Mental health issues in young children are often overlooked, despite the critical role early emotional and psychological development plays in overall well-being. Factors like family dynamics, socio-economic status, and exposure to stressors contribute to these challenges, which can manifest as excessive fearfulness, temper tantrums, difficulty forming attachments, and developmental delays.

Emotional well-being is crucial for a child's development, affecting their ability to explore, form relationships, and develop cognitive and social skills. Early mental health challenges can lead to ongoing issues in adolescence and adulthood, making early intervention essential.

How to Support Young Children's Mental Health

Creating a Safe and Nurturing Environment

• Stable Relationships: Consistent, caring relationships provide a secure base for children to explore and develop confidence.
• Predictable Routines: Consistent routines reduce anxiety and promote emotional stability.

Promoting Emotional Literacy

• Teaching Emotional Vocabulary: Help children identify and express their feelings through storytelling and open discussions.
• Modeling Emotional Regulation: Demonstrate healthy ways to manage emotions.

Encouraging Play and Physical Activity

• Play-Based Learning: Play supports emotional and cognitive development and helps children express themselves.
• Physical Activity: Regular physical activity reduces stress and improves mood.

Building Strong Social Connections

• Fostering Peer Relationships: Encourage children to form friendships and interact with peers to develop empathy and cooperation skills.
• Involvement in Group Activities: Group activities boost self-esteem and a sense of belonging.

Supporting Parents and Caregivers

• Parental Education: Provide resources and strategies to support children's emotional well-being.
• Parent-Child Interaction: Encourage quality bonding activities.

Early Identification and Intervention

• Regular Screenings: Conduct screenings to identify concerns early.
• Access to Professional Help: Ensure children can access mental health professionals when needed.

The Role of Preschools in Supporting Holistic Development and Mental Health

Preschools play a vital role in supporting children's mental health by providing holistic learning, structured social skill development, and emotional regulation environments. 

Click to Watch Video about the Workshops

Kindiedays interactive online workshops support the teacher's professional development and create a high-quality learning environment for children's holistic development.

Conclusion: A Collective Effort for Lifelong Well-being

Supporting young children's holistic development and mental health requires a collective effort from parents, caregivers, teachers, and the community. By creating nurturing environments, promoting emotional literacy, encouraging play, and providing early intervention, we can build a strong foundation for children's lifelong well-being. Together, we can ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive. Sign up for a free consultative call to explore your needs and goals. 

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Happy learning,

Team Kindiedays

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Circle time is when children and educators come together and have a joined start for the day. Circle time is much more than a shared moment with the group. Circle time is full of educational aspects as well as the promotion of social development.

According to the Little Book of Circle Time all the learning areas can be covered through circle time activities. Circle time can be used for promoting speaking and listening skills, mathematical thinking, a sense of teamwork, and sharing/taking turns.

How to prepare for circle time?

First of all, prepare a big enough floor space to sit on. It is nice if you have a specific circle time area that you gather on each time. When the circle time area is familiar to children, it is easier for them to concentrate and they know what is ahead when they gather for circle time.

Same, repeated routines are recommendable. For example, start circle time at the same time (for example after breakfast). Have the same starting and ending songs for circle time, but other activities during circle time can vary depending on your current learning theme or season. Also keep track of time, make sure circle time is no more than 20-30 minutes long.

If you have a specific learning theme, attach Circle Time to go together with the theme. For example, if the theme is animals, read a book about animals, sing a song that contains animals (5 little ducks), and let each child show from picture cards which one is their favorite animal! The same circle time activities can be done on many days, especially if the attending children are little. The smaller the children, the more repetition.

Seasons and Weather Lesson Plan Sample

How to involve toddlers in circle time?

At Kindiedays, we are committed to supporting the growth and prosperity of your preschool business.

We are thrilled to introduce our latest offering, Kindiedays Pro Program created to help you empower teachers, provide joyful learning, engage families, and increase admissions.  The program is developed based on best practices from Finland to address the challenges and opportunities in renewing early childhood education. 

Here is how...

Charting Your Path to Success with a Step-by-step program

1. Develop and Cultivate Teacher Professionalism, Dedication, and Retention

Early childhood is the period from birth to compulsory primary school age. It is a time of remarkable growth and important milestones in brain development. During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people around them. (Unesco 2020)

In early childhood, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them.

That being said, it is good to assess how the whole learning environment is set up to support children's playful learning such as:

• Educator's pedagogical skills and competencies when working with the children
• Curriculum and learning objectives for playful learning
• Action plans, syllabus, weekly and daily plans
• Lesson plans and activities
• Learning materials such as toys, building blocks, painting and writing materials, etc.
• Observations, documentation, and formative assessment of learning
• The activity areas

These should encourage and support the children to play, interact, and practice cognitive processes such as problem-solving and controlling feelings. Play motivates children, brings joy, and supports the children's well-being. It allows them to learn new skills while enjoying the learning.

Kindiedays CEO Milla van der Burgh visiting Globetrotter Kids in Bangalore

Kindiedays provides an innovative approach to creating a high-quality learning environment:

• Digital Tools to support children's learning
• Theme-based Lesson Plans based on playful learning
• Interactive Online Workshops for teachers

Benefit from world-leading research and practices from Finland, to create the best learning environment for your children's development and holistic growth.

In this blog post, we focus on the physical activity areas.

Physical activity areas

Circle time is often a time when children as well as educators come together and have a joined start for the day. Circle time is much more than a shared moment with the group. Circle time is full of educational aspects as well as the promotion of social development.

According to the Little Book of Circle Time all the learning areas can be covered through circle time activities. Circle time can be used for anything: promoting speaking and listening skills, mathematical thinking, a sense of teamwork, and sharing/taking turns.

How to prepare circle time?

First of all, children will need a comfortable seat or rather floor space to sit on. It is nice if you have a specific circle time area (for example a round carpet) that you gather on each time. When the circle time area is familiar to children, it is easier for them to concentrate and they also know what is ahead when they gather for circle time.

Same, repeated routines are recommendable. For example, start circle time always at the same time (for example after breakfast). Have the same starting and ending songs for circle time, but other activities during circle time can vary depending on your current learning theme or season. Also keep track of time, make sure circle time is no more than 20-30 minutes long.

Seasons and Weather Lesson Plan Sample

How to involve toddlers in circle time?