Being With Our Feelings - A Mindful Approach to Wellbeing for Children: A Teaching Toolkit

To get the full Being With Our Feelings experience, this book can be purchased alongside the storybooks. All books can be purchased together as a set, Being With Our Feelings: Guidebook and Four Storybooks Set, 978-0-367-77231-4.

A vital resource, full of practical advice for developing and nurturing children’s emotional, mental and physical wellbeing, this toolkit offers a range of easily implementable, creative options to teach young people how to be with their feelings, themselves and each other with acceptance, kindness and compassion. Using storytelling, movement, drama, art, spoken word, guided meditations and providing plenty of photocopiable and visual aids, the Being With Our Feelings toolkit is a must-have resource for ensuring a mindful, embodied approach to wellbeing.

Centred around the teaching of seven key principles carefully designed to develop healthy relationships with our feelings, this toolkit provides a comprehensive and progressive framework (suggested for Years 3-6), as well as the flexibility to suit the needs of any school, group or individual, Each key is unpacked through a main teaching activity with clear teaching points, followed by mindful reflections, creative explorations and opportunities to apply learning using the accompanying storybooks. With opportunities for assessing understanding and progression throughout, this toolkit follows a TEARS structure – teaching and exploring, applying, reviewing and self-evaluating.

Being With Our Feelings encourages:

• increased emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing
• more conscious behaviour, reduced bullying and healthier relationships
• greater compassion, empathy and kindness
• an understanding of integrity and values
• a diverse feelings culture
• an established feelings language
• a space for freedom and creativity of expression including using imagery, sound and movement
• all-inclusive wellbeing rituals and routines that embody the energy and sensation of feelings

Whether you are a teacher or school leader looking to develop your wellbeing curriculum or a caring adult looking to help children to be with all their feelings in a healthy way, this accessible book will enable you to support children’s enhanced development through a greater sense of self-worth and acceptance.