Mental Wellness: Tips for Children

Tips to boost your child’s mental wellness

When people think about mental health, the first group of people that comes to mind is adults. Based on research from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, it is estimated that 13 –20 percent of children living in the United States (up to 1 out of 5 children) experience a mental disorder in a given year between the ages of 3 and 17 years old.

Keeping children physically healthy by making sure they eat nutritious foods, exercising, and making sure they are up-to-date on their immunizations are known things to do as a parent to keep your child healthy. Implementing good mental wellness practices is just as important. The first step is understanding and knowing that your child’s mental health matters. Here are a few tips to help support your child’s mental wellness.

3 tips to boost your mental wellness

1. Encourage Healthy Habits 

Taking care of your physical health is an important part of practicing mental wellness. Exercising in fun, creative ways, deep breathing, or going for nature walks are all great habits to implement with your children. 

2. Show your child fun activities outside of screen time

Just like parents, kids love their TV shows or favorite video games. Unfortunately, kids can start to rely on screen time as their main source of entertainment. This could negatively impact their happiness and stress levels in the long run. It’s important to teach kids how to have fun away from a screen. Try baking cookies, drawing or painting, or blowing bubbles together. 

3. Find what works for your family

Every child and family is different, and you know yours best. While there’s no perfect way to practice mental wellness for you or your child, it’s important to start having conversations now about the best ways your child can take care of their mental and physical health. If you’re able to help them create those habits now, they’ll be more inclined to stick with them when they’re adults. 

Mental wellness is just as important as physical health for growing, developing kids. Practicing mental wellness can help kids identify their needs and begin to take care of them before emotions can ever get in the way. Champions for Children believes that parents have an obligation to provide a nurturing environment for their children, regardless of their child’s mental health status. Our community has a responsibility to strengthen families and Champions is here to help. If you have questions, need advice, need help enrolling in our programs, or need us to connect you to someone who can help, call our no cost personalized parenting support warm line at (813) 673-4646.

Links to Resources:
Mental Health of Children and Parents
Children’s Mental Health – What Parents Can Do