Looking afteryourself

A kit to help you

take care of

yourself

What's inside?Staying healthy

Advice on how to stay healthy and feelinggood

Handling your emotionsHow to look after your emotions throughrelaxation and breathing exercises

Saying goodbye to your worriesWays to help you release and ease yourworries

Staying connectedConversation starters and how to keep intouch with family and friends

Things to doFun activities to keep you entertained

ExerciseGoing for a walk,playing on your bikeor scooter, or runningaround your garden is great foryour body and mind.

Staying healthy

SleepEven though you mightnot be at school, try to goto bed and get up at thesame time as you wouldnormally.

Feel goodDo things that make youfeel good, like reading abook, having a dance,baking some cakes orwatching a film Talk

If you're feelingsad or worried,talk to agrownup about this. It'sokay to be scared, angry,worried and upset

Be kindThink about thingsyou could do to helparound the house, call someone who might be lonelyor help out a neighbour.

Handling youremotions

How do you feel today?

Very sad because:

Sad because:

Okay because:

Happy because:

Very happy because:

Image a mountain. You can closeyour eyes if you want to

1.

Simple breathing exercises for all thefamily to try

2. Imagine you are walking up thismountain. As you walk up, breathe into the count of 5

3. Imagine you are now at the top ofthe mountain. Hold this breathe tothe count of 5

How to relax

Exercise One: The Mountain

4. Imagine you are walking down theother side of the mountain. Slowlybreathe out to the count of 5

5. Repeat steps one to four until you start to feelmore relaxed

Exercise Two: Square Breathing

Breathe in for 4 seconds

Breathe out for 4 seconds

Hol

d fo

r 4 s

econ

dsH

old for 4 secondsYou can use this when feeling stressed or anxious

Exercise Three: Belly Breathing

- Sit up straight in your chair or liedown if you prefer. - Make sure you are comfy- Keep your shoulders back- Let your arms and legs go floppy- Let your body feel floppy

Step One

Step Two- Think about your breathing- Put one hand on your chest andone on your tummy- Breathe in and out slowly 3times and try not to move yourchest

Step Three- Take a breathe into your tummy and feel yourtummy grow and push out- Keep your hand on your chest still- Breathe out slowly and pull your tummy in

Step Four- Try this breathing until your chestis still and your tummy moves

- Sit up straight in your chair or lie down if youprefer. - Close your eyes, be still and pretend your bonesare made of loose elastic- Let your legs and arms be floppy and loose- Let your tummy, neck, head and whole body feelfloppy

- Imagine someone is now pulling your armsgently, and someone else is pulling your feet- You are stretching longer and longer- Your elastic bones and muscles are beingstretched out, longer and longer

Step Three- Take a few seconds to stretch and feel likeyou're growing- PING.... someone lets go of your arms andlegs- Let all of your bones and muscles relax asyou become floppy again

Exercise Four: Supple stretch

Step One

Step Two

Exercise Five: 5,4,3,2,1Work through the five senses to calm you indifficult or stressful situations

5LookWhat five things can you see? Say them out loud,for example, 'I see a phone', 'I can see a pen

4Listen

What four things can you hear? It could be birdssinging outside or your parents talking

3FeelPay attention your body and think about three thingsyou can touch or feel. For example, ' I can feel a colddrink in my water bottle'

2Smell

What two things can you smell? This could beyour dinner cooking in the kitchen or freshly cutgrass outside

1Taste

What one thing can you taste, or would love to tasteright now? It could be something you're eating now oryour favourite food

Take a deep breathNotice what is around you right now and how

different it is from the difficult or stressful situation

Saying goodbye toyour worries

At times like these, there's probably lots ofthoughts and worries going round in your head.

Writing them down can be a good way to helpclear your mind.

The Worry Tree

Notice the worry

Ask: What I am worried about?

Ask: Can I do anything about it?

No

Let theworry go

Do somethingelse

Yes

What can I doabout it?

How can I doit?

When will I do it?

Help get a plan to stop worrying

Staying connectedIt's so important to keep talking, letting

people know how you're feeling and alsohaving some fun conversations with your

family too

If you were ananimal, what

would you be?

What wouldyou tell analien about

planetearth?

Let's get talkingTry these conversation starters with your family

Which film would youlike to be in and why?

What is yourdream job?

It's hard not being able to see membersof your family and friends at school.

Family and friends

Write them a little note on this postcard to letthem know how you're feeling

To

Here's a picture of me!

You can show it to themthe next time you see

them

Things to doDiscover some fun activities to

keep you entertained

Colour me in!

Thank you

Key WorkersPrint off and display in your window

Having things to look forward tois great during difficult times.

Things to look forward to...

What's on your list?

Let's get active

There's lots of fun online resources tohelp you get active at home

P.E with Joe Andy's WildWorkouts

Oti Mabuse KidsDance Class

Change4Life 10 minShake Up Games

Developed byOliver Kyle, Digital Engagement Lead,Healthy Together, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

With thanks toThe Public Health (School) Nursing teamsat Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

www.healthforkids.co.uk