Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 - Know Yourself, Grow Yourself

Today is the first day of Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 organised and run by the children’s mental health charity, Place2Be. This year the theme is Know Yourself, Grow Yourself.

This year, Place2Be has partnered with mental health organisation Here4You and The Walt Disney Company to encourage self-awareness. The resources use characters from Pixar’s Inside Out 2, to help children understand why getting to know themselves and understanding their emotions is so important.

At Fortis, we’re big believers in helping children recognise and understand their emotions. So, how can we help our children learn to Know Yourself, Grow Yourself?

Developing self-awareness

Self-awareness is important for good mental health. Encouraging children to take time to reflect on their feelings and behaviours can help them understand why they react in certain ways. It’s a habit that, when encouraged in childhood, can stay with them into adulthood.

Their feelings are valid

All emotions matter. Encourage your child to think about how they’ve felt each day by asking questions like:

• What made you happy today?
• Was there something that upset you?
• Did anything surprise you?

Questions like these can help your child identify and express their feelings, making self-awareness a natural part of day-to-day life.

Last week ‘Kindness’ was voted Children’s Word of the Year 2024, which fits perfectly with this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week. We often teach children to be kind to others, but this is the perfect time to help them understand that it’s just as important for them to be kind to themselves. After all, self-compassion helps children understand that mistakes are part of learning, and that they deserve the same kindness they show to friends and family.

Helping your child understand their feelings

Help your child notice how they react to different situations. Do they tend to withdraw when something feels difficult? Do they get nervous in social settings? Recognising these patterns is the first step in understanding why they feel that way - and for you both to find ways to support themselves when needed.

Building a wellbeing toolkit for your child

When life gets busy, or our children are struggling, it’s natural to want to fix things quickly rather than look at the bigger picture. But helping children build long-term emotional resilience starts with introducing small, supportive habits into their daily lives.

Here are some simple ways to help your child develop their own wellbeing toolkit:

• Psychoeducation: Introduce age-appropriate podcasts, videos, and films that discuss emotions and mental health. Listening together and pausing to reflect on new or enlightening information can be beneficial. Here are five great films to help your child understand more about their emotions and why they feel certain ways.
• Journalling: As your child gets older and becomes more comfortable talking to you about their day and feelings, you can encourage them to journal or voice record their thoughts and learnings, helping them gain deeper understanding.
• Movement: Physical activity is proven to support mental wellbeing – it can reduce stress and boost mood. Encourage your children to move to help improve their emotional wellbeing. Find something they enjoy – it doesn’t have to be a structured sport or hobby but could be as simple as dancing around the kitchen or playing games in the garden. Regular movement can help reduce stress and promote happiness.
• Deep breathing techniques: Teach simple exercises like box breathing (inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four). This can help calm the nervous system and help your child cope with situations that make them feel anxious.

Empowering people of all ages to thrive

At Fortis Therapy, we know that self-awareness and self-compassion are key to emotional wellbeing. By helping children understand themselves, we give them the tools to grow into resilient, confident, and happy adults.

Children’s Mental Health Week runs from 3rd to 9th February 2025. To find more resources, visit the official Children's Mental Health Week website.