Mother helping kids ‘Be Happy’
AVALLEY mum-oftwo has been creating free mental health resources for children, which are available online.
Jennifer Chesworth created ‘Be Happy Resources’ to make mental health education more accessible for pre-school and early years children.
The 32-year-old has also created mental health flashcards called ‘Monster Cards’ which promote emotional awareness and positive thinking.
She said: “I’ve had anxiety since I was six years old when I developed panic disorder and a phobia of death.
“It was hard at the time as no one knew what was going on.
“I was diagnosed as being a hypochondriac and at one stage as having an eating disorder.
“Last year in the first lockdown I spotted similar signs in my three year old son, who began to get anxious about going outside.
“It kick-started the whole idea and led me to creating things I wish I had had 25 years ago.
“It’s a work in progress,
I’m always adding things as I go and even take requests from people.
“I’ve had interest from local councils, businesses and charities asking me to work with them.
“One council has approached me about making school readiness packs for children starting school, as we are seeing that they are a lot more anxious and worried due to the pandemic.
“I found that going online there are lots of great websites that tell you how to talk to children about mental health but not what to say! Some of these websites can be really overwhelming too, with too much information.
“I needed something precise and simple.
“The idea is to also get children used to the monsters and which emotion each monster represents so that they can quickly identify these feelings.
“I’m just so pleased at the response and hope that people find them useful.”
Jennifer creates everything herself.
The free downloadable guides on her website currently include, ‘Why do I worry?’ ‘Mindful Monsters,’ and free guides on panic attacks, phobias and grief, and more.
There are also activities for children to do at home.