You will need:

• A paper plate.
• Paint - lots of different colours. 
• Paint brush.
• Hole punch.
• Multicoloured ribbon/string/wool.

Method:

• Use the paintbrush to paint your child's hand with the paint.
• Press your child's hand onto the paper plate to make a handprint.
• Wash their hand and start again with a different colour.
• Cover the whole paper plate with different coloured handprints, in any direction you like!
• Wait for the plate to dry.
• Cute the plate into a heart shape.
• Use the hole punch to make a hole at the top of the heart.
• Thread the ribbon through the hole and pass on your kindness heart to someone special who needs it!

A Jar Full of Feelings 

A Jar Full of Feelings is a visual sensory regulation activity to help children recognise and respond appropriately to their feelings. You can encourage your child to add a pompom to the jar when he/she is happy, sad, angry, excited or afraid. They can choose a colour or texture of the pompom according to their emotion i.e. red for angry, blue for calm, yellow for excited! This exercise helps them express their emotions and recognise that they are ok, instead of suppressing them.

Our children love story massage sessions in our class as they find them so relaxing!

So, this week, we have uploaded some poems about kindness for mental health awareness week. There are printable story massage symbols for you to print out, cut, and match to the action of the sentences in the poems.

It is completely up to you which movements you use for each part of the poem.

Relax and enjoy! 

Story Massage Strokes and Symbols