Community is deeply rooted in our ancestry. As humans, we have an innate need to belong and feel accepted. This acceptance comes from spending time together and creating a safe environment where meaningful relationships can be forged. The quality of our relationships impacts our level of social belonging and scale of contentment. We can be in the company of our peers or family yet still feel lonely. When we don’t have a positive and rewarding sense of connection, i.e., the quality of our relationships does not meet our expectations, this can create a sense of isolation, loneliness, and even displacement. Furthermore, it can have a detrimental impact on our mental health and wellbeing.

We all have the power within us to build positive or negative relationships with ourselves and others.

Connecting with family members through positive lived experiences can really impact the entire family unit, releasing all those feel-good hormones and encouraging a strong sense of belonging and identity, which provides the perfect thriving tonic for contentment and a very happy home. When we feel connected and valued, we thrive. What more could we ask for!?

This year’s theme for Children’s Mental Health Week (February 6th–12th, https://www.place2be.org.uk/) is Let’s Connect. Place2Be has some fabulous ideas you can blend into your family life in order to build healthy and positive connections. These include:

• Giving your full attention when you are having a conversation
• Creating time to be playful together
• Taking an interest in your child’s world
• Making time to connect together as a family

Incorporating these tips by simply flipping your mindset during daily tasks to create an enriching, connective experience rewards all those involved.

• Taking an interest in your child’s world is so important for their self-worth; be curious, ask questions, find positives, and be ready to listen with authenticity and non-judgment. This will help them build relationships based on trust where they can learn from you, their role model. Top tips: Focus solely on the conversation and put your phone away if you feel it may distract you.
• Play with your kids; let your inner child shine! Allowing children to become experts in their own play helps them to challenge ideas and opinions and develop a strong sense of self. It also nurtures their connection with the world around them. A simple game like hide and seek or rock, paper, scissors can offer a great opportunity to connect and develop socially as well as manage some strong emotions that may come up, building resilience along the way!
• Involving the family in housework will not only build meaningful connections, but it will also help your stress levels as the environment shifts from work to play! Kids love games, and they will be far more motivated while they are playfully doing and so will you!
• Spend time together cooking, learning new skills, and having fun.They will most likely have some fantastic recipe ideas as well!
• Here’s a handy story massage that you can learn and enjoy together https://www.instagram.com/p/CoaDA-TjmL7/
• Encourage your child to participate in a club. Teamwork creates strong bonds of connection beyond the family unit and school. It invites the local community into your child’s world, extending their connective areas and keeping loneliness at bay.

When we offer a space to connect, we are helping to build resilient children who are ready to progress and thrive in their world.

So, let’s support the mental health of children and get connecting!