10 Ways to Be a Mental Health Ally to Kids in a Pandemic During the Holidays

Seasonal learning activities for home and remote school

Are you ready for the fourth surge of Covid-19?

Experts predict that the onslaught of mental health crises — the fallout from the Covid pandemic — is well under way and will get considerably worse before it gets better. No one is immune.

So while life-saving vaccines rolling out now will stem physical symptoms and deaths, lingering mental anguish will remain indefinitely.

Most children are struggling already with distance learning. Let’s be honest: Many are hating every minute of it. Frustrated and lonely at home.

Parents and teachers — over-stressed to the max — wear many hats and are just plain worn out. Exhausted. They try to meet children’s needs, but often lack the support and resources to do so.

As the holiday season gets underway, those grieving the loss of loved ones feel the emotional pain more intensely. What we all need are hugs, hugs, and more hugs — but pandemic guidelines stop us.

As a poor substitute for hugs, here are 10 fun seasonal activities to lighten the heavy mental burdens we carry. I’ve recast traditional activities to instead focus on community building, togetherness, and gratitude. Great for families as well as virtual classrooms, too.

I hope readers who are parents share this article with their children’s teachers involved in distance or in-person learning. Likewise, teachers can suggest that parents do some of the activities at home with their kids over the school break, then follow up with how it went when remote classes resume in January.

Hopefully, you can create not only lasting memories but also new holiday traditions using these 10 activity ideas.

One of the common themes of all 10 activities is what’s desperately needed now: community building that restores the feeling that we truly are all in this together. When kids feel they belong as part of a group they have a motivator to get involved and spread holiday cheer — despite how dark this winter may seem.

#1 Pandemic Capsule

I, for one, can’t wait for 2020 to end. You, too?

It’s been a horrible year laden with great uncertainty and loss of all types as I discussed in an earlier article. Time to move on.

But first, looking back will help put 2020 in a larger perspective as we leave it for 2021. We’ll know what we don’t want to repeat. We can make explicit what we need to do better the next time. (But let’s hope there won’t be another pandemic — ever.) And we can figure out what’s important to us for our future lives.

To encourage reflection on what this year means for individuals, for our nation, and for our world, discuss how the global pandemic will be remembered in history books. Come up with a list of things that your family or class can put in a box decorated as a time capsule.

So, if someone found your capsule in 100 years, they’ll have a good idea of what life was like in 2020.

A few suggestions for your pandemic capsule:

• Several different types of masks
• Face shield
• Large goggles
• PPE
• Laptop
• Soap
• Hand sanitizer
• Ventilator
• Oximeter
• Thermometer
• Syringe (stand-in for vaccine needle)
• Sorry, We’re Closed signs
• Images of SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus)

Hopefully, your kids will generate this list by themselves and more!

Include a description of each item and an explanation for why it’s in the time capsule. Then seal it all up and store for safe keeping.

#2 Joke Box (Laughter First-Aid)

There’s a lot of truth to the saying that “Laughter is the best medicine.”

When kids are sad, moody, frustrated, withdrawn, anxious — all signs of mental distress in children — lifting spirits may help boost their outlook.

So, I suggest establishing a home or classroom joke box. Decorate it. Invite everyone to contribute jokes or funny stories — real or fictional. Then every day, share one with the group.

This activity can be based solely on coronavirus, the holidays, or just serve as a place to keep things light during a challenging and stressful time.

#3 Holiday cards for elderly neighbors

There’s no better way of getting out of negative thinking patterns or a dismal funk than by doing something for others, especially those less fortunate. It will reconfirm the notion that we’re really all in this together.

Nurture kids’ creativity by encouraging them to make their own holiday cards! They can decorate and embellish them to their hearts’ content. They likely have older neighbors who may be quarantining alone. Dropping them off will brighten their day.

Is there an assisted living close by? For a class project, students could drop cards off at school. After the cards spend a week in quarantine, they can safely be delivered.

#4 Gratitude cards to essential workers (postal carrier, doctor, grocery store worker, etc.)

At a time of immense suffering as people lose jobs, become homeless, or succumb to Covid-19, taking time to acknowledge the sacrifices of so many around us and express gratitude for them and their work may help dispel gloomy feelings — both ours and theirs.

Hopefully, gratitude shown toward others will foster thankfulness for what we have. Developing an attitude of gratitude will go far to nurturing empathy towards others and kindness toward ourselves.

Homemade cards are the best! They reflect the care and concern of one person for another. That’s a priceless gift.

Time is a precious commodity. Our concept of time is changing as we’re witnessing how quickly life ends for some afflicted by Covid-19. Taking time to create a gratitude card speaks volumes to others. Design more than one if possible.

Teachers and parents: Show your kids how much you’re thankful for them with a personalized gratitude card. They just may get the idea and do the same for you.

#5 Virtual Holiday Concert (caroling, music)

You may not really feel like celebrating. Maybe the same goes for your kids. So, don’t force it.

If you’re lucky to have any musicians in your midst, they may jump at the chance to perform in a virtual concert. Singers? Join in and spread some holiday cheer!

If you have distant family not traveling this year according to Covid-19 guidelines, a virtual caroling session or two may help revive holiday spirits. All you can do is suggest it. You never know what magic can come out of it until you try.

#6 Virtual Secret Santa

This activity idea — as traditionally designed — may not be possible if your kids and their families are suffering financially right now. Unfortunately, many of them are.

But, let’s re-imagine what a Virtual Secret Santa could be like.

Instead of things that money can buy, challenge your kids to think up intangibles that they can share with others. Your objective is to engage everyone in building their community of learners by participating in friendship-strengthening activities.

Here’s what I have in mind:

• Homework assistance
• Tutoring
• Practice sessions (music, sports, etc.)
• Sharing favorite music playlists online
• Making seasonal dishes or desserts and delivering them

Most of these activities are intended to be virtual. They could be in-person if held outside where kids maintain physical distancing and wear masks.

Brainstorm with your kids to come up with more ideas for an intangible Secret Santa this year.

#7 Recipe Swap

Many families have traditional foods and beverages they make only during the holidays. These special culinary dishes create cherished memories sometimes passed on from generation to generation.

They may be ethnic traditions or totally unique. Some are from a family cookbook. Others, not even written down.

Encourage your kids to write out the recipe and exchange it with someone else.

This may not work out to be a one-to-one swap for everyone, but that’s okay. If one person has a recipe they’re raving about, they may share it with several others.

Delivering food dishes during the school break may give kids a chance to reconnect with their friends and classmates — if only briefly and only outside. But it’s something that may chase away the winter pandemic doldrums — if only temporarily.

#8 Letter to Myself (not Santa)

It’s common to see young children write a letter to Santa this time of year, complete with affirmations that they’ve been well-behaved the last 12 months. Of course, a long list of toys accompanies it.

Sadly, many families are under extreme financial hardship right now due to the economic downturn related to the pandemic. Young children used to receiving lots of new toys at Christmas may be disappointed this year.

To circumvent this eventual reality, try a different approach this time.

Transform this year’s letter into a prescription for 2021. Encourage kids to write about the things they hope to do with other people next year once most people are vaccinated and the threat of Covid-19 is significantly reduced compared to today (hopefully).

Emphasize that spending time with others is a gift that can’t be bought in a store, or found in Santa’s sack. In 2021, after we’ve made it through the worst of the pandemic, we may look forward to lots of fun times ahead with friends and family.

Because now we know beyond all doubt that the other people in our lives are the best gifts we could ever get.

#9 Holiday Read Aloud

Whether together as a family or in a virtual classroom, a read aloud in which everyone participates is always a favorite pastime this time of year.

The book doesn’t have to be seasonal with Santa, elves, and reindeer. But it could be. Decide what’s best for your family or class.

Be adventurous and act it out! Or have kids take turns doing speaking roles or serving as the narrator.

As an alternative to traditional holiday tales, consider books with a gratitude theme. For instance (by age group):

PreK-2

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
• Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss
• Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
• Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

Grades 3–5

• Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
• The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau

Middle School

• Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
• Little Women or Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

High School

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Tiny Gratitudes by Brooke Rothshank
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusack

#10 Christmas Craft Gifts

Personal expression through art isn’t a priority in many distance learning environments as teachers struggle to keep up with math, language arts, social studies, and science. But it should be a priority.

Art, as a creative outlet, may help students recenter and heal. And in a pandemic world, we all could use a lot of that! It makes sense, then, that art is a form of mental therapy that helps people cope with life and loss.

Whatever your kids wish to do with art, support their initiatives. Giving their artwork as holiday gifts will make a lasting impression on receivers who will cherish the effort and good intentions. It is truly the thought that counts in a public health crisis.

Some art techniques your kids may enjoy include:

• Drawing
• Painting
• Sewing
• Quilting
• Pottery
• Paper mâché (Think piñatas filled with sweets!)

Wrap Up on Mental Health Boosters for Kids

The fourth wave of the global pandemic — the mental health crises we’re enmeshed in — is only just beginning as the United States faces death and dying on a large scale. Our children are not immune to this, either.

Distance learning is challenging for parents, teachers, and kids, too. We’re all searching and grasping for strategies to help us cope.

The holidays bring their own share of stresses and anxieties for many. Public health guidelines strongly urge us to refrain from social gatherings outside of our households — and no hugging. This will be extremely difficult for most people.

I offer 10 strategies suitable to a family setting or a Google classroom that focus on restoring kids’ psychological well-being. Many of them emphasize community-building and togetherness as mutual reinforcements of mental health. An underlying theme of gratitude replaces many of the traditional seasonal customs.

Here’s to mental health for kids, parents, and teachers during the holiday season and always! Wishing you a 2021 filled with health and happiness.