Year 5s spent an afternoon completing different activities off screen which they really enjoyed! We discussed the importance of wellbeing, helping others and doing things we love!
Did you know washing dishes is one of the best activities for our mental health?!
Many specialized mental health hospitals actually schedule a specific time for their patients to wash dishes as it helps us. Scrubbing and making things clean release feel-good chemicals in our brain…we feel in control! This is what one of our Year 5 students chose to do. She enjoyed helping her parents!
Some of us decided to bake and decorate cupcakes! Did you know, when we eat sweet foods, the brain’s reward system, called the mesolimbic dopamine system, gets activated?! Dopamine is the brain chemical released by neurons and can signal that an event was positive.
We drew the things we love and used colours to express ourselves. We painted rocks and discussed how they make us feel.
Even viewing art triggers a surge of amazing chemicals into this amazing thing called ‘the orbito-frontal cortex’ of the brain, resulting in feelings of intense joy!
Some of us created an obstacle course! Exercise is a natural and effective anti-anxiety therapy. It relieves us from tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances wellbeing through the release of endorphins.
Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what is left of you.
You can’t pour from an empty cup.
Now it’s your turn to do something which makes you feel good…something for your body, for your mind.
Go!
