Children’s Mental Health Week at DECAL is May 5–9, 2025!
DECAL is excited to celebrate the fifth annual Children's Mental Health Week, May 5–9, 2025. We have many fun activities planned for this year and look forward to recognizing the importance of children’s mental health, not just this week, but every day!
Children develop social and emotional skills—mental health—through strong, nurturing relationships with the adults in their lives. There is a window of opportunity in early childhood to establish the foundation for a child’s emotional wellbeing throughout life. During Children’s Mental Health Week, we promote activities that help children develop social emotional skills. We also celebrate the profound impact of early learning professionals and all caregivers on the emotional wellbeing of young children.
How to participate in Children’s Mental Health Week:
Sign up for a virtual puppet show:
Register 3-year-old and Pre-K classes below for a FREE virtual Mental Health America of Georgia Puppet Show about FEELINGS!
Virtual Puppet Show Registration
(6 Shows Available)
- Wednesday, May 7 at 9:00am: Register here
- Wednesday, May 7 at 10:00am: Register here
- Wednesday, May 7 at 1:00pm: Register here
- Thursday, May 8 at 9:30am: Register here
- Thursday, May 8 at 10:30am: Register here
- Thursday, May 8 at 1:30pm: Register here
Space is limited so please register for one show only. If you are unable to register for a puppet show this week, you can schedule a FREE show throughout the year by contacting Lorie Summers at Lorie@mhageorgia.org or visiting the Mental Health America of Georgia Webpage: https://www.mhageorgia.org/kids-on-the-block/
Teachers, if you fill out a quick survey after the puppet show you will be entered into a drawing to win an Early Learners Calming Kit for your classrooms from Discovery Source!
Read a book to your class:
The Way I Feel by Janan Cain is our 2025 Children’s Mental Health Week book. Children can experience complex feelings just like adults. Help children identify their feelings and connect to feeling words in this fun, colorfully illustrated book. DECAL partners, including Georgia legislators, state child-serving agency representatives, community behavioral health providers and many more, will be reading the story to children in early care and learning settings across the state the first week of May.
Alphabreaths The ABC’s of Mindful Breathing by Christopher Willard and Dainel Rechtschaffen focuses on breathing exercises. Incorporate this positive coping skill into your class routine, as you Take A Breath Together!
For a list of books supporting children’s mental health for all ages and much more, see Resources tab below.
Create a calm corner in your classroom:
A CALM CORNER is a safe and comfortable place in the classroom where a child can go to regulate their emotions and calm down when overly emotional. A Calm Corner helps a child avoid meltdowns and prevents disruptive behaviors by providing a specific space to assist with emotional regulation. A Calm Corner is preventative, it is NOT to be used as a time out or punishment. Use this space when a child is feeling overstimulated, dysregulated, and needs help to calm their body and/or mind. Here’s a list of resources to create your own calm corner:
Calm Corner In Your Classroom
Take a breath together:
See CALi demonstrate Rainbow Breathing below:
CALi is demonstrating Rainbow Breathing:
- Take a deep breath in as your arms and hands move up above your head
- Breathe out slowly as you bring your arms down into a rainbow motion.
- Repeat slowly 3 times.
See CALi demonstrate Square Breathing below:
CALi will demonstrate the Square Breathing technique that helps children (and grownups) calm themselves when they’re feeling overwhelmed, mad, sad, anxious, or upset. You can watch CALi teach Square Breathing here or check out the PDF in the Resources tab below, available in English and Spanish.
Celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week with daily classroom activities:
DECAL’s Infant Toddler, Pre-K, Inclusion and Behavior Support and Nutrition and Physical Activity Specialists, designed classroom activities especially for Children’s Mental Health Week. Check out the Activities and Resources tabs below for age-appropriate activities for Mindful Monday, Talk It Out Tuesday, Wellness Wednesday, Thoughtful Thursday, and Feelings Friday!
Let's Dance on Feelings Friday, May 9th:
On Feelings Friday, we’ll wrap up the week with a dance party.
Join CALi to celebrate your mental health with this video: https://youtu.be/z3Ljm4DyoWQ.
Free Your Feels (FYF) is our Social Media Sponsor for Children’s Mental Health Week Feelings Friday 2025:
Add the #FreeYourFeelsFriday hashtag alongside #FeelingsFriday, #DECALCMHWeek2025, and #TakeABreathTogether,
when you share your Feelings Friday dance party on social media, which will be used for giveaway purposes as well as FYF content throughout the month of May.
Please ensure you have family permission to post pictures of children. Submissions will serve as an entry to a prize drawing sponsored by Voices for Georgia's Children.
Learn more about Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH):
Community Resiliency Model (CRM): developed by the Trauma Resource Institute in Claremont, California, introduces a paradigm shift in how individuals understand their own responses to stress and trauma. CRM includes six wellness skills: Tracking, Resourcing, Grounding, Gesturing, Help Now!, and Shift and Stay.
https://www.resilientga.org/iec-professional-development
Connections Matter Georgia is an interactive discussion-based curriculum that educates on the intersecting topics of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, brain development, and resilience.
http://cmgeorgia.org/index.php/training/ (Connections Matter)
A special thank you to DECAL’s Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 Planning Committee:
Jerry Brown
Savannah Ennis
Olympia Scott
Morlinda Dawson
Veronica Bustos
Tina McLaren
Tameeka Cooper
Gabrielle Meeks
Morgan Chapman
Bridget Ratajczak
Linda Norwood
Maci Thomas
Thank You for Promoting Children’s Mental Health This Week and Every Day!
Activities and Resources: