At Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, mental health support is one of the most critical services we provide in our Clubs. We employ a team of full-time, trained mental health professionals who are in the Club multiple times each week, facilitating individual connection sessions and small social-emotional learning (SEL) groups to support the mental and emotional wellbeing of the kids and teens we serve.
As we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, we are thrilled to showcase some of the engaging and meaningful programming taking place at the Club. Read on to discover more about the recent mental health programs our Club kids have participated in!
Self-Regulation with Calm Strips
Calm Strips have quickly become a valuable addition to the tools used by Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver’s Mental Health Team. Designed to offer tactile stimulation and promote relaxation, these strips provide a range of textures to soothe and comfort individuals experiencing heightened emotions. While practicing with someone from the Mental Health Team, Club members placed the calm strip in their hand and were guided through deep breaths while having their fingers glide along its surface.
Club kids who used Calm Strips felt more grounded after participating in this mindfulness practice.
Super Hero
In a creative and empowering session, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver’s Mental Health Team inspired members to recognize their inner strengths and capabilities. Members explored their aspirations for superpowers, ranging from the fantastical to the everyday. Members were encouraged to embrace their inner superheroes, personalizing superhero worksheets with their photographs, creating their own superhero names, and identifying their positive attributes. They also reflected on how they could utilize these strengths to make a positive impact on others.
The group realized they already possess extraordinary abilities, such as empathy and kindness, which serve as their own unique superpowers.
Musical Chairs
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver’s Mental Health Team played musical chairs, adding an innovative twist to encourage emotional awareness. In this version, each chair had a different emoji on it, representing various emotions. As members played, they had to guess the emotion depicted on the chair they landed on, mimic that emotion, and share a personal experience related to it.
This engaging activity helped kids have fun while also fostering emotional awareness and expression.
“Feeling Catcher” Dolls
“Feeling Catcher” Dolls help Club members manage and express their emotions. The dolls are a safe outlet for members to share any feelings they experience, whether happy, sad, mad, frustrated, or worried. The concept behind the dolls is that they will "hold onto" emotions for the members until they are ready to revisit them. During the session, members discussed what they might tell their dolls and then created their own personalized dolls using popsicle sticks and yarn.
This hands-on activity provided a creative outlet and encouraged emotional expression for Club members.
The creative initiatives employed by the Mental Health Team foster emotional resilience and build a sense of community and empathy among our Club members. We are proud to see the positive impact these mental health programs have on the lives of our Club kids and look forward to continuing our mission of empowering kids to achieve their greatest potential.
Thank you for joining us on this journey during Mental Health Awareness Month!
Learn more about our Mental Health Programs here.