficial: "They've had a lot of change in their lives, so keeping that to a minimum where you can is a really good thing. It will help them feel settled and keep in control of their emotions."
Ensuring children have activities to look forward to is another way they can be helped to maintain positive mental wellbeing, especially if it is spaced out.
Louise explained she often does that with her own children who are currently at home: "One of my children has said to me that they don't like doing lots of different things in one day, they prefer to do one thing and really focus on it and get good achievements from it. We've been trying that and it has been better for him."
For parents, juggling working at home and looking after children can be a lot to take on, and it's important the mental wellbeing of adults is looked after too, which can also help benefit children.
It's also Time to Talk Day (4 February) and Louise is encouraging parents and carers to speak to their children about how they're feeling and what they would like to do to improve their mood, as it will likely be recognised and adopted by young people themselves.
For tips and mental health support, visit Suffolk Mind's website.