It's Children's Mental Health Week, and we are so inspired by this year's theme of 'My Voice Matters.'  AWARE NI joins with many other organisations and charities this week to remind the world that we need to continue creating safe places and spaces where our children feel empowered, listened to and understood. These core truths will play a massive part in bettering their mental wellbeing and hopefully prevent future mental health challenges. 

If we normalise having conversations about how they are feeling early in children's lives, we can empower them to know that they can lift their mood and equip them with the skills to care for their mental health in the future.

So, how can you start a conversation about feelings with your child?

We have put together some advice for parents on how to encourage your children to talk about their thoughts and feelings. 

1) Find a comfortable space to start the conversation, somewhere you're not going to be disturbed or distracted, creating a sense of calm and safety.

2) Use open-ended questions, repeating what they say to show that you are listening and understand what they mean.

3) Use a feelings chart (as seen below) to help your child identify how they might be feeling.