5 Activities to Support Your Student’s Mental Health

October 3, 2025 by Valerie Kirk

7 min to read

Being a student can come with its own challenges. Along with the stress of school and keeping up with extracurricular activities, students can easily become overwhelmed by other factors that can impact their lives like bullying or fears about their futures. All of these factors can take an unexpected toll on students both in their personal and academic lives, which is why providing mental health support for students can be crucial to helping them stay afloat and in control throughout their school years and beyond.

Recognizing Mental Health Warning Signs

Families may find it hard to recognize the difference between normal emotional growing pains and a serious mental health issue that requires professional help in their student. It’s important for parents to educate themselves on the signs of mental health problems so that they can understand if the anxiety, stress, or other emotional and behavioral problems they are seeing in their child are cause for concern.

The World Health Organization reports that on a global level, 14% of 10–19-year-olds live with some form of mental health condition. What’s more, depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents, with suicide being the third leading cause of death for teen and young adults between the ages of 15 and 29 years old.

If the warning signs of mental health conditions go unrecognized or unaddressed, a student’s well-being can suffer. Talking about mental health with your child not only shows them they’re supported, but it helps them learn how to ask for help, or to advocate for themselves and their needs.

According to the Mayo Clinic, here are some warning signs that your child may be experiencing a mental health issue:

Sadness that lasts two weeks or more

Avoiding social interactions

Self-harm or talking about self-harming

Out-of-control behavior that can be harmful

Drastic changes in mood, behavior, or personality

Changes in eating habits

Difficulty sleeping

Frequent headaches or stomachaches

Excessive worry or fears that interfere with daily activities

Changes in academic performance

5 Simple Activities to Support Your Child's Mental Health

For anyone experiencing trouble with their mental health, regular check-ins with a mental health professional or a medical provider is strongly recommended. Mental health professionals can help provide effective coping mechanisms and treatment plans for students of any age and can give additional insight for their families on how to better support their student’s overall well-being.

But for those looking for ways to support their child who may be feeling anxiety, depression, or stress at home, here are five mental health activities for kids and teens that you can incorporate into your child’s routine:

1. Perform Random Acts of Kindness

While you may think that performing an act of kindness benefits the person on the receiving end, studies show that there are many health benefits for the person performing the act of kindness as well. It truly is better to give than to receive! In a study done by the National Institutes of Health, children who showed behaviors of being cooperative, empathetic, and kind early in life were more likely to stay in school, avoid drug or alcohol abuse, and have better mental health as adults.

Encourage your child to perform random acts of kindness.

Younger children: Bake cookies for a neighbor, feed the birds, use chalk to write encouraging messages on the sidewalk, make and give friendship bracelets.

Older kids and teens: Call a loved one they haven’t spoken to in a while, hold the door open for someone, write encouraging notes and leave them for friends or family to find, assist someone who needs help.

2. Get Moving

Exercising isn’t just good for your child’s physical health, it’s also good for their mental health. According to the American Psychological Association, young people who exercise have lower levels of depression, stress, and psychological distress, and have higher levels of positive self-image and life satisfaction.

Here are some easy ways to incorporate physical activity into your child’s routine:

Indoor emotional wellness activities: Regular or chair yoga, dancing, stretching, lifting weights, working out on a stationary bike.

Outdoor emotional wellness activities: Going for a walk, hike, or bike ride, swimming, spending time outside with pets.

3. Have Regular Family Dinners

Perhaps one of the most overlooked mental health awareness activities is the simple act of eating dinner with your child. Eating dinner together without any television or other electronic devices encourages your child to talk about their day—and the things that may be bothering them. One study found that adolescents who seek treatment for depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems are half as likely as their peers to have regular family meals. Dinners certainly don’t have to be elaborate. Even if you’re eating takeout, actively engaging your child in conversation can lead to improved mental health.

4. Get the Recommended Amount of Sleep

Kids and teens are often resistant to sleep, but it’s crucial for their physical and mental health. While the amount of sleep recommended by experts does decrease as students get older, high schoolers still need an average of 8–9 hours of sleep per night, with younger students needing up to 11 hours per night.

Children who consistently don’t get enough sleep can experience long-term problems in academic performance, absenteeism, poor impulse control, risk-taking behavior, and impaired social functioning.

5. Explore New Hobbies

Being engaged in an activity that brings joy, like a hobby, can give your child’s mental health a boost. Hobbies and interests help students focus and can be good opportunities for exercise and social interaction as well as helping them to identify their own strengths. When a person knows they enjoy an activity or are good at something they do just for themselves, they can help ease any negative thoughts or self-doubt.

If your child doesn’t have a hobby, make a list of new things you could try to do together. Different mental health activities for students include:

Elementary school: Drawing or painting, molding clay, dancing, arts and crafts, cooking and baking with adults to help them

Middle school: Sports, music, drama, gardening, geocaching, magic tricks, jewelry making, creative writing

High school: Photography, sewing or crocheting, hiking, yoga, rock climbing, robotics, learning a language, digital art creation

Students can also join extracurricular clubs to connect with other students who have the same interests or volunteer in their community.

Image of a young student playing the guitar

How Online School Supports Student Mental Health

If you have any concerns about your student, there are resources available. It’s also a good idea to consult with your child’s physician about your concerns.

For in-school support, counselors are trained to support children as they deal with mental health issues; but choosing online school over a traditional brick-and-mortar can be a source of mental health support for students in its own right—here’s how.

Built-in flexibility

Online schools like Connections Academy® allow for more wiggle room during the day than in-person ones when it comes to when and where students learn during the day. Students can complete coursework or watch recorded lectures at their own pace, making it easy to build their daily school schedules around their unique needs. They can have the freedom to start their lessons later in the day if they need more sleep, end the day early to pursue hobbies, or plan more frequent breaks throughout the day to try emotional wellness activities when they need to.

Control over their learning environment

Tight schedules, navigating around lots of people, or being surrounded by lots of noise isn’t for

everyone. Learning from home allows students to set up their space the way they want and in a way that can better support their learning needs while giving them a sense of control over their learning day. They can choose when and how they would like to interact with their peers as well as who they interact with, which can help reduce social pressure or distractions that may have a negative impact on their mental health.

Thinking About Online School?

Join a Connections Academy information session today to learn more about the flexibility of online school and how it can benefit your student, or download our free eGuide to learn more.