Well-being resources

Anger is a normal, healthy emotion which we all feel.  Anger can be helpful at times - it can keep us safe, help us identify problems or things that are hurting us and motivate us to create change and achieve our goals. Most people will be able to manage their anger so it does not have a big impact on their lives, and others will need help to do this.

Check out our videos about anger on our YouTube channel.

Anger resources

• Anger Iceberg worksheet: Sometimes anger is just the emotion that everyone can see, by looking below the surface we can better understand and express our emotions. Join Lucy as she explains the anger iceberg.
• TIPP Skills: Four ways you can cope with overwhelming emotions. 
• Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviour cycle: This cognitive behaviour cycle can help break down what is going on behind the feeling or behaviour. Once we understand the cycle we are in, we can make positive changes.

Friendships can help promote brain health and maintain well-being. Friends can help us handle stress, make better lifestyle choices that keep us strong, help us bounce back from health issues and friendship is important for our mental health.

Friendship resources

• Friendship Rubric: Worksheet to help you identify if you're a good friend.
• What kind of friend am I? Worksheet to help you understand your characteristics as a friend.

We all know what it is like to be low from time to time, but this can get worse and stop us from doing the things we most enjoy. This results in us getting less out of our life and feeling down. It can often result in having bad thoughts, feeling worthless, lacking energy and motivation, feeling restless, irregular sleep, changes in mood and appetite, tearfulness and difficulties in making decisions. It is ok to have feelings, we can’t control what we feel but we can control how we let that feeling affect our lives.

Check out our videos about low mood on our YouTube channel.

Low mood resources

• Dealing with low mood self help booklet: Worries are unpleasant thoughts that you can’t get out of your head. They’re like annoying bugs that keep buzzing around and won’t leave you alone. It can feel uncontrollable and seem to take on a life of its own. Here is some advice on how to deal with it. 
• Behavioural Activation Model (BA): Model to help those who are feeling low.
• Values sheet: Sheet to help you find the values meaningful in your life.
• ACE exploration: A.C.E. stands for Achievement, Closeness, and Enjoyment. These are three primary needs we each have and meeting them can improve our wellbeing.
• ACE log: Log to keep track of your ACE needs.
• Weekly Planner: Record on this sheet activities you do during different times of the day. Write down how it made you feel and rate how strong this feeling was.
• Goal setting: Break down your overall goals into smaller steps and bitesize chunks.
• Gratitude card game: This card game can help you to practice recognising things you are thankful for and practice the act of gratitude. 
• Ways to practise gratitude: Create your own Gratitude album on your phone, a camera or a tablet.
• Looking forward resource: Sheet to help you reflect on what you have valued over this past year and to share with you a way this can help us to set personally meaningful goals that can support our wellbeing for the upcoming year.
• Problem solving: Resource to help you problem solve your low mood.
• Riding the wave: Try this useful technique when you have low mood.
• Routines Resources: Routine suggestions for helping with low mood.
• Sleep Hygiene for Children handout: Guidelines on the required amount of sleep for different ages.

Have you ever entered a room and then couldn't remember why? Do you sometimes offer people only partial attention and therefore not really listen to what’s being said?  These are examples of being on ‘autopilot’. When we’re on autopilot we 'live inside our heads', either worrying about the future or ruminating about the past. 

Mindfulness is a way of developing our awareness so that we live in the present moment. Paying more attention to your thoughts, feelings and environment in the present moment can improve your wellbeing. Mindfulness does not stop worry or rumination occurring, but can help us cope with them. When we push feelings and thoughts aside, they can often become stronger or even explode; we need to acknowledge them in a non-judgmental way and learn to manage them.

Here at RISE, we think mindfulness might be a great way of helping children to cope and improve wellbeing. Below are many mindful activities to try at home and we have collated ready-made activities for teachers to do in order to build mindfulness into your school day.

Check out our helpful videos about mindfulness on our YouTube channel.

Mindfulness resources

• Mindfulness Jar: Making a mindfulness jar allows things to become clearer and help us to feel calm.
• Mindfulness Cards: Cards with exercises on mindful moments.

Self-care should never be seen as a selfish act! Our wellbeing can change from moment to moment, day to day and month to month because of certain things that happen to us or for no reason at all. It can affect the way we feel about ourselves, others and about the things in our lives. Things can change very quickly so it is important to notice changes in yourself and take note of how you are feeling. 

Check out our helpful videos about self care on our YouTube channel.

Self care resources

• My Self Care Plan: Plan to help you think about how you can provide self-care strategies.
• Reflection Activity: Activity to help you take the time to reflect on your journey.
• Mindfulness Jar: Making a mindfulness jar allows things to become clearer and help us to feel calm.
• Five Senses Grounding Activity: Technique to help you focus on the here and now.
• Body mapping: Diagram to plot body mapping.
• Body check and body scan: A short body scan mindfulness script and body check technique.
• Be STRONG: Six things to take into account when caring for yourself.
• Positive self talk: Examples of positive self-talk messages.
• Breathing exercises cards: Top tips for breathing exercises.
• Gratitude card game: This card game can help you to practice recognising things you are thankful for and practice the act of gratitude. 
• Ways to practise gratitude: Create your own Gratitude album on your phone, a camera or a tablet.
• Gratitude and positive thoughts: Reflect on your time back at school so far, what positive things have you experienced?

Our self-esteem is how we view and feel about ourselves and our ability to do things. If we view ourselves in a positive way, feel good about ourselves and feel confident in our abilities to do things, we call this having high or positive self-esteem. If we feel badly about ourselves and are critical of our abilities as well as feel that we are unable to face challenges, we may call this having low self-esteem.

Check out our helpful videos about self-esteem on our YouTube channel.

Self-esteem resources

• Challenging negative beliefs: Worksheet helping you challenge negative beliefs and focus on more positive truths.
• Positive self-talk cards: Use these positive cards to reflect on your week and then come up with positive messages of your own.
• Developing positive self-esteem worksheet: Learn ways we can support the development of positive or healthy self-esteem in ourselves and others.

Sleep is essential because it allows your body and mind to recharge, leaving you refreshed and alert when you wake up. Healthy sleep also helps the body remain healthy. Without enough sleep, the brain cannot function properly.

Check out our helpful videos about sleep on our YouTube channel.

Sleep resources

• Information about sleep: Explainer on stages of sleep, why sleep is important and tips on getting better sleep.
• Sleep diary: Diary to help you keep track of how you sleep.
• Sleep hygiene: 14 tips for getting better sleep.

Stress is the body's reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure, everyone will experience stress at some point in their lives. Stress can be good for us as it can be motivating to help us achieve things and keep up to date with tasks, but we need to be careful not to have too much stress around as this can soon feel overwhelming.

Check out our helpful videos about stress on our YouTube channel.

• Challenging unhelpful thoughts: Ways to deal with unhelpful thoughts when worrying.
• Grounding techniques: The 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique engages and focuses our attention on our senses. Noticing the small details that our mind might usually tune out.
• Progressive muscle relaxation: This is a quick progressive muscle relaxation script that will allow you to focus on key areas where stress can build up.
• Routines: Weekly planner to help you settle into a healthy routine
• TIPP skills: Method to help you cope with overwhelming emotions.
• Stress bucket: The stress bucket is a strategy for thinking about your stress and developing healthy coping strategies. 

Human beings have the amazing ability to think about future events. 'Thinking ahead’ means that we can anticipate obstacles or problems, and gives us the opportunity to plan solutions. When it helps us to achieve our goals, ‘thinking ahead’ can be helpful. 

However, worrying is a way of 'thinking ahead' that often leaves us feeling anxious or apprehensive. When we worry excessively, we often think about worst case scenarios and feel that we won't be able to cope. Worries are unpleasant thoughts that you can’t get out of your head. They’re like annoying bugs that keep buzzing around and won’t leave you alone. It can feel uncontrollable and seem to take on a life of its own. It may take the form of thoughts or images which escalate into a worst case scenario. 

Check out our helpful videos about worry on our YouTube channel.

Worry resources

• Self-help booklet for Worry: Low mood is the experience of ‘feeling down’, and it is something that many children and adults experience for short periods of time. Usually low mood will tend to lift after a few days or weeks. Here is some advice on how to deal with it.
• Challenging unhelpful thoughts: Ways to deal with unhelpful thoughts when worrying.
• Exposure log: Diary to help you keep up with your exercises.
• Fear ladder: Table to help you record what you fear least and most.
• Circle of Control: Diagram to help you figure out what you can and can't control when worrying.
• 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Grounding Technique: The 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique engages and focuses our attention on our senses. Noticing the small details that our mind might usually tune out.
• Positive Self-Talk Cards: Use the positive self-talk reflections to focus on the positive memories and thoughts from your week.
• Problem solving: Sheet to help you identify and solve the problems you can.
• Riding the wave: Exercise to help work through and allow any feelings to pass.
• Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviour cycle: This cognitive behaviour cycle can help break down what is going on behind the feeling or behaviour. Once we understand the cycle we are in, we can make positive changes.
• TIPP Skills: TIPP Skills is a helpful method you can use to help cope with overwhelming emotions.
• Worst Case Scenario Worksheet: A sheet to help you  realise the worst case scenario isn't as bad as you first imagined.
• Worry time: Worry Time is a technique to help manage your worries, so they do not feel overwhelming.
• Worry Tree: Diagram to help you break down and separate your worries.