Looking after your Heart, Body and Mind.
We want to provide you and your children with the opportunity to check in with your Heart, Body and Mind regularly.
There are lots of fun activities listed below to keep your children engaged, and activities that the family can do together. It is also important that you as the parent takes care of yourself. The Wellbeing for Parents section, provides you with tips on how to check in and be kind to yourself.
If you're a parent/guardian feeling anxious or stressed at the moment and would like some extra support and advice, call our professionally staffed Parent Supportline: open 10am - 2pm, Monday - Friday.
Some activities below will have instructional videos, other have instructions written out below or as downloadable PDF's. It's better for the environment to try avoid printing these PDF's where possible.
This section is for you, the parent to focus on yourself. We know parents lead very busy lives and during times of stress, parents might be very focused on the wellbeing of their children. This is a gentle reminder that it’s ok to mind yourself too, in fact, it’s important that you look after yourself so you can be completely present for your children.
The transition back to school can be a very busy and hectic time for all the family.
It is important to carve out time for yourself throughout the day. Allow yourself a few minutes to sit and simply breathe; this can have a really positive impact your energy and mood.
The below guided meditation is just 5 minutes and will help centre, refocus and shift your energy.
This summer why not spend some family time, connecting and grounding together. Don't worry if your family have never tried yoga before, use our guide below to support you.
Get everyone to stand in the garden, in their bare feet if they can. Feel the grass and the earth beneath your feet. Take 3 slow deep breaths in and out. Try these yoga poses!
Download the PDF of the instructions for this activity here.
Tapping can be a powerful stress relieving technique.
Tapping regulates the nervous system by putting the body back into its relaxation response. This supports the immune system, digestive system, reproductive system, and endocrine (hormones) system to function as it should.
Try this step by step instructions on how to relive your stress and anxiety by tapping various parts of your body.
Download and print our PDF Instructions for this activity, or read them below. (Tip: print in black and white to save on your ink).
Eyebrow Point
Where the eyebrows begin, closest to the bridge of the nose.
Side of Eye
On the bone directly along the outside of either eye.
Under Eye
On the bone directly under either eye.
Under Nose
The area directly beneath the nose and above the upper lip.
Chin Point
This is the area just below your bottom lip and above the chin, right in the crease.
Collarbone Point
Starting from where your collar bones meet in the centre, go down an inch and out an inch on either side.
Under Arm
On your side, about four inches beneath both armpits.
Top of Head
Directly on the crown of your head.Source: TheTappingSolution.com
It’s important to take moments throughout your day to mind yourself.
If you are a stay at home mum/dad, working from home or back in the office, create your own wellbeing plan for your day.
Rituals allow families to slow down and connect. We have all had time to slow down over the past few months. Let’s not forget the good feelings this brought.
Despite life getting a little busier now, remember to make time to incorporate special moments into your family life.
Read the list together as a family and tick off the ones you would like to try!
Give yourself a moment to focus on your breathing, helping you feel calmer and relaxed and more present in your body.
Use the instructions and on the image below from Big Life Journal to help you.
Instructions:
You may be feeling a little overwhelmed right now, which is completely understandable.
What’s important to remember is all of your feelings matter and acknowledging them is the first step in supporting a healthy emotional and physical state.
As you embark on another lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it will be important to maintain your own self-care.
Here’s some ideas of intentions you might want to set for yourself.
Download a PDF of this practice to print out and maybe stick up on your wall, or follow the guide below. (Tip: print in black and white to save on your ink).
When you are feeling overwhelmed try to take 5 minutes to figure out what is going on for you. Take some deep breaths, tap into where you are feeling any tension in your body and spend a few moments acknowledging any feelings that are coming up for you, even the negative ones. Sometimes writing down your thoughts and feelings or journaling can really support you to express them.
Setting intentions can also be useful in order to feel hopeful and positive about the weeks and months ahead. You might have already done some of this with your child or family together but now it’s time to focus solely on you.
I intend…
Take your time to identify and write down an intention or set of intentions that support you in reaching your goals.
You can choose to say this intention when you wake up in the morning and again before going to sleep at night.
Or if you engage in a regular mindfulness practice, then you can say your intention to yourself or write it in a journal each time to begin your practice.
This one is for you the parent.
This guided gentle morning yoga flow will set you up for a great day.
Remember how important it is to take time for yourself to check in with yourself and be present.
Give yourself the gift of self-care this Christmas.
Watch this short video of one of our Project Workers Ruth explaining Baby Bonding. You can practice it with your infant/toddler or child today.
Follow allow with Ruth by downloading this Head, Heart and Hands Baby Bonding tip sheet.
There are some things we CAN control and there are some things we CANNOT.
This image from The Counseling Teacher helps us to remember the things that are in our control and the things that are not, especially during this stressful time.
The heart activities focus on understanding and managing feelings. These activities will support your children to foster feelings of kindness for themselves and others. Together you can help your child to learn more words to describe their feelings and support the daily practice of recognising how things make us feel.
As we head into a new school term it is the perfect time for us to reflect on our achievements and highlights over the summer and set some goals for the coming months.
This Glow and Grow activity is fun for the family to complete together – you can support each other in learning something new or taking on a new challenge, all while celebrating each other’s achievements.
Download a PDF with instructions for this activity here.
Hopefully you can spend some time as a family at the beach this summer.
Spending time together in nature can be fun and help create moments of shared joy. Whilst there, why not collect some unusual shells for painting as a family activity, thinking about the people in your life you love and spreading messages of kindness.
Download a PDF with instructions for this activity here.
It’s okay to feel worried sometimes. Many children might be feeling worried about returning to school this March and about the Current COVID-19 situation.
Sometimes our heads can get so full of worries that we can find it difficult to think about other things.
By creating a ‘Worry Monster’ with your child, you can support them to express these worries in a positive way – sometimes writing them down or drawing pictures can support children to do this.
It is important your child knows that they can talk to you about their worries and that you will try to support them.
It is also important that you ask them to name any other people in their lives whom they would feel comfortable talking to about their worries, e.g. teacher, aunt, grandparent, for times when you may not be available.
Picture Reference: Supersimple.com
Download and print our PDF Instructions for this activity, or read them below. (Tip: print in black and white to save on your ink).
This is likely to be an anxious and worrying time for lots of children returning to pre-school and school.
Talking to your children about their worries can be a really insightful and freeing experience for both the child and parent.
For younger children sometimes looking for clues in their play can be useful as we know children express themselves through play.
Here are some books about worries which you could read with your child, which should be available in your local library:
Remember your response to your own worries, stress, and frustrations can go a long way toward teaching your children how to deal with everyday challenges
Finger-painting can be an excellent stress-reliever. The experience of using your fingers to create something fresh and new can be very uplifting emotionally and psychologically.
Everyone can benefit from this activity so why not try it together?
Recommended age 6 months +
Download and print our easy PDF Instructions for this activity, or read them below. (Tip: you can print in black and white to save on your ink).
• Paint*
• Paper
*If your children are 6 years+ you can choose to use any regular paint. However if you are doing this activity with a baby/toddler (6 months+), see below how to make edible finger paints.
A simple finger painting activity with edible paint
Why not spend some time together as a family creating a special love jar, which shows each member of the family how much they are loved.
Family love is a special type of love that comes with its own unique feelings, behaviours, challenges, and rewards.
It is important not only to tell our family members how much we love them and why, but to also show them how much we love them by the things we say and do every day for each other.
Recommended for: the whole family.
Read the guide below, or download and print the PDF (Tip: print in black and white to save on your ink).
Here is a short guided meditation from Louise Shanagher.
This is a nice time to reflect on the past few weeks with your children. It's good to make some time to think about themselves, their families and their school friends, whom they may not have had a chance to say a proper goodbye to this year.
This guided meditation helps us make kind wishes for people in our lives.
Recommended for ages 6+
This is a short guided meditation from Louise Shanagher to support your child in allowing them to be kind to themselves and think of kind wishes for others.
Recommended for ages 6+
The Body activities are divided into breathing activities and muscle relaxations - activities to help your child release tension from their body and to increase their sense of calmness. (TIP: The best time to teach a breathing technique is when the child is calm.)
Creating a mindfulness sensory ball is a fun and creative way to release any tension or nervous energy in our bodies.
They can help us centre ourselves in the present moment, strengthen the muscles in our hands and fingers and provide an outlet to relieve any frustrations we might have.
Download a PDF of instructions for this activity here.
Hopscotch improves your balance and co-ordination. It will also enhance muscle strength whilst having fun with friends and family.
This hopscotch challenge is about wellbeing. Each square has a wellbeing challenge associated with it, so that when you 'conquer' a square, you complete the challenge assigned to it. The game can be played together with family or friends or on your own.
Download a PDF of instructions for this activity here (including a list of materials you will need).
Encourage your child to follow along to this video, where Barnardos Project Worker Stephanie demonstrates how to do a simple mindful breathing exercise just using your hand.
Finger breathing can slow our breathing down and make us feel calm. Ask your child how they feel after?
Recommended ages 6+
Encourage your child to follow along to this video, where Barnardos Project Worker Stephanie demonstrates how to do a simple mindful breathing exercise by smelling a flower.
Ask your child how they feel after?
Recommended ages 6+
Try this guided meditation by GoZen with your child to help them practice more belly breathing.
Breathing deeply helps us feel calm and relaxed.
Ask your child what parts of their body move? Ask them how they feel after?
Recommended 6+ years
We have practiced lots of breathing techniques here on the body section. We understand the importance of children taking time to slow their breathing and connect with the present.
By now your child might have tried different types of breathing activities and might have found one or two that work for them. Continued encouragement from you will support their mastery of breathing calmly which has a huge benefit on their Heart, Body and Mind.
Here are some Breathing Cards, from childhood101.com, with different breathing activities and instructions. These can be printed and cut out for use every day with your child.
When we engage our senses in a unique way we can tap into a part of our brain and bodies that makes us feel calmer.
Why not create your very own Sensory Bag/Kit with your child and include different items that they enjoy which you know will make them feel calm and relaxed in moments when they might need it.
Here is an activity which the whole family can get involved in, starting from a young age.
Developing and using their gross motor skills supports your child's physical development, and it has also been shown to have a positive impact on learning, and important school day functions, such as attention and memory.
Body awareness is a vital tool you can support your children with. With every movement or exercise they do they are learning more about how their body moves and their awareness of themselves in the space around them.
Download and print our PDF instructions and dice template (Tip: print in black and white to save on your ink). Or read the instructions below and if you don’t have a printer, you could get creative and draw the outline of the dice template on a piece of paper or card.
Follow these simple instructions and get the Rainbow Rice Effect! This activity uses our sense of touch. Playing with different textures can help us feel calm.
Recommended for age 3+ (Supervision required for younger children)
The Mind activities will support your child to have an awareness of their own thoughts and learn how to increase positive thoughts. It will help the whole family be more present with eachother.
As we go back to school after our summer holidays, we can feel many different emotions.
We may be sad the holidays are over but excited to see our friends and learn.
We might be nervous or a little scared of all the new things - a new teacher, new friends or even a new school.
Take a quiet moment to yourself and listen to the below meditation to release any fears or worries, you may have.
Listen to the mediation on Soundcloud - also available wherever you get your podcasts, just search "Hot Air Balloon Barnardos".
This short visualization and body awareness meditation is for the whole family to try.
Take a quiet moment in the day and encourage everyone to listen to this meditation. Maybe afterwards plan your day at the beach together.
Listen to the mediation on Soundcloud - also available wherever you get your podcasts, just search "Day at the Beach Barnardos".
It is normal for our minds to feel very fuzzy sometimes when we have lots of thoughts and feelings floating around. Here is a way to help your child settle their mind using a mindful breathing technique, the Glitter Jar.
This activity supports children to understand that our minds can feel very busy at times which can feel very overwhelming but there are ways to help us calm our minds.
This activity can support children (and adults) when there are feelings of overwhelm. It can also be a useful mindfulness breathing tool.
Use the Barnardos Reflective Journal Template as a family to reflect on how returning to school has gone and what you hope for the coming months.
Reflecting on our experiences is really important. It helps us understand what is going on for our children. Planning within the family for the coming months can be really useful too, it allows children to know what they can expect which helps them feel safe.
Recommended ages 6+
Download the Reflective Journal Template.
Here are some journal prompts for children to help them notice and feel gratitude daily.
When we feel gratitude in our lives we can truly appreciate and feel happy in ourselves.
Showing kindness to ourselves is just as important as showing it to others, in fact we need to show it to ourselves in order for us to know how to show it to others. Support your child with these daily acts of kindness.
Download and print our PDF template or read below (Tip: print in black and white to save on your ink).
Listen to Barnardos Project Worker Aoife reading a very hungry caterpillar and follow along to the story.
Watch what happens to the Caterpillar at the end of the story. Can your children guess what happens to him?
Recommended for all ages.
Positive Self Talk is really important to practice. This Inspiration Stones activity helps us to remember what makes us happy, what we are grateful for and reminds us to think and say positive things about ourselves each day.
Follow our instructions below or download them and see how to decorate your own inspiration stones. Recommended for ages 3+
Photo: Stones painted by 3 year old, 8 year old and their Mum.
Story time for the whole family! At a time when we can’t cuddle everyone we want to, listen here to one of our Project Workers Katherine reading us the Cuddle story and think about who you could cuddle in your imagination!
Recommended for all ages.