Talking About Mental Health: November 2018

Throughout the school year, UGDSB Mental Health and Addiction Lead Jenny Marino shares tips and resources for improving our mental health and well-being. Additional mental health resources for students and parents/guardians can be found on the board website.

Fall is here and so is that pre-winter chill! Getting outside makes such a difference to how we all are doing inside. Spending time in nature improves our mental health and well-being. Being outdoors is a simple way to add some much needed down time from screens. Adding some time in nature is having some much deserved peace and quiet in our busy lives. One study showed that even 5 minutes in nature improves our mood. 5 minutes! We all can take 5 minutes (or more if have it) to go outside and enjoy nature.

If you want your family:

To be less stressed
To be happier
To be more resilient
To feel better about themselves
To have increased attention
To have a better ability to learn

Then GO OUTSIDE! Take your kids outside! Enjoy and be part of nature.

Try this:

Go for a walk
Head for the woods – make a scavenger hunt
Go birdwatching – make it a game to find the names of all birds you see
Go on a bug hunt
Watch the clouds float by
Make a game of identifying all the sounds you hear outside

If you are not sure where to go, check out the links below for lots of great parks in our area:

Jenny Marino is the Mental Health Lead for Upper Grand District School Board
Follow Jenny on Instagram @ugdsb_mental_health

Talking About Mental Health: November 2018

Board

Programs

Schools