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 August of 2024, the CDC reported that the problem is getting worse: Per the data, in 2021, 40% of high school students reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year” (CDC, 2024). 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. “Youth who feel connected at school are less likely to have certain health risks. These health risks are related to sexual health, substance use, violence, and mental health in adulthood.”
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):
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
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Video: Reducing Stigma |
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Video: Mental Health and fiction |
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Self-Management
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Video resources: PBS |
Social Awareness
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Relationship Skills
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Responsible Decision Making
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Website: What does it mean to Look thru Rose colored glasses |
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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. Schedule a workshop or drive your learning with an on-demand course.
