Children's Mental Health Celebration Days
Mental Health Observance Dates – 2025
R U OK? Day (Australia)
Date: Thursday, 11 September 2025New Zealand Mental Health Awareness Week (expected)
Date: Likely in September 2025 (exact dates TBC)Mental Health Awareness Week – United Kingdom (including Scotland)
Date: Monday, 12 May – Sunday, 18 May 2025
Theme: CommunityMental Health Week – Canada
Date: Monday, 5 May – Sunday, 11 May 2025Mental Health Awareness Month – United States
Date: Entire month of May 2025European Mental Health Week
Date: Monday, 19 May – Sunday, 25 May 2025Mental Health Week – Australia
Date: Monday, 6 October – Sunday, 12 October 2025World Mental Health Day (Global)
Date: Friday, 10 October 2025
Climate Mental Health Week Community 2025
As children grow up in a world increasingly affected by climate change, they are not only learning about environmental issues but also feeling their emotional impact. Climate mental health education is an emerging approach that supports learners’ wellbeing while helping them understand and respond to environmental challenges. By integrating emotional resilience with environmental awareness, educators can nurture both confidence and hope.
Normalising Emotions and Language Around Climate:
One of the first steps in climate mental health education is helping children recognise that feelings like worry, sadness, or confusion about the planet are valid. By giving learners the language to express these emotions and creating safe spaces for discussion, we reduce fear and promote emotional literacy, laying the groundwork for compassionate and constructive engagement.
Promoting Hope Through Action and Agency:
Promoting Hope Through Action and Agency: Hope grows when learners feel that their actions matter. Climate mental health education supports children in identifying meaningful ways to make a difference—whether through art, gardening, recycling, or campaigning—transforming worry into action and creating lasting emotional resilience.
Fostering Connection With Nature and Community:
Fostering Connection With Nature and Community: Activities that encourage learners to spend time in nature, care for the environment, and build strong connections with others can support a sense of belonging and purpose. These connections help counter the isolation and helplessness that climate anxiety can cause, replacing them with a deeper sense of care and collective responsibility.
Embedding Joy, Creativity, and Wonder:
Integrating creative experiences such as storytelling, art, music, or outdoor play into climate topics helps protect children’s mental health. These joyful, sensory-rich experiences foster a positive, life-affirming relationship with the world and support emotional recovery from difficult topics.
Resources for Community and Climate Mental Health
Art in the Community
Climate Mental Health
coming soon
Community Climate
coming soon
Community Climate
coming soon
Resources
Tools to support Learning
Aligning Personal Values with Goals:
Knowing Yourself: Reflect on your core values, such as kindness, perseverance, or environmental responsibility.
Growing Yourself: Set goals that align with these values. For example, if you value environmental sustainability, you might aim to reduce waste in your daily life or volunteer for eco-friendly initiatives. This alignment ensures that your personal growth feels authentic and meaningful, fostering harmony between who you are and who you aspire to become.
Know Yourself
Grow Yourself
Mental Health and Sustainability
Believing in Your Potential to Improve:
Knowing Yourself: Acknowledge areas where you face challenges, such as public speaking or managing stress.
Growing Yourself: Cultivate hope by visualising progress and setting small, achievable milestones. For example, start by speaking in front of a small group, gradually building confidence. Hope drives the belief that with effort and persistence, growth is always possible.
Know Yourself
Grow Yourself
Discussion/Reflection
Question Cards Mid Primary
Suitable Mid Primary/ Elementary
Three card packs and topics to download
Self and Emotions – Set 1
Skills Ability and Growth – Set 2
Self in the Environment/ Nature – Set 3
Know Yourself
Grow Yourself
Discussion/Reflection
Question Cards
Upper Primary - HighSchool
Suitable for Upper Primary – High school
Three card packs and topics to download
Self and Emotions Set 1
Skills Ability and Growth Set 2
Self in the Environment/ Nature Set 3
Know Yourself Grow Yourself Discussion/Reflection Question Cards Lower Primary
Suitable Lower Primary/ Elementary
Three card packs and topics to download
Self and Emotions – Set 1
Skills Ability and Growth – Set 2
Self in the Environment/ Nature – Set 3
Affirmation cards Lower Primary
Suitable Lower Primary/ Elementary
Three card packs and topics to download
Self and Emotions – Set 1
Skills Ability and Growth – Set 2
Self in the Environment/ Nature – Set 3
Acts of Kindness Cards
Pick a card a day and carry out that act of kindness.
Research shows that doing an act of kindness is good for the wellbeing and esteem of the giver .
Personal Growth Reflection Activity
Focusing on Opportunities During Difficult Times:
Knowing Yourself: Understand your emotional responses during setbacks, such as frustration or self-doubt, and recognise that these feelings are natural.
Growing Yourself: Use hope to reframe challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. For instance, a failed project can teach valuable lessons about resilience and adaptability, inspiring a renewed approach in future efforts. Hope provides the motivation to keep striving despite obstacles.
Growing
Growing Yourself: Use hope to reframe challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. For instance, a failed project can teach valuable lessons about resilience and adaptability, inspiring a renewed approach in future efforts. Hope provides the motivation to keep striving despite obstacles.
Balancing
Balancing Strengths and Weaknesses: Knowing Yourself: Recognise your natural strengths, such as being a good listener or a creative thinker, while acknowledging areas where you struggle, like time management or public speaking. Growing Yourself: Use this self-awareness to develop skills that complement your strengths. For instance, if you excel at creativity but struggle with organisation, you could adopt tools like planners or apps to structure your ideas more effectively. This balance creates harmony between self-awareness and self-improvement.
Suggested Activities Know Yourself Grow Yourself
Opportunities even if your access to nature is limited
Role Model Runway
Objective: Explore personal values and aspirations.
Activity:
- Learners create a mini “runway” show where they dress up or create props to represent a role model they admire (real or fictional).
- Share why they admire this person and how they can adopt similar traits (e.g., courage, kindness, curiosity).
- Reflect on how their role model helps them grow into the person they want to become.
Mirror, Mirror Challenge
Objective: Build self-confidence and positive self-talk.
Activity:
- Materials: Small handheld mirrors, tinfoil to create model mirrors, sticky notes, markers.
- Learners look into the mirror and say something positive about themselves (e.g., “I am a good friend” or “I try my best”).
- Write these affirmations on sticky notes to create a “Wall of Positivity” in the classroom.
- Encourage learners to revisit the wall for inspiration when they need a confidence boost.
My Journey Map
Objective: Visualise personal growth over time.
Activity:
- Materials: Paper, crayons, stickers.
- Learners draw a “map” of their life journey, marking milestones (e.g., learning to ride a bike, making a friend).
- Add “growth destinations” they want to reach in the future.
Reflection Relay
Objective: Practice gratitude and self-reflection.
Activity:
- Learners pass a ball around a circle.
- When holding the ball, they share something they’re proud of or grateful for.
- Reflect on how these moments help them grow.
My Superpower Cape
Objective: Celebrate individuality and personal growth.
Activity:
- Materials: Paper capes, markers, stickers.
- Learners design capes showing their “superpowers” (e.g., helpfulness, creativity).
- Share how they use these superpowers to grow and help others.
"Who Am I?" Puzzle
Objective: Build self-awareness.
Activity:
- Materials: Blank puzzle templates.
- Learners decorate their puzzle pieces with their hobbies, values, and aspirations.
- Assemble the puzzles to showcase the diverse identities in the class.
Body and Brain Balance
Objective: Explore mind-body connections.
Activity:
- Stations: Yoga poses, mindfulness breathing, art for self-expression, and a reflection station.
- Learners rotate between stations, learning how physical activities and creativity help manage emotions and stress.
Kindness Chain
Objective: Promote empathy and positive actions.
Activity:
- Each learner writes one kind action they’ve done or will do on a strip of paper.
- Link the strips to create a classroom kindness chain.
- Discuss how small acts of kindness help everyone grow together.
Personal Goals Treasure Hunt
Objective: Set and achieve personal goals.
Activity:
- Materials: Clues or cards about different “growth goals” (e.g., learning something new, helping a friend).
- Learners complete mini challenges based on the clues, earning “treasures” (e.g., stickers or certificates).
- Reflect on how setting small goals helps achieve big dreams.
Growth Mindset Role-Play
Objective: Build resilience and a growth mindset.
Activity:
- In groups, learners act out short scenarios (e.g., failing a test, learning a new skill) and practice responding with positive self-talk.
- Example: “I can’t do it” becomes “I can’t do it yet, but I’ll try again.”
- Share how perseverance helps us grow.
My Strengths Tree
Objective: Recognize personal strengths.
Activity:
- Materials: Large paper tree templates, sticky notes.
- Learners write one strength (e.g., kindness, creativity, teamwork) on a sticky note and add it to the tree.
- Discuss how each person’s strengths contribute to the class “forest.”
Emotion Garden
Objective: Identify and manage emotions.
Activity:
- Materials: Emotion cards (happy, sad, angry, excited, etc.), plant pots, paper flowers.
- Each learner “plants” a paper flower labeled with an emotion they feel today.
- Discuss what “waters” positive emotions (e.g., kindness, listening) and what “weeds” negative emotions (e.g., ignoring others’ feelings).
- Reflect on how they can “grow their garden” by choosing positive actions.
