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Find Your Brave - Childrens Mental Health

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Family & Wellbeing

Children's Mental Health Week: Find Your Brave

By Laura Colucci, Founder of Spritz Wellness

Children's Mental Health Week is run by children's mental health charity Place2Be to focus on the importance of looking after our emotional wellbeing from an early age.

This year's theme is "Find Your Brave." Having two boys, I am well aware of the effects of mental health on children, and I think this year's theme is so appropriate. I think it's important to give children a toolbox of tips they can use when life becomes too much, so they can find their brave. Simple things such as remembering to come back to the breath and take three deep breaths to calm the mind. Using aromatherapy, such as an atmosphere mist like Relax, and also using an eye pillow to block out the light, calm the mind and help with sleep.

3–9 February 2020 is Children's Mental Health Week.

The Meaning of This Year's Theme

"Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes and is different for everyone. Bravery can be about sharing worries and asking for help, trying something new or pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Finding your brave can build your confidence, self-esteem and make you feel good about yourself. Life often throws challenges our way. Bravery isn't about coping alone or holding things in. It's about finding positive ways to deal with things that might be difficult, overcoming physical and mental challenges and looking after yourself. We all have times when we need to find our brave."

Place2Be

Five Tips to Help Your Child Find Their Brave

Place2Be provides some really simple tips to share with your children to encourage them to find their brave.

  1. Remind your child that bravery comes in many forms and everyone is different. What's brave for them might not feel brave to someone else.
  2. Chat with your child about a time when you've had to find your brave. It might have been something big or small.
  3. Praise your child when they find their brave. Maybe they've kept going at learning a new skill, or tried something outside their comfort zone that boosted their confidence.
  4. Point out examples of bravery in books and films to your child, and talk about how trying out different ways of being brave will help them feel good.
  5. Reassure your child that not feeling brave is okay too, and that there are times when it might be more difficult to be brave.

A small calming ritual for busy little minds: a few deep breaths, a gentle mist of a calming atmosphere spray in the room, and a few quiet minutes with an eye pillow can be a gentle, simple way to help a child pause and reset when feelings feel like a lot.

This post was originally written for Children's Mental Health Week 2020, when "Find Your Brave" was that year's theme. Place2Be sets a new theme each year, so it's worth checking their site for the current year's focus and dates before sharing.


Small rituals of calm can support the whole family, not just at bedtime. Explore our range of gentle aromatherapy essentials.

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