Resources for Children & Their Caregivers

Find mental health educational resources for children up to age 8.

If Your Child is in Crisis

A mental health crisis is when your child is at risk of harming themselves or others, or if their emotions and behavior seem extreme and out of control. NAMI provides guidance for what to do if your child is in crisis.

You can also visit NAMI Fort Wayne’s If In Crisis page for local emergency and crisis resources.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

General Resources

NAMI (National website)

Find information, tips and resources for getting your child the treatment, support and accommodations they need.

The Child Mind Institute

Provides a variety of resource guides and articles to assist parents and caregivers raise healthy ad resilient children including:

Local Resources

Ronald McDonald Care Mobile The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is a doctor’s office on wheels delivering pediatrics providers to your neighborhood at no-charge to families without medical insurance. Children 0 – 18 years have access to the following services:

  • Wellness visits
  • Immunizations
  • Screenings (hearing, vision, developmental)
  • Point of care testing (lead, strep, urine)
  • Fluoride treatments
  • Childhood health and safety education

Books

A listing of children’s books that may help younger children understand and talk about mental health topics. Each title is linked to the book listing on Goodreads which provides a description of the book’s content, the author, and quick purchase links to Amazon, Kindle and a variety of other book sellers.

A Feel Better Book For Little Tempers

I Wish I Could Fly Like a Bird

A Box of Butterflies

Meet Little Monster Coloring Book (English)

Meet Little Monster Coloring Book (Spanish)

Listening to My Body

I Can Do Hard Things

Bounce Back! Being the Best Me Series

Monster Dash

Twinkle Twinkle Little Moon

The Little Bucket with free coloring pages

Activities

Big Life Journal for kids 6-11 is a science-based journal that helps children grow through daily activities focusing on encouraging thoughts to promote a resilience, confidence, gratitude, kindness, and self-love.

GoNoodle is an organization that strives to be a force of j oy, health and self-discovery for kids and the adults who love them. The GoNoodle website brings lessons of personal and community wellness, mental and physical health to elementary school kids in ways that are native, fun, exploratory and highlight their unique , natural epicness! Find

Apps

GoNoodle Games and Videos get kids active and also teach mindfulness! Includes content approved by their team of child experts–seasoned designers, educators, child development specialists and researchers. There are no in-app purchases.

Headspace With the right approach, parents, educators, caregivers, and loving relatives can teach meditation for kids to help them understand how to calm their minds and settle into their bodies.

Calm app for kids has sleep stories and mindfulness episodes for all ages.

Videos

The California Healthy Minds Thriving Kids Project provides 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. Three developmentally appropriate versions (elementary, middle and high school) were created for each topic. The program teaches kids 5 clinically proven mental health skills: understanding feelings, relaxation skills, understanding thoughts, managing intense emotions and mindfulness. Each video comes with a brief companion resource that summarizes key ideas and includes an activity that can be practiced in school or at home.

Let’s Talk About Mental Illness created by NAMI Wisconsin is a fun and engaging video for elementary age kids to start the conversation about mental illness. Downloadable activity sheets are available to use with the video