Get crafty with local mental health charity, Restore, this half term. Restore say:
"Half term can be difficult for parents; trying to juggle work, childcare, keeping the kids entertained, all amidst Halloween trick or treaters knocking on the door. We can’t take care of work, but we can help you to keep your kids entertained with our Half Term at Halloween Workshops at Restore."
"Every day in our Recovery Projects we see first-hand the benefits of people articulating their feelings through creation. At Restore this is done through therapeutic activities such as gardening, cooking, woodworking and crafting. Crafting is a mindful way to learn about form, colour, and texture; and can really help children to improve their dexterity and learn new skills."
"We will be holding two wreath-making workshops (one for kids, and one for over 14s) – handy to let trick or treaters know whether to ring your doorbell – a needle-felting critter creation workshop (although younger children will be encouraged to stitch their needle critter), and a pumpkin carving and painting workshop. So as well as learning your kids will have something fun to take home with them in time for Halloween."
"There are many misconceptions about mental ill-health, and this is reflected in some of the more inappropriate costumes on sale at this time of year. At Restore we encourage open dialogue to further understanding around mental health, in all of its phases. While we won’t be talking about mental health in our workshops, this would be a good opportunity for parents to begin to talk to their children about mental health. We would be happy to answer any questions curious kids have about different things relating to mental health too."
"And if that’s not enough, we are also going to be holding a Pumpkin Tea Party in the Garden Café on Halloween from 6-8pm. This is a family-friendly event open to all; we’ll have some finger food, cakes, games, and music for everyone to enjoy."
"Restore’s Head of Fundraising and Communications, Claire Spence-Parsons said: It’s really important for us as a society to be open and frank about our mental health, which is such a pivotal part of our overall wellbeing. We’d like to encourage parents and caregivers to begin talking to children about mental health from an early age so that they can better understand their emotions, and find ways of expressing themselves. Having these workshops at our Manzil Way site is a good opportunity to kick-start those conversations, particularly at a time like Halloween where their conception might be of a scary costume in a shop. Those costumes don’t reflect real people, and certainly not the members who use our services each day.
"So this half term let’s work together to start a dialogue around mental health with your children, opening up creative ways for them to articulate their feelings in verbal and non-verbal ways, and diminish the stigma of mental ill-health as something to feel frightened of."
