Input
- What went in
- Session slides, a Malayalam hand-brain explainer video created using NotebookLM, crayons, sketch pens, A4 paper, A4 craft paper and glue.
- Time
- 1 hour
Activity
Our Saturday Curiosity Club fell on World Mental Health Day, making it a fitting time to explore caring for our thoughts and feelings. We prepared slides, art materials and our first Malayalam explainer video created using NotebookLM about the hand-brain model, explaining why big feelings can make thinking clearly difficult.
After a rainstorm movement activity, children and facilitators shared their emotional “weather”. We discussed how feelings change and used think, pair and share to explore when and where big feelings arise.
We talked about making a plan when something can be changed, and coping when it is outside our control: Breathe through bee breathing, Move through gentle movement and a body scan, and Create through art.
For Create, children used crayons to scribble their stress or big feelings onto paper, pressing down and making marks freely. They tore the paper into smaller pieces, then arranged and glued them onto a fresh sheet to create a design of their choice.
They added words to encourage themselves, such as “You are amazing”, “Never give up” and “I love you”. We were surprised by the messages they chose. On the back, they traced a hand and added people they could reach out to when they needed support.
We closed with a recap of the model and ways to care for our mental health.
Output
- 12 Artwork with encouraging messages and trusted-hand drawings
Outcome
Children learned bee breathing and practised movement and an art activity they could try when feeling stressed. During discussion, they were surprised by how similar their experiences of big feelings were.
All children contributed to the closing recap, recalling the hand-brain model and naming ways to respond to big feelings and care for their mental health. They identified people they could approach for support and chose encouraging messages, including “You are amazing”, “Never give up” and “I love you”.
(We observed it)
Learnings
The Malayalam video engaged the group, particularly the playful “kutti pulli” description of the amygdala, which drew laughter. The recap helped us check what children remembered. Having facilitators join the weather check-in made it a shared activity.
We were surprised by the encouraging messages children chose. This reminded us to leave room for their own words and ideas. The creative activity took longer than expected: we completed the recap but missed the weather check-out. Next time, we will leave time for both and revisit the coping strategies in future sessions.
Run this activity yourself. You are free to copy, change and share this write-up, as long as you credit aikyam space. Photos are not included. (Creative Commons licence CC BY 4.0)
