As we leave behind the Month of the Military Child, we thought we would take the time for some reflection. While we love to celebrate the strength of our military children, we know that sometimes they need some help. In recognition of this, we have renamed this month Mindfulness May.
Louise, founder of our charity explains “Mindfulness has become a buzz word over the last few years but for us it simply means taking some time out. Simply taking time to talk or give someone you love a boost if they are unhappy. It can be hard to get children to talk about how they are feeling whether they are 4 or 14. So over time we have created lots of materials to help you start a conversation.”
We have summarised our resources below and they can be found in the At Home section or in our shop:
X-ray of feelings This is a series of five beautifully illustrated pictures showing an X-Ray of a child’s body. The artwork uncovers some of the thoughts and feelings your children might be experiencing when facing some military life situations. Many families have found them a great visual aid to help their children talk.
Affirmation cards – Affirmations are short phrases or words that we can repeat to ourselves. They can help lift our mood or put us in a more positive frame of mind. We have put together a downloadable pack of beautifully illustrated cards that you can use throughout the day. If deployment is proving tough you could tuck one into your child’s school or lunch bag.
SQUAD – By the time our military children reach their teens they may have the opinion that ‘they should be able to cope with military life now’. However, as we all know the challenges do not get any easier and thoughts and feelings change with age. We have put together the first podcast series where we talk directly to teenage little troopers. In their own words they chat through deployment, moving home, school life and more. It may help your teen feel like they are not alone and could give them some tips!
Our Little Troopers books –Reading stories can often help children to understand things. Peppa Pig Tooth Fairy, Incredible You, Welcome to our World are just a few. That’s why we created a unique set of stories for little troopers. We have six beautifully written and illustrated story books. They follow military children through the life they lead and the situations they often find themselves in. The books series covers the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.
Certificates – Talking is great but sometimes your children may need an extra boost to help them realise they are great. We designed four certificates for you to download. They can be used at the end of a deployment or throughout. All you need to do is press print and add your child’s name. It’s really nice to pop them up somewhere the children can see them. If they are on display, they can act as an affirmation that they are special and have done really well!
Crafty Little Troopers – Taking time out to be quiet and calm can benefit everyone. We have uploaded three mindfulness colouring sheets on our Crafty Little Troopers website. All you need to do is print them off and dig out some colouring pens or pencils.
Louise adds, “We hope this summary is helpful. Whether you download one or all of the resources above, we just wanted you to know that we can help.”
