The topic of this Family Activity Pack is Coping which is one of the seven topics that

will be covered.

Things may seem uncertain at present. Despite this you and your family may have

adjusted very well. For some of us coping can be a challenge and learning to manage

feelings when they arise in ourselves, and our children in certain situations can be

more difficult. It is important to know what is good enough in these times and that we

don’t have to aim for perfection. Staying safe and meeting essential needs is good

enough, you do not have to become Super Nanny or Mary Poppins or Superman.

Trying to be perfect often leads us to failing and then feeling bad. We don’t need to

do this to ourselves.

We have added some information on how you can support your children to learn

about different ways of coping through the pack activities for your child/ren to do at

home and some online activities to help them too. There is also some information on

resilience and young people at the end of the pack.

Competence

Confidence

Control

Coping

Character

Contribution

Connection

ACTIVITY PACK CONTENTS

Activities for Ages 0-5 10 Fun Things for Toddlers and Pre-School Children

Worry monster

Ages 6-10 Activities

Calm Box

Worry Journal

Ages 11-17 Activities Mindful Moment Exercises sheet

Thought Log

Parent and Carer Activities Resilience Tree

Gratitude Journal

Support Links

Keeping Safe Online guidance

Information on Resilience young people and children

Feedback forms

AGES 0-5 ACTIVITIES

Worksheets

10 Fun Things for Toddlers and Pre-School Children – Fun activities you can do at home to burn off energy, have fun and an opportunity to spend time together, connecting is a really important aspect of coping.

Worry monster– A worksheet for your child/ren to write down their worries and to talk them through in a supportive way so they can learn to manage their worries and emotions.

Online Resource

Captain Fantastic – Mindfulness and magic – Understanding emotions using magic tricks and a time to talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLX2hY0P_JA

Card Game

Uno

Physical activity

Cosmic Yoga – Enjoy movement through storytelling, learn relaxation techniques and promote physical wellbeing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=0ImHIWzP49M

AGES 6-10 ACTVITIES

Worksheets

Calm Box (See Calm Activities Sheet and Calm Affirmations) This activity can help children focus on themselves, their feelings and finding ways to calm themselves through sensory activity. They can use the calm box to ‘calm and relax’ if feeling worried or upset.

Worry Journal This gives children a space to express their feelings and worries and find ways to manage and cope with whatever might be going on for them.

Online resource

1. Cosmic Kids Yoga https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

2. Joes Wicks ‘The Body Coach’ is live streaming PE lessons at 9am daily

https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1

Card Game

Uno – provided in your pack by us.

Family Activity

Charades - a game of pantomimes: you have to "act out" a phrase without speaking, while

the other members of your team try to guess what the phrase is. The objective is for your team to guess the phrase as quickly as possible. There is a list of potential ideas to get you started in your pack.

Play Dough Recipe https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe

AGES 11-17 ACTIVITIES

Worksheets

1. Write it out! - Write a song or poem based on something important to you/how

you are feeling. This could be a place, a person, a hobby, music, art, anything

that is important to you - Expressing yourself in this way can help to understand and gain control of your emotions as they are laid out in the writing which can help us to manage feelings.

OR

2. Mindful Moment Exercises - Taking time to think about how we are feeling and understand it. Find the sheet in your pack.

3. Thought Log - Writing down our negative or unhelpful thoughts and working to change these to positive and more helpful thoughts are a really useful way to cope with harder times. It is also good for reflection to look back and see how far we have come. Find the sheet in your pack.

Online resources

Stress Heads: A good, fun way of releasing stress. Sometimes simple things can help us to cope.

Throw the heads around, name the thing that’s bothering you and find out more.

https://www.themix.org.uk/apps-and-tools/stressheads

Calm Zone- some calming games, videos, resources and more which may be useful when you feel like you need a boost or some information

https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/

Card Game

Uno

Family Activity

Heads Up or Who Am I (instructions & resources in pack)

The guessing game for all the family

Iphone: search Heads Up on the App Store

Android (Samsung or other): Search Heads Up on the Play Store

Instructions about how to play Who Am I- (without a smartphone):

Find the sheet in your pack

WHO AM I?

What it is: A talking and guessing game for a large group of people. You’re assigned

a character or person and you have to ask questions to other players until you figure

out who you are.

Best for: three or more people. Can be played in pairs but will be a shorter game.

What you need: decide if we want to send cards or just let them pick

You’ll need names of characters or people written on cards. These can be

themed, like all Star Wars names or all Disney princesses. The broader the

theme, the more difficult it will be. You can make your own cards (3×5 cards

work great) or I provide some free printable cards at the bottom of the post.

1. How to play:

2. Decide a topic, famous people is an easy start- could be TV or film characters that

the family enjoy.

3. Each player should think of something related to the topic and write it on a sticky

note (parents help younger children)

4. Before you start, tape a different sticky note on each player’s forehead with

masking tape. The name can be placed on either the person’s forehead or upper

back you can use tape if you have it.

5. Once all of the players have a note taped to their forehead or back, announce the

start of the game

6. Players circulate and ask yes or no questions until everyone has identified the name

on their own sticky note or card. (if this is taking a while stick to 20/25 questions

before offering a chance to know the answer)

7. Each player takes a turn with the other players asking yes or no questions, until the

player with the sticky note or card guesses the identity of the famous person.

If there is a big group of people: players can to move around and talk to more than

one person. It can be a good way to get a variety of clues, and it makes the game

more of an icebreaker. Also, sometimes some players may not be familiar with all of

the names on the cards, so you might have to talk to multiple people to get enough

clues to guess who you are.

If you want an example, let’s say you’re playing in a group where everyone has a

Disney character taped to their forehead. Here are some of the questions you might

ask and the answers you might receive:

Am I a hero? Yes…

Am I a person? Yes.

Am I from the past or the future? Present…maybe sort of past?

Am I a boy? Yes.

Am I CGI or animated? CGI.

Am I Woody? No.

Buzz Lightyear? No.

Am I the main character? Yes.

Do I have super powers? Um…no, I would say no.

Am I a grown man? Yes.

Do I play sports? No.

Do I save a girl? Yes.

Do I have a co-star? Yes, several.

Do I have a sidekick? Not really.

Do I sing any songs? No.

Thank heavens.

I’m good, right? At heart…

Source: https://www.thegamegal.com/2016/01/23/character-card-guessing-game/

PARENTS/CARERS ACTIVITIES Resilience Tree

This helps us to focus on what we have, what we strive for and how strong and resilient we actually are. Once its complete, refer back to it when you might be doubting how well you are managing in difficult moments.

Gratitude Journal

If there is one emotion that can instantly shift how we feel about life and the world, it’s gratitude. When we practice gratitude it is said that people can feel more positive emotions, enjoy good experiences, improve their health, and deal with adversity. It a nutshell it helps us cope. Find the Gratitude Journal in your pack

Fearne Cotton Happy Place Podcast

In Fearne's HAPPY PLACE podcast series, Fearne draws on her own experiences and shares advice from experts on how to work through feeling blue to finding joy each and every day. Whatever your reason may be for feeling lost or frazzled from the pressures of this fast paced life, there are ways to put one foot in front of the other and help you unlock that inner happiness. https://www.officialfearnecotton.com/news/2018/2/26/happy-place-podcast

Source: MIND Wellbeing Pack

FAMILY ACTIVITY Make a time capsule with things in your house

SUPPORT LINKS-PARENTS AND CARERS

Family Lives: Parenting and family support.

https://www.familylives.org.uk/

Place To Be: Guide to helping parents answer questions from their children

and to support family wellbeing

https://www.place2be.org.uk

Young Mind Parents Helpline: Call our free helpline for confidential, expert

advice for anyone worried about a child or young person

https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-helpline/

Samaritans: 24-hour emotional support for anyone who needs to talk.

https://www.samaritans.org/

jo@samaritans.org.

116 123

Haringey MIND: Local support and information on Haringey Mind, The Mental

Health Charity http://www.mindinharingey.org.uk/

MIND coronavirus and your wellbeing: various information for you and your

family on ways to cope and talk about the virus with children

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-

wellbeing/

Mental Health Organisation: Isolation and abusive relationships

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/abusive-relationships

Solace Women’s Aid- Haringey: support for women in abusive or harmful

relationships

https://www.solacewomensaid.org/contact-us

0808 802 5565

advice@solacewomensaid.org

Women’s Aid: Chat to other women on the Survivors Forum

https://survivorsforum.womensaid.org.uk/

Drinkline: Advice to those worried about their own, or a loved one's, alcohol

use. Contact their free helpline on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am – 8pm,

weekends 11am – 4pm).

SUPPORT LINKS- CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE 1. The Mix: If you're under 25 you can talk to The Mix for free on the phone, by

email or on their webchat. You can also use their phone counselling service,

or get more information on support services you might need.

https://www.themix.org.uk/

2. CAMHS Taking Care of Myself: Information from CAMHS around self-care and

looking after your mental health.

https://camhs.cnwl.nhs.uk/young-people-adolescents/mental-health-tips-

coping-strategies/

3. Young Minds: Information and support around mental health

https://youngminds.org.uk/

4. Childline: Get help and advice about a wide range of issues, call us on 0800

1111, talk to a counsellor online, send Childline an email or post on the

message boards.

www.childline.org.uk

5. NACOA: Support, advice and information for children of parents who

drink/drank.

https://www.nacoa.org.uk/

The Nacoa helpline will be open throughout the closure period:

2-7pm via phone 0800 358 3456 and 12-9pm via email helpline@nacoa.org.uk

See Adfams top tips for more information here: https://adfam.org.uk/our-work/news-and-events/news/959

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

Coping skills, resilience, young people and children– reachout.com ‘Coping’ describes any behaviour that is designed to manage the stresses and overwhelming

feelings that come with tough situations. By learning and developing positive coping skills

while they are young, your child will build resilience and wellbeing and be set up with an

important skill for life. It’s also important to understand the difference between positive and

negative coping skills, and how these strategies can have very different long-term results.

Positive coping skills will help if: your child doesn’t cope well with stress your child often feels overwhelmed your child’s health and wellbeing are negatively impacted by stressful events and difficult

emotions.

Why is it important to build coping skills? Being young isn’t easy. To tackle the difficulties that come with being a young person, it’s

crucial to encourage young people to develop positive coping strategies.

What is positive coping? Positive coping strategies increase long-term resilience and wellbeing. In contrast, negative

coping strategies usually only produce a helpful distraction in the short term. This is why a

focus on positive coping skills is crucial in maintaining long-term wellbeing or resilience.

What is resilience? Resiliency is the ability to ‘bounce back’ from a difficult situation. A resilient person is able

to: withstand adversity learn from their experiences cope confidently with life’s challenges.

Psychologists have identified some of the factors that make someone resilient. These

include: having a positive attitude being optimistic having the ability to regulate emotions seeing failure as a form of helpful feedback.

Resilient young people are able to control their emotions in the face of challenges like:

physical illness change of schools transitioning from primary school to high school

managing study workload and exams

change in family make-up (separation and divorce) change of friendship group conflict with peers conflict with family loss and grief.

Resiliency can be taught through practising positive coping skills.