The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has launched a program for young school kids to learn about the importance and practice of physical and mental wellness. This comes after findings that the pandemic has taken a massive toll on children’s wellbeing. The Children’s Wellness Moonshot Calendar is a colorful, large hanging mobile that be displayed in classrooms, and has 12 monthly wellness themes for teachers and kids to explore such as breathing deeply, exploring nature, moving joyfully, or showing love. The mobile hangs from ceiling to floor, and each monthly theme is represented by a moon then becomes a springboard for new lessons, conversations, coloring, songs, and games that make wellness fun and tangible for children.This is a crucial age to introduce kids to healthy habits since childhood development has a impact on a person’s social, emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing . The program is being piloted in US schools, and calendars ship in two weeks. The calendar concept and design was created by Jessica Jesse, CEO and creative director of BuDhaGirl, and former member of GWI’s Board of Advisors. “I’m so happy that the GWI is now launching the Children’s Wellness Moonshot Calendar, because it’s a perfect opportunity to plant the seeds of wellness for future generations,” says Jesse. “I’m thrilled that my original design of a mobile calendar is being used, as I think it will captivate children and make them want to interact through beauty and whimsy.”
Since the pandemic, children have experienced a disrupted childhood including the loneliness of disconnection from their friends, the challenges of remote learning, family economic stress, and even the loss of loved ones. A new study found that kids’ mental health problems have doubled during the pandemic and globally, 1 in 4 kids experiences clinically elevated depressive symptoms, and 1 in 5 clinically elevated anxiety symptoms. US parents have reported that two-thirds of children have experienced mental or emotional challenges because of the pandemic and studies agree that American kids are in a historic mental wellness crisis. “As children return to school, all the discussion is about the severe learning setbacks (and catch-up needed) after a year of remote learning, but we feel that it’s equally critical to bring new wellness practices into the classroom after this difficult time,” says Susie Ellis, GWI chairman and CEO. “But it can be hard for teachers to tackle that, so we created a striking visual calendar and simple program that identifies an impactful practice every month—and learning how to breathe deeply or show kindness can be woven into every day.”
Getting the wellness calendar program into more schools is dependent on individual donations. People can sponsor a classroom, a school, or a school district to support wellbeing for children. Learn more here.
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