Welcome to ‘Mindful Monday’ in Year 3 where we will spend

today celebrating Children’s Mental Health Week.

The theme this year is “Express Yourself”.

The theme “Expressing Yourself” is about exploring the different ways we can express ourselves, and creative ways that we can share our feelings, our thoughts and our ideas.

We do this because these things make us feel good and help our mental health,

especially when we face tough situations or difficult times.

To help celebrate how we are all different, I am going to break away from the traditional daily lesson plan and instead suggest lots of activities that you can pick and choose from throughout the day.

If you like the sounds of one activity, choose that one.

If you think one is interesting, try that one after.

However, to maintain routine for the school day, I would like you to stick to the traditional time table below meaning as well as the assembly, you should have time to complete 4 different activities.

09.00 – 09.25

Children’s Mental Health Week assembly

To kick off Children’s Mental Health Week please click on the below link for 9.00am to watch a special virtual assembly. This will be presented by Blue Peter’s Lindsay Russell and CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson alongside some other special well-known faces for an exciting assembly.

09.25 – 10.15

Children’s Mental Health Week Activity 1

Google Classroom video call at 09.25am for the first 15 minutes.

During our 15 minute call we will discuss the virtual assembly we have just watched and run through the activities suggested for the rest of the day. These are also detailed at the bottom of today’s plan should you not be able to attend this call.

10.40 – 11.05

Children’s Mental Health Week Activity 2

Please choose a second activity from the list below to complete during this time.

11.05 – 12.00

Children’s Mental Health Week Update and Activity 3

Google Classroom video call at 11.05am for the first 15 minutes.

Please bring with you the two activities you have completed earlier today as I would like you to share them with the rest of the class.

Then after this, we will look forward to what other activities you can complete in this session and the afternoon session after ERIC.

1.00pm – 1.20pm

Quiet Reading Time

Quiet reading time always does wonders for my mental health so please ensure you use this time to settle down somewhere comfortable, snuggle under a blanket and use this time for some more quiet reading.

A couple of Bug Club reminders …

• It is NOT how quickly you read the books that will decide if you move up book bands.
• It is actually how you score on the questions that you are asked throughout the book.
• Therefore please read the book several times before even attempting the questions.

Congratulations to Joseph who, because he had read all his books and answered the questions correctly has now been moved up a reading colour band! Who will be next to join him?

1.20pm – 2.20pm

Children’s Mental Health Week Activity 4

This will be the last chance today to complete one of the suggested activities below.

Therefore please have one last read of the suggestions below and choose one that you will enjoy.

Equally, if there is something you started earlier in the day and would like to have a bit more time on it, then please do.

2.20pm – 2.35pm

Mrs Patel Reads…

As some of you may have noticed, the title of this session has changed for today.

It will not be myself reading today, because for today’s very special day, Mrs Patel will join us for this session and introduce us to some of her favourite books to celebrate it also being National Story Telling Week.

Please do everything you can to attend this session as I know Mrs Patel is very keen to see you all and find out how you are getting on.

Children’s Mental Health Week Activities to complete across the day…

Daily Emotions Diary

We have developed some amazing skills in writing diary entries from earlier on in the lockdown.

Why not start a new diary for this week with a focus on how you feel.

You could detail how you felt at various points of the day and think about why you felt that way. Was it because you liked the thought of a particular activity.

If you were not happy at a particular moment, what cheered you up?

Acts of Kindness

Acts of kindness always are a great idea for our own and others mental health.

Try to think of at least five kind acts you could do for someone at home.

Could you do one every day this week?

A to Z of Emotions

It would be difficult to be able to speak about our emotions if we cannot describe them.

Therefore can you think of a different emotion for every letter of the alphabet?

For example, for A, you could list ‘anger’.

If there are some letters you are stuck on, why not bring them with you to the next video lesson and someone might be able to help you out.

Nature Art

Whilst out on a walk, why not collect some items along the way that interest you. When you get home with them, could you make a piece of art out of them?

The Island of You

Design an island all about you, full of your favourite things, and favourite people. You could either draw this island, labelling it with everything you would want on it, or even build it from Lego or recycling.

Be A Dance Teacher

I know several of you may have had a go at this activity as part of our PE lessons but if you choose something different, or just want another go why not attempt it today. Plan a dance routine to a song you love and try to teach it to someone in your house.

Happy Playlist and Dance

Do you have a song or two that always make you smile? Why not write them down into a playlist ready for sharing on our next video lesson. If you have a way of playing them, stick them on and have a good old dance around your lounge, as they say… “dance like no one is watching”!

Masterchef

Do you enjoy baking? If so, why not use one of these lesson times to cook up a masterpiece in the kitchen. I appreciate this might need some preparation in getting the ingredients but if that is the case, you could always think and plan it today, and cook it once you have the necessary ingredients.

Box of Happiness

Another activity we did during our November lockdown was filling a box with things that make you happy. Do you still have this box from November? If so, you could revisit it and put some extra things in it. If it was an activity you didn’t attempt, why not give it a go now. You could use an old shoe box and decorate it to make it you special “Box of Happiness”. You could then look at all the things in there when you are feeling scared or worried.

I hope you enjoy the independence and freedom to choose your own activities for the day. Whilst we will discuss them on our various calls, please ask your adults to send me pictures of your activities via Class Dojo so I can see how you are all getting on.