Your children’s mental health plays the most important part in their social and cognitive development. It is during this early stage in life when they shape their brain’s structure and build foundation for all their lifelong skills such as problem-solving, social interaction and self-control.
For them to live up to their full potential and maintain a generally positive outlook in life, they need to have a good mental health status.
There is a wide range of factors that affect children’s mental health. As parents, we need to put enough thought and effort in providing our children the most suitable environment possible where they can feel safe, loved and understood. Also, whatever they experience early in their lives will definitely make a huge impact to their brain development. Children need all the support they can get most especially from their parents.
Here, we have some simple ways you can help fostering good mental health among children.
1. See to it that they live in a safe and loving environment.
The first and primary environment they’ll be exposed to is the one at home. Creating a positive emotional environment at home improve child’s overall development.
2. Establish regular communication and interaction with your child.
Don’t let the days go by without spending quality time with your child. This encourages them to be more open with you.
3. Avoid exposing your child to any kind of violence.
Young children shouldn’t be exposed to adverse experiences and violence of all sorts as this would cause long-term impacts on their mental health.
4. Give them opportunities to learn and explore while having fun.
Experience is the best teacher. If children are given enough learning experience, they’ll have healthier minds because they can learn better.
5. Come up with a daily routine.
One good way to shape your kids’ way of thinking is to train them by incorporating routines into our daily lives. By following a routine, they’ll be able to handle their days on their own.