The California Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project

URL: https://childmind.org/healthyminds/

“A series of free, evidence-based video and print resources that caregivers and educators can use to teach their kids critical mental health and coping skills. The project was born of an innovative partnership between the state of California and the Child Mind Institute.”

“Why was this project developed? Fully 20% of our kids have a mental health or learning disorder. Covid has put every child in the State of California and the nation under unprecedented stress: Personal trauma, economic and learning loss, and continuing uncertainty. They’ve never needed foundational mental health skills more than they do right now.”

Videos are produced in English and Spanish for students, parents and educators. They teach clinically proven foundational mental health skills with different videos for elementary, middle and high school students. The elementary-age videos feature hedgehog characters in imaginative stories to teach key skills in a way that kids will enjoy watching and remember longer. Each video comes with Skill Sheets that summarize and reinforce key ideas.

Kids help to narrate and create the story, while mental health experts guide the problem-solving and discussion. The videos are well-produced and very engaging.

You might start by watching the Introduction for Parents. This 14 minute video explains the need for this important project and touches on stories from real families that will ring true in some way for all of us during the pandemic.