Nurturing Your Children’s Mental Health

Children develop better in all areas – socially, emotionally, mentally, and physically – if they have good mental health. A key to nurturing children’s mental health is loving relationships which help children to manage their feelings. Their mental health is enhanced by physical activity, a nutritious diet, and regular quality sleep.

This article focuses on children’s mental health between the ages of three to eight years old. Feeling happy and positive about themselves most of the time is a feeling that characterizes children with good mental health. They feel loved, secure in their environments, and safe.

These children are kind to themselves when things get tough, or when they are surprised that things do not go the way they hoped or expected. These feelings reflect internal security about attempting things for the first time, or even tasks they know will be difficult.

A good level of children’s mental health is seen in how a child enjoys life, learns well, and has friendly relationships with family and those he or she meets. Should he or she become sad, worried, or angry, the child is able to recover to his or her normal emotional levels in a short period of time.

Those in the field find that children’s mental health is a key part of their healthy development as it assists them in building good skills which enable them to navigate behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, and communicate with others. As the child grows, his or her good mental health sets up a robust foundation for continued health and well-being as he or she gets older.

Ways to foster children’s mental health

A positive relationship between you and your child can be tied directly to building up his or her mental health. Some ideas to strengthen your children’s mental health using loving and supportive relationships include the following.   

Expressing your unconditional love to your children individually. Tell them that no matter what you will always love them. Demonstrate this love through your non-verbal communication, eye contact, hugs, smiling, and other signs of affection which help to fill and maintain your child’s love tank.

When considering their behavior, a positive, constructive, and consistent approach is found to work best. For example, this would be giving praise and attention when they are doing what they ought, rather than coming down on them with harsh negative consequences when their behavior is challenging.

One-on-one time with each child each day is very beneficial to nurturing children’s mental health. Should your child approach you to talk, do your best to stop whatever it is you are doing and give your child your undivided attention.

Spending time sharing in a fun activity is also beneficial. Look for things you know your child likes, and invite him or her to join you in it like kicking a ball, drawing, playing with toys, or reading a book.

Prioritize mealtime as a family affair. Share your meals, as this gives your children a set time each day that they know their relationship with you will be strengthened. It gives them a deep sense of being part of the family and the stability that comes with family time. This has a very positive effect on their development and will likely have a good impact on your child’s eating habits.

When points of tension arise between you and your spouse, then focus on finding positive ways to solve these. Managing conflict in your marriage sets the tone for resolutions with your children and other family members.

Greeting your neighbors and chatting with them in the presence of your children, attending local park events, or helping at a neighborhood project all give your children a chance to connect with others in their community. This connection gives them a stronger sense of place in the world and teaches them how to relate to people different from them.

How emotions factor in

Children go through a wide variety of emotions while growing up. These can be joy, hope, and gladness, but also fear, anger, and sadness. Children who can cope with turbulent emotions and calm themselves in trying and tense circumstances are likely to feel good that they were able to do this.

Some common ways to help children manage their emotions include these suggestions.

Talk about it: Do not be afraid to discuss emotions with your child. While you are doing this, encourage your child to recognize and label them. This will help teach a child that it is perfectly normal to feel a complex mix of feelings. An example could be a sentence, “It seems that you are especially frustrated with your toy, which looks like it won’t work. That has happened to me before too, I know how it feels.”

Demonstrate healthy approaches: Use the words that you speak to model how you can motivate yourself or recover from disappointment in your daily life. This could be something like, “I’m disappointed that the bad weather means I cannot train outside, but I will set up a space inside where I can work out,” or “I’m disappointed that the eggs I used for baking spoiled the cake batter. Oh well, I will have to try again with fresh eggs.”

Have your child’s back: If something is bothering your child, it is important that you support him or her. Should the problem be with friends at school, then making a point of giving your child more demonstrations of love is one way to comfort them. Working out a plan with the teacher to ensure the situation is handled well is another way.

Encourage proactivity to combat procrastination: While this is a skill that may start in childhood, combating it is a lifelong approach. Set your child up for success and help him or her learn how to deal with small worries as they arise before they become bigger problems.

One way to do this is through gentle encouragement to do the very thing that your child is anxious about rather than avoiding situations that scare them. This could be eating vegetables or being fearful about learning something new. You may say something like, “You know, riding your bike is so much more fun without training wheels. Let’s take them off and I’ll show you how to whizz around.”

Using behavior to help

Here are some ideas to encourage healthy behavior that will further nurture your children’s mental health.

Family rules: Family rules that guide behavior are very useful. Involve your children to develop these rules and the consequences of breaking them. As time passes, adjust the rules as necessary. This could be in screen time and online behavior or the types of chores they participate in as part of the family. It is important to remember that rules and boundaries help children feel safe and secure.

Set appropriate goals with your child: Sit with your children every now and again to set goals that are realistic for their age and ability. Then help them work toward achieving them. This could be pronouncing their letters correctly or learning how to care for the family pet. Remember to praise the effort your child puts in to achieve the goal rather than the accomplishment of the goal itself.

Encourage problem-solving skills: How can you assist your children to solve their own problems? This skill will be priceless and assist them in their independence when they must do this for themselves. An example could be assisting them to complete their school homework by helping them work out for themselves what the problem is, how to identify various solutions, and then knowing how to choose the right solution to solve the problem.

Teach them to try new things: When children are nervous about something new, they will often need encouragement to do it. Encouragement is exceptionally powerful. As their loving parent you are best positioned to help them try new things.

As they take age-appropriate risks, remind them that their mistakes are opportunities to learn, not confirmations of their weaknesses. There are a variety of ways you can do this, such as entering a competition, delivering a speech to the class, or climbing on the new playground equipment.

Christian counseling for children’s mental health

Sleep, diet, and physical activity are also key to the development of children’s mental health. If you are at all concerned for your child, especially if they show signs of poor mental health, then it is best to seek professional help as soon as possible.

If you’re looking for additional help with children’s mental health, browse our online counselor directory or contact our office to schedule an appointment. We would be honored to walk with you on this journey.