Activities to Support the Mental Health of Your Students

Mental Health Resources For Grades K-12

Mental health is on everyone’s mind.  The stresses of everyday living, inflation, sky-high gas prices, rising crime, increases in school shootings, global conflicts, and the ever-growing list of trouble in our personal and public lives continue to affect our individual and collective mental health. It is very important that educators, as well as their students, take care of their mental health by proactively exercising their minds and spirits.  

In 2018, the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health reported that 22.1% of children ranging from 3 to 17 years old have a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral concern (Deaton et al., 2022). However, in March of 2022, the CDC reported that the problem is getting worse: “According to the new data, in 2021, more than a third (37%) of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year” (CDC, 2022). You likely already know this firsthand, as schools have long played an important role in supporting student mental health issues. Additionally, “Schools are the setting in which many early mental health problems are first identified (Jaycox et al., 2010). 

The CDC also mentions the importance of school connectedness in supporting student mental health. “School connectedness is a key to addressing youth adversities at all times – especially during times of severe disruptions,” said Kathleen A. Ethier, PhD, Director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health. “Students need our support now more than ever, whether by making sure that their schools are inclusive and safe or by providing opportunities to engage in their communities and be mentored by supportive adults.”

The mental health crisis is a big topic (too big, so we will let Ken Burns do the heavy lifting) which is why we wanted to share activities and strategies for supporting students' mental health. We have organized our list of classroom activities under the CASEL 5 competencies for social emotional learning (SEL):

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Social awareness
• Relationship skills
• Responsible decision-making

The following list includes things you can do in your classroom to promote mental health. You will notice that many ideas don’t require special training, supplies, or huge amounts of time…just a desire to help. Note: Some links are used more than once as the article has multiple activities listed, and we assigned a grade-level based upon the activity if a grade-level wasn’t listed.

Review a word document or pdf of the resources below (PDF) (Word Doc)

Self-Awareness

Self-Management

Social Awareness

Relationship Skills

Responsible Decision Making

This work is more important than ever as we help our students address high-stress levels and poor mental health that interfere with learning. We hope this list helps as a starting point.

Continue your learning. Learn how to apply the best practices of UDL and SEL to improve student outcomes.