Whilst I appreciate that I am biased, being a child Matilda and the author of 30 books, I cannot pretend that I am not a lover of reading. However, something that is less spoken about is the role that books play in mental health, and I am not referring to the role of self-development books […]
Why reading supports empathy Read More »
If you attended the Dandelion Conference in April 2024, you will have heard my presentation about attachment styles and the expression of feelings. The role of attachments, is something I am hugely passionate about as it influences so many aspects of our perception of child behaviour and feelings. Attachment theory was first proposed by Bowlby,
Should we stop praising independence? Read More »
When it comes to feelings, there are two routes that we can take: In the reverse to a first aid situation, when we cannot see someone’s expression of feelings this is a warning sign that a child or young person needs support. When we can see a child’s behaviours or hear their expressed words, this
4 ways to support children to externalise their feelings Read More »
Identifying that our feelings are fluid, and ever moving supports children to understand that they do not need to always feel ‘happy’. For so many children and adults, there is a pressure to always be ‘happy’, when in reality our feelings move continually throughout the day. Learning to differentiate between different feelings is an important
Children’s Activity: Feelings Colouring Read More »
Emotional literacy sits at the core of our well-being, mental health and management of needs such as stress. When we have positive emotional literacy skills, we have a greater capacity to: However, to be able to do this we also need the right environment. The development of emotional literacy awareness requires support as well as
Creating safe spaces for feelings Read More »
Glimmers have become more popular over the last few years, and we often see social media posts talking about them. So, what is a glimmer and a glow? Glimmers Glimmers are micro-moments of pleasure that we experience in the day. These small moments, when we give them attention, provide us with calm, peace and connection.
Why we need Glimmers and Glows Read More »
Learning to calm our mind when we feel anxious or overwhelmed, allows us to move from our amygdala (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) into our prefrontal cortex (logic/reasoning/regulation). Often, we can catch ourselves asking children hundreds of questions about ‘what is wrong?’ ‘what is the matter?’ ‘how do you feel?’ and notice their anxiety escalating as we draw more
Children’s Activity: Calm your mind Read More »
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 the more subtle feelings. A great first step, is to encourage children to reflect on their feelings, so that they can
Children’s Activity: Find the feelings Read More »
How do you feel? We often ask children how they feel, however many children have a small stock of responses that they can give us. Something we can commonly see, is the difficulty pulling apart the differences. Such as, the difference between sad and bored, excited and anxious, happy and content. Many feel that they
Children’s Activity: When I feel… Read More »
A challenge that we can all experience, is where we place our attention. As the saying goes, ‘what we focus on, grows’. Perhaps, if you close your eyes, you can take yourself back and think of a time when life felt ‘great’. Think now, what were you thinking about at this time? What did you
What we focus on – grows. Read More »
