Articles & Resources

Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Feelings Lighthouse

How can we talk about feelings with children? Being creative about feelings exploration with children can support them to create visual ideas about how to work through those sensations. My Feelings Lighthouse Download here    Next steps Download the worksheet here  Collect pens and pencils On the starfish – write the feeling you want to

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Behaviour
Nicky Edwards

Carrot and Stick – Why punishments rarely work

An important part of supporting child mental health, is that we recognise areas where we can develop our practice. There is no end point in this, as the world evolves, we can recognise that the mental health needs are ever evolving. Therefore, strategies that we used 10 years ago may no longer work, whilst new

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Goal Planning Ladder

Goal setting is a valuable activity, which can help both children, adolescents and adults to achieve their intentions. However, frequently we can see goals fall apart, or momentum being lost for a number of reasons, including: Not having a plan Not knowing HOW to get to our goal Charging too fast and losing energy Not

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Behaviour
Nicky Edwards

Why threats don’t work and we need validation instead

A lot of people can be concerned about the word ‘validation’, perceiving that by doing this, we are giving in, or enabling someone. However, validation is a vital part of our connections with children, building trust and supporting mental health. Without it, we are often caught in cycle of resistance, by which the child may

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Therapeutic Colouring

Sometimes, we just need an activity that allows us to switch off and zone out, to process our thoughts, feelings and experiences. Colouring has many benefits: Develops fine motor skills Supports concentration skills Develops colour recognition Strengthens handwriting skills Encourages relaxation Develops focus Creates a focus on the present Calms a restless mind Develops inner

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Child Mental Health
Nicky Edwards

Are we disregarding children?

Having worked in education as an early years professional, lecturer and inspector, alongside my work in therapy and coaching I have had the fortitude to see children’s needs from many angles. When I was at school, and even in the first years of my teaching career, other than students who had been diagnosed with dyslexia

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Christmas Colouring

Christmas Colouring As we spring into Christmas, Brian is here to add a little bit of fun to the festivities. Download his free colouring sheet and have some fun with Brian. Happy Christmas! Download here   Want to learn more?  If you want to learn more about mental health you can join our Level 4

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Child Mental Health
Nicky Edwards

5 ways to reduce overwhelm at Christmas

As Christmas approaches, for some children, the levels of overwhelm can increase. Whilst we often associate Christmas with magic, awe and wonder, for others it can feel stressful and create anxiety. This often affects children who: Find the increased sensory inputs overwhelming (lights, shiny decorations, music playing everywhere, things hanging from ceilings etc) Find the

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Regulation Cards

When we look at children’s emotional literacy we are considering: How we acknowledge our feelings Our ability to label our feelings Our skills to be able to regulate ourselves As adults, we are also considering how: 4. We co-regulate, by calming ourselves to respond to children’s needs Learning strategies, and supporting children to practice these

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Adult Mental Health
Nicky Edwards

Rejection Sensitivity and ADHD

What is rejection sensitivity? A frequent conversation that I have with parents and young people who have had a neurodiverse diagnosis (or are awaiting diagnosis) is the challenges that they can have with rejection sensitivity. This is most often symptomatic of those with ADHD or ADD. Rejection sensitivity occurs where the actual or perceived rejection

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: What’s the feeling?

When it comes to feelings, we need to be able to recognise the differences between the different sensations that they create, as well as recognise what our unique triggers are. So, this week we have a simple activity to start the dialogue around feelings. What’s the feeling? Download the worksheet and use the emoji’s to

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Child Mental Health
Nicky Edwards

Do you practice gratitude?

Do you practice gratitude? Or do you label is as ‘woo woo’ Or are you still stuck on the fence? In recent years, research into the power of gratitude has identified the importance that practicing daily gratitude has on our sense of happiness and well-being. When we practice gratitude consistently, and over a duration of

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Mandala Colouring Sheet

With the move into Christmas, many children can start to feel overwhelmed. Helping children to unwind and let go can support them to release stress and support regulation. Colouring has many benefits: Develops fine motor skills Supports concentration skills Develops colour recognition Strengthens handwriting skills Encourages relaxation Develops focus Creates a focus on the present

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Child Mental Health
Nicky Edwards

Hypoarousal versus Hyperarousal

When we experience stress, we can have two different reactions: Hyperarousal – where we feel overwhelmed by the stress Hypoarousal – where we feel numbed by the stress Any of us can become hyper or hypo aroused, however we frequently see these actions in children who are neurodiverse, such as those with autism spectrum disorder,

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activity: Make your own Gratitude Monster

Gratitude In recent years, research into the power of gratitude has identified the importance that this practice has on our sense of happiness and well-being. When we practice gratitude consistently, and over time, we can train our brain to focus on what is going well, and develop a sense of optimism. It has been found,

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Attachment
Nicky Edwards

7 ways that we can support children in the classroom

Whilst the understanding of the concept of mental health has increased, especially since the lockdowns, there is a gap between awareness and understanding. For some, their awareness is coupled with effective strategies, whilst for others their awareness is yet to be supported with understanding of the ‘how’. We can often, also get lost in looking

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Activities
Nicky Edwards

Children’s Activities: Making Feelings Fingers

Feelings  A step of emotional literacy development is being able to recognise what our emotions are. Many children can find it challenging to be able to recognise, identify and respond to their emotions, particularly differentiating between emotions such as disappointment, embarrassment and anger. A great first step, is to encourage children to reflect on their

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Child Mental Health
Nicky Edwards

Why do children with ADHD struggle socially?

ADHD Many moons ago, when I started my career with children, ADHD and ASD were two words we rarely heard. In fact, when I started my career in early years 24 years ago, most frequently, children were just described as ‘fidgety’ ‘having ants in their pants’ or in worst cases, described as being ‘naughty’. Whilst

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