PSHE picture books activity: help pupils express their worries with The Worry Jar

February 8th 2023

About Lou John Lou John currently works in publishing and has done so for many years. The Worry Jar is her debut picture book, and was inspired by her love of collecting pebbles at the beach, and by her daughter. DISCOVER The Worry Jar By Lou John

Looking for a PSHE activity to discuss mental health with pupils? Author Lou John takes over our blog with an engaging and empathetic classroom activity inspired by her debut book, The Worry Jar. We also hear from the PSHE picture books' illustrator Jenny Bloomfield about her creative choices when illustrating anxiety.

Talking about children's mental health 

In recent years, mental health has become a topic as relevant and important to children as it is to adults. In a class of thirty children, five children are likely to have poor mental health.[1] Throughout the pandemic, and after it, questions around how to manage children’s mental health have been at the forefront of the minds of parents, carers, and teachers alike. As a result, we began seeking ways to include relevant topics including activities and childrens books about diversity in the PSHE curriculum in the UK to support students.  But with nearly six in ten children admitting to hiding worries from their parents, how might responsible adults support and strengthen children's wellbeing?[2] Learning environments are increasingly vital in promoting and protecting children's mental health.[3] Finding the right coping strategy as a teacher isn’t an easy task. Every child and their worries are individual and different approaches work for different children. Building a trusting relationship with a child, and ensuring that they feel safe and secure enough to open up and express their worries in a non-pressured environment, is key. The end goal isn’t to eliminate the anxiety, but to help the child to learn to acknowledge the things that are worrying them, and to talk openly so that you can support them in managing their anxiety.

Turn your classroom into a supportive space with inclusive books and a worry jar

We must create a safe environment for students and improve knowledge and understanding with carefully curated PSHE books for primary schools. One way to create a safe environment to talk openly about wellbeing and worries is to create a classroom worry jar, just like Frida does in The Worry Jar. An activity like this can be light touch and fun and is effective without singling out individual children. It’s something that the children can contribute to together on an ongoing basis and can work well to draw children’s anxieties to the fore, creating a shared safe space for them to express themselves.

Watch author Lou John’s step-by-step guide below

Illustrating children’s anxiety with Jenny Bloomfield

About Jenny Bloomfield Jenny Bloomfield graduated with an MA in Children's Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art in 2019. She loves drawing in her sketchbooks and transforming her everyday observations into book illustrations. She lives in Leeds and works from a studio at the bottom of her garden. The Worry Jar is her second picture book. DISCOVER books illustrated by jenny bloomfield

The main thing I thought about when illustrating The Worry Jar was Frida's body language. At the beginning when she is worried, she is all balled up, with her shoulders raised and looking uncomfortable. I have an (annoying) habit of pulling the face or doing the position of the character I’m drawing - so illustrating Frida meant I'd sit at my desk all scrunched up and tense, just like she was on the page.

When she lets go of her worries, she is much more open with her arms and legs spread out. I was very relieved, physically and emotionally, when Frida let go of her worries. I was no longer scrunched up!

My favourite spreads in The Worry Jar are the swimming pool scenes. I have drawn my kids' swimming lessons a lot, and I love drawing water. For this picture book, I really wanted the colours to be calm too, so I enjoyed putting that colour palette together.

The Worry Jar One of The Sunday Times' best children's books of 2022, this debut picture book follows young Frida and her daily struggle with worries, big and small. When Granny teaches her an amazing trick, Frida learns how to overcome her worries, one pebble at a time. A useful title for classroom discussions about children's (and adult!) worries, with its gentle approach to anxiety through its empathetic characters and calming illustrations. DISCOVER

^{[1] Probable rates of mental health disorders of six to sixteen year olds is one in six (17.4%), Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2021 Wave 2, follow up to the 2017 survey. Published Sep 2021.
[2] Action For Children's policy report into views on childhood. Published March 2022.
[3] UNICEF, On My Mind: Promoting, protecting and caring for children's mental health, p.126. Published Oct 2021.}

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