K-6 wellbeing sessions
Maintaining connections
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Overview: What does the ‘compliment’ mean? It is a way of giving praise or showing kindness or admiration to someone.
- Materials needed: Texta, paper, writing materials, drawing/colouring pencils.
Steps
- Make a list of different people we can give compliments to and/or show kindness to. It could be friends, family, a neighbour, the bus driver, teachers, office staff at school or anyone who helps you.
- Now make a list of things you could give someone a compliment about; it could be something they made, something they achieved, something they said or did.
- Choose one of these and write down 3 compliments you could give someone.
- If you can, share your ideas with someone else or with a small group in your class and listen to other people’s ideas to learn more about compliments.
- Now we know more about compliments, let’s start giving some!
- Think of someone you’d like to give a compliment to. Draw that person and write the compliment you want to give them.
- Here’s some ideas to get you started
- I want to say that I like how you…(always help me pack my school bag, read my library book with me, check my work, take me to soccer training, come over and play with me, say hello to me every day)
- You are great at… (reading, playing sport, spelling, colouring in, doing up shoelaces, skipping, handball, unpacking the dishwasher, cooking)
- You made me happy when…( you gave me a lunch order, found my hat for me, you let me pick what was for tea, you helped with my homework/schoolwork, sat next to me, took me to the farm with you etc)
- Giving someone a compliment or telling them how kind they are can make both the person and you feel great!
Follow up activities
- Give 3 compliments to 3 different people today.
- Show kindness to 3 different people today.
- Look for 3 acts of kindness in 3 different people and tell them what you saw or heard.
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Materials needed: Paper, pen/pencil for writing, coloured pencils/textas/crayons, envelope and Stamp if postage is required.
Steps
- Think of someone who you would like to say thank you to for helping you or helping others. This could one person or a group of people in the community that you think is doing a great job. It could be
- a family member who helped you with home learning
- a teacher
- someone who does something to help your family
- someone who works in a shop nearby
- staff working in hospitals
- doctors, police, ambulance officers
- firefighter or SES workers
- office workers, cleaners
- anybody that you would like to say ‘thank you’ to.
- Draw a picture or pictures for that person to show them your gratitude. Some examples of what to draw could be
- happy faces,
- a bunch of flowers,
- love hearts,
- a picture of them at work doing their job.
- See if you can make it nice, bright and colourful.
- Add a short message or letter to accompany your picture. If you need some help with wording, you could use some of the following
- I want to say a big thank you to you because….
- You are Awesome because...
- You are doing a great job
- Thank you for helping keep us safe
- Thanks for all the ways you have been helping like...
- Make sure you put your name on it so they know who the letter and thank you is from.
- Hand the letter to the person or you may have to leave it somewhere where they will find it. You can get someone to help you find their address and post it to them.
- You will be making someone feel happy when they receive your letter, as well as making yourself feel good by being kind.
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Materials needed: Paper – can be any colour or size, scissors (optional), colouring in pencils/textas/crayons, any decorative pieces to glue on to card and glue.
Steps
- Fold your paper in half or use scissors to create your own shaped card
- Write Welcome back somewhere on the card and the name of the class
- Decorate the card with colour and/or decorative pieces
- You can write a welcome back message for the class to read. If you need some help with wording you may want to use any of these phrases
- It is nice to see you back at school
- Welcome back to school. I missed you
- I am glad you are back at school so we can...
- Have a great day
- It is great to see you back
- I’m looking forward to doing ...... with you
- If you are at school, you can leave it in the classroom so the students see it when they return to school
- If you are not back at school yet you can give it to the class or teacher when you return back to school
- Don’t forget to write your name on the card somewhere
- When the class read your card it may help them feel more relaxed and feel welcomed back into school routines.
Managing change
Listen to Dear future me (1:46) or read the transcript below.
Good morning, everybody. Wow, we've all been going through a very strange time with COVID-19 and lockdowns and learning from home.
Let's make a time capsule to capture soem of our memories. I hope there have been things you have really liked about these strange times. Like spending time at home with people you love, or learning how to cook something yummy.
But I also understand there may have been some hard things too, like not seeing your friends or being able to see your favourite teacher.
Okay, let's imagine your future self. You are a grandparent and your grandchildren ask you about what it was like when you were a kid, doing home learning during a pandemic.
Even after getting back to school, you might just forget all about this time once you start hanging with friends and doing the school things you're used to.
Well, a special thing to do is make a COVID-19 time capsule for your future self to help you remember the good bits, the hard bits and have a good story to tell your older self and your grandkids.
Today, we'll be using a worksheet from Kids' Helpline to make your time capsule. But you can change however you like, or do your own original time capsule.
Youc an copy the worksheet, print it, create your own or use one your teacher gives you. The most important part about a time capsule is: you need to put a date on your worksheet or time capsule box for when you're going to open it.
Your teacher will set a date for the time capsule to be opened later in the year to remember what life was like during COVID-19. Have fun!
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Session overview: you are going to make a time-capsule to capture some of your memories of the time you have been learning at home. Imagine your future self – you are a grandparent and your grandchildren ask you what it was like when you were a kid, doing home learning during a pandemic.
Steps
- Print the COVID-19 Time Capsule Activity worksheet (PDF) or copy the questions below into your workbook.
- Today’s date is ...
- A photo or drawing of me during this time is ….
- I live with ….
- I am ____ years old
- I am in Year …..
- Three things I am doing while being at home at.....
- During this time I have enjoyed....
- I am spending time with ….
- My favourite thing to do at the moment is …..
- During this time I have felt....
- I was worried.....
- Family time has been different because …..
- I can’t wait until I can....
- I admire the doctors and essential workers who have helped our community because....
- I am missing.....
- I am not missing.....
- I will always remember.....
- My advice to other kids is …..
- Today’s date is ...
- Write or draw your answers where you can to these questions. You may want to talk with the adults that live with you about some of these questions and answer them together.
- Remember to put a date on your worksheet or in your workbook (or Time Capsule box if you use the idea below) for when you are going to share your time capsule with others. Your teacher may set a date for people in the class to open their Time Capsule and talk about what life was like during COVID 19 for them.
Extension
- Find a small box and put some small things in there that help you remember your time learning at home. Examples could be a special rock you have painted, a picture you drew, a copy of the recipe for your favourite dinner, a list of the movies you watched, a playlist of songs you listened to – anything you can think of! You may want to do this activity with the people you live with and discuss what things you will put in the time capsule.
- Decorate your box.
Suitable for Kindergarten to Year 2.
Book one of four
Watch Growth mindset 1 on Brightcove (6:26)
- Overview: Craig Crocodile is having trouble making friends. Bunyet shows Craig how to use growth mindset to overcome his snappiness.
Book two of four
Watch Growth mindset 2 on Brightcove (5:43).
- Overview: Jenny Joey finds it hard to sit still and follow instructions without getting distracted. Bunyet helps her improve her growth mindset and improve her focus.
Book three of four
Watch Growth mindset 3 on Brightcove (9:27).
- Overview: Anthony does not like losing. Bunyet teaches him that doing his best is what matters, not winning.
Book four of four
Watch Growth mindset 4 on Brightcove (6:45).
- Overview: Katie Koala is having trouble with her writing. Bunyet gives her some tips on how to use a growth mindset and persevere.
Overview
- Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6
- Overview: Our brains are amazing! In this wellbeing sesion you are going to learn a few things about your brain. There are 3 mains parts to learn about: your survival brain, your emotional brain and your smart brain. Each part has different jobs to do, and they do them best when they all work together, like a team.
Steps
- Start by watching the Meet Your Brain! (3:40). When prompted in the video, watch the Kids Helpline video Brain Basics: Anxiety for Kids - with Lee Constable (6:22) to learn more about your brain.
- Now write the title 'Meet your brain' in your workbook and do the activities that are provided in the video.
- Draw or copy a simple brain with the 3 parts in your workbook.
- Label the Survival brain, Emotional brain and Smart brain. Colour it in if you want to.
- Next to each part, write a job it does – this could be something you remember from the video or something you thought of yourself.
For fast finishers or keen young scientists
Answer the questions below. You can replay the Kids Helpline video for the answers if you’ve forgotten!
- Where do emotions comes from?
- What are the 3 Fs?
For teachers
The Meet your brain series is a trauma informed approach to helping Stage 2 and 3 students understand how their brains affect their self-regulation when managing stress and anxiety. Students will be introduced to their different part of their brain and be given simple tools for managing their thoughts and feelings over 3 wellbeing sessions.
Overview
- Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6
- Overview: This session is the 2nd one in the Meet your Brain series. The focus today is on learning more about your Survival Brain, and some brain hacks to help calm your body when big feelings take over. Your goal this week is to try a new brain hack for calming your body down.
Steps
- Start by watching the Meet your survival brain video (2:20) to hear more about the different parts of your brain. When prompted, watch the Kids Helpline video Brain Basics: All about anxiety (for kids) Part 2 - Your brain
- Pause the video to practice some different brain hacks. These can be useful to help you calm your body. Think about the others that are described.
- There are some short activities to do at the end of the video. Write the Title “Meet Your Survival Brain” on a new page in your workbook and then complete these activities;
- Write down, or draw, 1 brain hack you already know for calming your body and making it feel good, when you are worried or upset. Maybe there is someone at home you could teach this to!
- Write down, or draw, 1 new brain hack you would like to learn how to do, and practice it this week!
- Write a positive self-talk message you can give your Survival Brain when you need to. Something like, “just breathe” “I am going to be okay” “I will get through this” “This big feeling will pass”. You can use words you like to hear from other people.
For teachers
For teachers – The meet your brain series is a trauma Informed approach to helping Stage 2 and 3 students understand how their brains affect their self-regulation when managing stress and anxiety. Over 3 wellbeing sessions, students will be introduced to their survival brain, emotional brain and smart brain. Sessions will provide simple tools for managing their thoughts and feelings.
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Overview: Whether you are back at school, or getting ready to go back, remembering the places and people at your school will help you to feel connected to your teacher and friends. Every school is special, and only you know where you like to play and learn. The Returning to School Memory Challenge is something you can do at home or at school. It involves you drawing a map that can as simple or detailed as you like.
- Materials needed: Blank Paper – for drawing, pencils, textas, crayons, pens, paints.
Steps
- Watch the video Returning to school memory challenge! – school map (5:03) to find out how to complete this challenge. You will see a sample map of a school and get step-by-step instructions on how to draw your own and the places and people you can include in your map.
- These include
- Places like a street at the front of the school, your classroom, front office, oval, playground, principal’s office, library, bus stop or parent pick up and drop off place.
- People like your teacher, 3 friends, school counsellor, lollipop person, your favourite person at school or cleaner.
- Other places like toilet, sick bay, yarning circle, sandpit, your favourite place or canteen.
- To finish off your map draw a big red X on your favourite place and a big red heart next to your favourite person.
- If you made your map at home, take it school when you return to show your teacher and class.
- You, or your teacher, can make a class scavenger hunt to find any places you have forgotten and then add them to your map.
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Overview: This session is going to look at how we can feel when things are challenging for us, like when there is lots of changes happening and what might help us resettle and feel calmer.
Steps
- Start by watching the video from Smiling Mind called Improving Awareness and Attention through Mindfulness (1:00).
- To help better understand what happens inside us when we feel strong emotions like worry, frustration and sadness you are going to make your own Snow Globe.
- Combine all your glitter and sparkly objects together in your jar and then fill it up with water.
- Place the lid on the jar and secure it tightly.
- Shake your jar vigorously and watch the glitter swirl
- Now with your stopwatch, time how long it takes for the glitter to completely settle at the bottom of the jar. Write this time down.
- In your notebook write down times when your snow globe might be shaken up a lot because of feelings that you have. Some examples could be when
- Someone has hurt your feelings
- You fall over and hurt yourself
- You find an activity in class really tricky to do
- You have not been able to see, be with or talk to someone important in your life, such as a loved one or pet
- Someone has hurt your feelings
- Now answer these questions
- How might someone feel when what is happening inside their mind looks like the jar after it was shaken?
- How does it feel when our minds are settled again like the glitter at the bottom of the jar?
- How might someone feel when what is happening inside their mind looks like the jar after it was shaken?
- It takes time for our minds to settle and refocus, just like it took time for the glitter to settle.
- Something you can do to help calm yourself down when you are shaken up and unsettled is called mindfulness.
- Mindfulness is when you do a task with 100% of your energy and attention - in other words you are concentrating on one thing.
- There are many different ways to improve mindfulness and one way is to practice breathing exercises. Watch the video Hand Breathing (1:42) and try the breathing activity that is demonstrated. This is one technique you might want to use to help you to focus and concentrate when we feel like a shaken snow globe. Do the breathing exercise as many times as you need until you feel that your mind is settled.
Reaching out
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Overview: We are going to do an activity to recall the friends, classmates, adults or teachers we have at school that can support or help us when we need it.
Steps
- Start by having a think about who is there at school to help you out. It could be when you have a question about something, you need some advice, you have a problem you need some help with or you just want a friendly chat. List down the names you can think of. If you can, share ideas with others in your class.
- Now use the image of the hand print or create your own hand print by spreading your fingers out and place your hand on a piece of paper and tracing around the palm of your hand and fingers.
- When you have finished, cut out your hand tracing.
- Draw one person in each finger to show who can help you at school. Write each person’s name in the palm of your hand, near their name. If there is space, write a few words about how they help you.
- Finish off by joining all the individual handprints together for classroom display. Some examples for a display can be found on Pixabay.
Additional notes
- This could be a whole school activity to display somewhere for all students to see.
- If you know of any Wellbeing Apps, you could draw or write one of these apps on one finger. For example, Kids Helpline
- You can trace around your own hand if you would prefer.
School and study support
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Overview: A visual board designed to support you in getting back into a school routine to maximise your readiness to return to school learning.
Steps
- Access the Return to School Routine Visual (PDF 279KB).
- Go through each visual and talk about how activity helps with your school work and your general wellbeing. The visuals shown are
- Go to bed at a reasonable time to ensure a good sleep.
- Eat a good breakfast to start each new day.
- Wear a hat outside to be sun safe
- Have exercise breaks like it is recess or lunchtime.
- Pack a school bag each morning like you will for school.
- Clean your teeth and do your hair each morning
- Eat recess and lunch at school times
- Unpack school bag each afternoon
- Keep using your smile and take it back to school with you
- Wear your school uniform during school hours
- Dedicate a part of the afternoon to do homework
- Set the alarm to get up at school time
- Go to bed at a reasonable time to ensure a good sleep.
- Discuss if you would do each activity before, during or after school time.
- Print the visual and cut each square out so you will have 12 individual routine pictures. If you cannot print the visual you can draw and/or write them into the correct column.
- Get a blank sheet of paper and fold it into 3 columns. Draw a line down each column and fold the line from top to bottom.
- At the top of the first column write Before School. At the top of the middle column write At School. At the top of the last column write After School.
- Sort each routine into something you do before, at or after school by placing the picture in the correct column. Check you have each routine in the right column and then glue them in the column.
- If you do not have the pictures printed off, go through the list and draw each routine in the correct column. You may also want to write the routine in if you have enough room.
- Great effort, bet it looks great!
Additional notes
Display your work so you can remind yourself of the routines that will help get you back in to a school routine!
Self care
Watch Feelings statues on Brightcove (17:28)
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 2
- Session overview: The students are going to be feelings statues. Statues stand still but these statues are going to move and change. These statues are going to show feelings. Once the student has practised being the feeling statue, they will be asked to think about things that make them feel that emotion. They could write/draw/say out loud to a parent/carer, or they could use a class Jamboard or similar, to share and compare ideas if this is a whole class activity. The video does not need to be paused for each activity – there will be 60 seconds of silence for the students to undertake this writing/drawing/speaking activity.
Listen to the Finding the positives in ourselves audio (4:00)
Overview
- Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6
Steps
- Finding the positive in ourselves is an important way of being kind to ourselves, and this helps us to be kind to others too.
- Today, you will listen to a short, guided meditation on finding the positive in you,. When you finish you will think, write, or draw what you noticed doing the activity.
- Firstly, think about whether the way you feel affects how you are breathing.
- Now think about these questions
- What is your breathing like when you are happy?
- What is your breathing like when you are upset or angry?
- Can you slow down your breathing if you try? Give it a go – take a few slow, deep breaths!
- Listen to the audio Finding the positives in ourselves. You might like to find a soft toy to put on your belly while you listen, so find one before you start.
- After you have listened to the audio, get out your workbook or a piece of paper and write the heading:
- “What I noticed”. Write a paragraph or draw a picture about anything you noticed about your breath during the meditation, how you felt, what was difficult or easy about doing this activity or anything else that you experienced.
- Now write or draw the positive thing that you found in your day, and the thing you thought of that you are proud about.
- Great effort – you have just practiced finding the positive in your day and being kind to yourself!
Transcript
Today, I'm going to take you on a guided journey of self-compassion and kindness to find the positive in yourself. Afterwards, you'll feel relaxed and good inside.
You can learn to do this by yourself if you like it. Just listen to my voice - that's all you have to do. It will take about 5 minutes.
Lie down somewhere comfortable and let your arms and legs fall to the ground. Close your eyes gently. Start to notice how your body changes with each breath you take. Each time you breathe, your belly moves up and your belly moves down.
If it's easier, put a hand on your belly. Or if you want, put a soft toy there. Each time you breathe, your belly moves. Your hand or your toy rises and then falls. See if you can count ten breaths that way. Breathing in, one. Breathing out, one. Breathing in, two. Breathing out, two. Keep breathing and counting.
When you lose count, don't worry about it. That's normal and happens to everyone. Come back to whatever number you last remember or just start at one again.
Breathing in, focus on your breath as your belly goes up. Breathing out, focus on something that has gone well today so far. Breathing in, noticing your belly move and with each breath out, noticing something else that has gone well today.
Breathing in, focus on your belly moving. Breathing out, picture something that makes you proud of yourself. If nothing comes to mind - that sometimes happens. If that's how you feel, picture what you'd wish for yourself instead.
Before we end, let's try one more breathing practice. Breathing in, notice your belly move. And now, breathing out, picture someone who makes you happy. As you come to the end of this journey, take a few deep breaths and start to wiggle your arms and legs.
Just have a quiet moment to yourself and decide what you'd like to do next. It's normal to have thoughts that make us feel scared or bad. We should never ignore anything important, but it's useful to focus on the rest of our lives too. Take a few minutes every day to notice what has gone well and see how much better you feel.
Watch Positive self talk for kids on Brightcove (2:52)
Overview
- Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6
- Session overview: Let’s see if together, we can make you feel better than you do right now, even if that is already pretty good.
Steps
- Open your workbook to a new page, and write the title “Positive Self-Talk”.
- Watch the video on screen – or you can read the words in the transcript.
- In your workbook, write a sentence in your own words, or copy a sentence you think is best, about what Positive Self-Talk is. “Positive Self Talk is….”
- Now brainstorm some positive words you like to hear from your teacher, friends, or people you live with, like “good, kind, nice, smart, talented, helpful”.
- Draw a speech bubble on your page, and use words from your brainstorm to write yourself a Positive Self-Talk message, like, “I am smart” , “I don’t give up” or something you like to hear about yourself from others.
- Open the PDF or follow the link to the Kids Helpline Positive Self-Talk Info Sheet, and read the speech bubbles. Which one did you like the best?
- Pick 1 Positive Self-Talk thing from the Info Sheet that you would like to try saying to yourself. Like… “I am strong – I will sort this”. Good - now try saying it to yourself! If it felt a bit strange, say it a few times until it feels more natural.
- If you already have a positive thing you know how to say to yourself to feel better, write it, draw it, or say it – or do all 3!
- You are doing an awesome job of learning a healthy mind skill! And remember - the more you practice, the better at it you will be!
Additional resources
Session 1
Watch Sleeping well lesson 1 on Brightcove (3:06)
Overview
- Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6
- Session overview: This is the first session in a series of 2 sessions about sleeping well and how to have healthy sleep habits. We will start by exploring what happens during sleep and then look at why we need good quality sleep to be happy, healthy and enjoy life. There will be a sleep diary that you will start and come back to talk about in the next session on sleep.
Steps
- Firstly watch the introduction video on Sleeping Well. (3 minutes)
- Go to your workbook and start a new page called Sleeping Well.
- Figure this out! Kids need 10-12 hours of sleep. Imagine you get up at 7:00am in the morning, what time should you go to sleep at night to get the number of hours sleep that you need?
- Do This! Write down 3 or 4 reasons you learned from the video about why kids need lots of good sleep.
- Write down 3 things you heard in the video about why kids might find it hard to sleep well.
- To find out how healthy your sleep habits are you are going to keep a sleep diary for one week. Copy the Sleep diary template (PDF 139KB) into your workbook or print it off.
- Begin to fill in the diary by recording the following
- the time you went to bed last night
- the time you woke up this morning
- the number of minutes it took you to fall asleep last night (this can be a rough guess)
- the total amount of sleep you had
- Record the same information in your sleep diary each morning for the next 7 days. We will look at your sleep diary in the next session on sleep.
Session 2 – routines and tips
Watch Sleeping well lesson 2 on Brightcove (4.:41)
Overview
- Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6
- Session overview: Last week we looked at good sleep habits. Today we will check how your sleep has been this last week, learn more about what helps us to sleep better, and think about our own bedtime habits to help get a good night’s sleep!
Steps
- Go to your workbook and start a new page with the title Sleeping Well Lesson 2.
- Check your sleep diary. How many hours of sleep did you get each day? Count how many days you got between 10-12 hours sleep. Write the answers in your book.
- Watch the video to learn more about healthy sleep habits.
- Write 3 things you remember about Healthy sleep habits.
- Write 3 things you remember about Unhealthy sleep habits
- “Bedrooms are for sleeping”. What does this mean? Write a sentence or two, explaining it from your point of view.
- What is one part of your sleep routine that you think you do well and should keep doing?
- Finish this sentence: “I would change... (one thing in your sleep routine) because...”
- Check this out! Look at the checklist for Getting a Good Night’s Sleep, you can follow the on-line link, or open the PDF.
- Congratulations! By keeping a Sleep Diary and counting your hours of sleep, you are now officially a scientist who has been doing research on sleep patterns! This will help you to focus, feel energised each day and stay healthy.
Additional resources
Overview
- Suitable for: Kindergarten to Year 6
- Overview: This session is all about gratitude. When we show gratitude it means we think about things we appreciate or feel happy and thankful that we have in our lives.
- You are each going to make a gratitude flower to show things that you are grateful for.
Steps
- Firstly, think of at least 4 things that you grateful or thankful for and write them down. Some examples could be
- A person who does things for you that made you happy
- An activity that you enjoyed
- Someone who helps you
- A place that is special to you
- Something that you have tasted (like being able to eat your favourite food), seen (like a sunrise), heard (like the birds outside), smelt (like beautiful flowers) or touched (like your pet)
- A person who does things for you that made you happy
- If you can, share the things you wrote down with someone else and tell them what makes you thankful for these things.
- Use the pdf of the flower (46 KB) and carefully cut out the outline of the flower petals.
- Write your name in the middle of the flower so everyone knows who it belongs to.
- On each petal write and draw something you are grateful for.
- Decorate and make your flower colourful.
- Make a class display using the flowers. For example, display the individually, make a garden display, make a flower arrangement that the class decide upon.
- If you are learning from home display your flower in a special spot and when you return to school take it with you to add to the class display.
Additional notes
- Older students may want to draw their own flower to cut out and do the activity