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Which Mental Health subjects are appropriate for school-aged children/adolescents?
Which Mental Health subjects are appropriate for school-aged children/adolescents?
This is an extremely important question, that is good to not over look. Speaking on overly sensitive, personal, or inappropriate subjects will only do more harm than good, so that is why I spoke with mental health counselors to help me determine key lesson plan topics appropriate for children.
Reference these lesson plan topics when executing your sessions:
Reference these lesson plan topics when executing your sessions:
Strategies with feelings
Friendship and friendship issues
How to be a good friend
Difference between friend group and clique
Bullying
Not limited to only physical violence
Problem solving skills
Sleep & exercise
Sleep is very important, especially if kids are having a hard time paying attention in class
Ask how they stay healthy
Connect this physical health to mental health (mental wellbeing)
What to do if worried/having anxiety about tests
Nonverbal communication
Resilience despite adversity
Self-care aspect of emotions (forgiveness vs forgetting)
Importance of not ignoring emotions and feeling it
Finding good systems in school where you can alert someone
Give them more appropriate and effective language for expressing their emotions
Presentation with Lesson Plans I have made for each topic
Presentation with Lesson Plans I have made for each topic
Along with the topics that I have provided to the left, I also have a slideshow with the lessons that I planned for each mental health topic :
https://african-art-therapy-by-naomi-o.my.canva.site/african-art-therapy-official-lesson-plans
Structure of each session
Structure of each session
10 minute greeter/journal time
10 minute mini-lesson on topic (can integrate a movie/tv show/relevant media clip here)
5 minute Small group activity with topic (can use scenario cards here)
15 minute Large Group activity with topic (acting out scenarios then discussion activity)
20 minute relaxing African Art activity
Opportunity to watch a fun video relating to the mental health topic during this time (for example: clips from the Inside Out movies!) or to just listen to tranquil music
After art activity is done, hand out journals again and give them takeaway sheets to look over and glue into their journals
Importance of the journals, scenario cards, and takeaway sheets
Importance of the journals, scenario cards, and takeaway sheets
The journals provide an opportunity for the kids to test their knowledge on the subject before the lesson
for example: Before a lesson on cliques vs friend groups, have the journal question be "What is the difference between cliques and friend groups?" - participants may not know what a clique is so this allows them to see the impact of your lesson!
The scenario cards allow participants to discuss and test their knowledge on the topic in relation to the real world.
The takeaway sheets allow the participants to look back on the lessons and key points in the future.
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