Mental Health Awareness Week is 11–17 May 2026 — a UK-wide moment for looking after children’s minds. Whether your child’s school marks it or not, here’s how to mark it at home: recognising feelings, building a calm toolbox, and finding trusted adults.
Five days, one theme each day. Run them at home in the order shown, or pick the ones that fit your family. By Friday, your child has picked one small kind thing to keep doing — their Mission Pledge for the month.
How feelings change like weather — and naming the storm makes it smaller.
Why moving for 10 minutes lifts mood. Body and mind are connected.
Mapping the trusted grown-ups they can talk to — at home, at school, in their family.
Box-breathing, the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding tool, and the strengths inventory.
Each child wrote a kindness pledge: one small action they’ll do every day.
Mental health isn’t built in a single week. It’s built in the small daily moments — at the dinner table, on the school run, at bedtime. Four practices that will outlast the awareness week. Mapped to the Future Skills Passport.
The single most powerful thing you can do is help your child name what they’re feeling. The brain calms down when feelings have a label — it’s called “name it to tame it.”
Some feelings get really big. Big feelings need tools, not lectures. Three of these are evidence-based and used by NHS clinicians with primary-age children.
Every child needs to know who their trusted adults are — at home, at school, and in their wider family. Naming them out loud makes asking for help easier.
Mental health is built daily, not in big moments. Three habits that primary-age children can do at home, every day.
You don’t need to be a therapist to support your child’s mental health. You just need to be present, and to use the four practices below.
Resist the urge to fix. Just say “tell me more.” The longer your child talks, the more they think. Your job is to keep the runway clear, not to land the plane.
Replace “you’ll be fine” with “that sounds really hard.” Naming the feeling, without rushing to fix it, calms the brain and shows your child they’re heard.
Children regulate from your nervous system before their own. Slow your breathing first. Keep your voice low. Sit down before they sit down. Calm is contagious.
“What do you need from me right now?” beats “here’s what you should do.” Sometimes they need solutions. Sometimes they just need a hug. Asking respects them.
Most low moods pass within a few days. But if any of these patterns last more than two weeks, it's worth a closer look. None of them on their own means something is wrong — but they're the things parents tell us they wish someone had flagged earlier:
What to do: have a conversation using one of the practices above. If you're still concerned after a fortnight, talk to your GP or your child's teacher — they'll be glad you raised it. The crisis-support resources below are also there for you, any time.
Use any one of these on the walk home, in the car, or over dinner this week. Print them, screenshot them, or just remember the one that grabs you.
If your feelings were the weather right now, what would they be?
Who made you smile today? Why?
Was there a moment today when you felt proud of yourself?
If you needed to talk about something tricky, who would you go to?
What’s one thing I do that helps when you’re feeling sad?
What’s something kind you could do for someone tomorrow?
Sometimes a child needs more than a conversation. If you’re worried about your child’s mental health, you’re not alone — and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. Three free UK services for parents, all confidential, all designed for primary-age children:
Look After Their Mind is one of 12 Future Skills your child needs for life. We’re building a free pack for each one, timed to the UK school focus weeks. Get the next pack as soon as it’s ready.
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Share our primary school mental health workshops guide with the Head, PSHE lead or Senior Mental Health Lead — it covers the statutory framework, what good provision looks like and pricing.