Arts and Culture: Taking part in arts and culture can help improve your mental health because it helps you to relax, express who you are and improve confidence and self-esteem through drama, literature, music and art. Start by asking questions that don't just have "yes" and "no" answers. This gives your child the chance to tell you what they think. Jesus responded in two ways. First, he made Martha aware of her worry by saying, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.’ There was real concern in his voice as he repeated her name. He helped her to see that she had a problem to be dealt with. Jesus didn't judge Martha - there's nothing wrong with being a good hostess or wanting things to be the very best - he just drew her attention to her worry. Often, children struggle to open up about their worries due to the overwhelming feelings and emotions that come with them. Explains how to cope with children's negative feelings, how to express anger without being hurtful, how to engage a child's willing cooperation, how to set firm limits and maintain goodwill, and, how to resolve family conflicts. It also outlines alternatives to punishment.

My favourite character is the old lady who lives next door because she has lots of good advice and she is very helpful and a good friend to Jenny. There were lots of different characters in the book who Jenny could ask for help, I like how we see lots of different people she could ask and how we realise everyone can need help sometimes. The story is a great example of how we will all feel sometimes, and it makes it easy to see how worries can build up and affect all areas of our lives, even for grown-ups like parents or teachers.Having worries can stop some people from doing the things that they love. They may feel unable to do something for fear of failure and embarrassment. Article 25, which states parties recognise the right of a child who has been placed by the competent authorities for the purposes of care, protection or treatment of his or her physical or mental health to a periodic review of the treatment provided to the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement. Throughout The Huge Bag of Worries, Jenny experiences many issues that can affect mental health. Although everything in Jenny’s life appears positive at the start of the story, her bag of worries grows bigger and bigger until the weight, the burden of her worries becomes too much to bear and she breaks down. We've all been on the receiving end of a difficult conversation. But that doesn't make it any easier when you have to have one with your child. Article 13, which states that all children have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to speak, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice;

The heavy bag follows a little girl called Enid who has just lost her Granddad. As Enid goes out for a walk with lots of different emotions whooshing around inside her head she feels the weight of the heavy bag that she is carrying. Along her journey, Enid comes across different kinds of people who encourage her to talk about how she is feeling. With each meeting she offloads an item from her bag that represents a stage of grief and talks about how she is feeling. Inevitably, as she takes each item from her bag, it feels lighter and she can walk along her journey easier. Using an activity that looks at what the worry is, what is causing the worry and how to break the worry down into more manageable chunks is a brilliant resource to support a child's emotional wellbeing. After reading The Making of Milton, children can create their own worry monster and when all your class have made theirs, you can create a worry monster display where each individual's worries are stored.

Teaching about the latest events?

Begin by reassuring your child that they can tell you anything they need to and you won't blame them in any way. Explain to your class that our worries sometimes feel like a big monster but by talking and writing them down, they aren't so scary anymore. Look at some of the messages which came from children to other countries – this clip looks at the origins of the rainbows and some of the messages - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-52117854/coronavirus-always-think-positively-we-are-all-with-you Ask the children to think about who they would like to send a message of hope to now. It might be a friend, a grandparent, the people in their neighbourhood or even a stranger in another country. What would the content of their message be?

What are they thinking?!: the straight facts about the risk-taking, social-networking, still-developing teen brain I was sent this book by the author Sarah Surgey and I really do like it. The title and concept reminded me of a huge bag of worries which I am sure we are all familiar with. This time though it is feelings caused by grief that is causing the heaviness of the bag. The bag metaphor is such a great one because all children can identify with carrying a heavy bag and there are activities you can do with a bag to show children how things can weigh you down. One activity that springs to mind is using a bag and potatoes and adding things to a bag to show each worry or feeling. The bag gets heavier as you add more potatoes. To make the bag lighter you offload your worries or think of coping strategies and you get rid of each potato, one at a time. Think about what you want from your chat with your child, and then consider how to approach the topic. Too forceful an opening might worry them, they may clam up or feel uncomfortable. But a more subtle approach might mean they get distracted and you discuss what you planned to. It's OK to ask your child what they'd like you to do about the situation but it could be something where you can't do anything at all; for example, if they're grieving over a death. What you can always do is reassure and support – starting with a big hug.Encourage the children, with an adult, to make their own bubbles. A recipe can be found here with good instructions on how to make a bubble wand - https://wredtedart.com/bubble-recipe/?cn-reloaded=1 Being able to write their worries down and leave them there is a skill that will really help children as they develop and generally helps worries to not bubble up into a huge problem. Make a worry monster with a big mouth so that it can eat up worries – the children might want to use junk modelling or even paper mache (recipe - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-paper-mache) What will it look like? What is its name? Describes how fathers can learn to become better listeners. Shows the different emotional changes for teenagers, how to encourage independence while setting limits, and how fathers can talk to teenagers about drugs, sex, the internet, and relationships.

Familiarize yourself with the Bible story in the passage Luke 10.38-42, which is about Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha. You can either use the version of the story given in the ‘Assembly’, Step 7, or retell the story in your own words. We all want children to grow up in a safe and loving environment and to become happy, confident adults.

What a Lot of Worry!

Advice for parents on managing anger and frustrations, coping with specific problem behaviours such as bed-wetting, how to play, using praise and rewards to promote good behaviour, and communicating with children.