Fostering self-care and wellbeing through the world of reading

Nicola Schofield
A teacher sat outdoors with young students looking at a book togethr
Reading time: 6 minutes

Growing up is an exciting time. Children are curious and open-minded, and every day welcomes a new thing to learn. They are constantly exploring and discovering themselves and the world around them. But children also have to face many challenging times too as they get older. It is, therefore, important that we teach our young people to be aware of their own wellbeing and self-care, what they can do to lead a balanced and healthy life, and give them the tools they need to help them in difficult times, both mentally and physically.  

Boosting children's wellbeing with reading
Play
Privacy and cookies

By watching, you agree Pearson can share your viewership data for marketing and analytics for one year, revocable by deleting your cookies.

What are the key factors to a child’s wellbeing?

Have a look at Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs below. It describes people’s basic needs for good mental and physical wellbeing.

Self-actualization – Children need to be aware of their own feelings and understand how to process them.

Esteem – Children need to grow in confidence, feel valued and receive praise for their achievements. Having hobbies and interests too is key.

Love/belonging – Children need to develop meaningful relationships or feel part of a community. This could be friendships, family, a class, a club or school.

Safety – Children must feel safe in their surroundings.

Physiological – Children must have a home and access to food, water, sleep and exercise.

However, do children know how to look after their wellbeing? 

Ask them to make a list and share your ideas together as a class or as a family. What do they do to look after their mental and physical health? Are there any things that they do lots of or don’t do enough of? What can they start doing or try to do more of?

Alternatively, you could also ask them to put the following items in order of importance. Ask them, ‘What makes you happy?’, ‘What is important to you?’ 

  • Food
  • Water
  • House
  • School
  • Friends
  • Family
  • Exercise
  • Sleep
  • Hobbies 

How can Disney Kids Readers help children’s wellbeing?

Let’s refer back to the hierarchy of needs and see how they can link into reading.

Self-actualization – Disney Kids Readers can help increase empathy and self-awareness through reading about other characters’ emotions and putting ourselves in their shoes. It can help us to understand and process our own emotions too. For example, in Inside Out, we see Riley struggle with her emotions when her family moves to San Francisco. Through the characters of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust, we can see how normal it is to feel a range of emotions and not feel happy all the time.

Esteem – Disney Kids Readers also help children to develop confidence and self-esteem as they progress through the levels. By completing the wide range of activities at the end of the books, children can see that they are learning and improving their English skills as well as having fun reading a book. 

Readers can also help us navigate difficult moments in life and teach us resilience and strength in challenging times. When we read the stories, we see how the characters overcome obstacles and deal with their problems. This can teach children key lessons and help them tackle their own problems in the real world.

For example, many of the characters go through difficult times to which children can relate. In The Jungle Book, Mowgli is scared but then his friend Baloo comes to help him. In Frozen II, Elsa goes on a difficult journey to restore justice for the people of Arendelle and The Enchanted Forest. 

Love/belonging – Reading Disney Kids Readers as a class, in pairs, or as a family can really strengthen relationships and a sense of belonging, which is such an important part of children’s development. Sharing a book is something special that can allow people to develop common interests and therefore make children feel that they are part of a wider community.

Safety – Children can feel safe and more secure when a parent or a caregiver reads to them before bed. Disney Kids Readers are perfect bedtime stories and help children to fall asleep listening to their favorite Disney characters on exciting adventures. Also, in times of stress, reading can help reduce anxiety, allowing children to enjoy the present moment and escape the real world for a little while.

Physiological – Reading exercises your brain. In addition to physical exercise, reading is an excellent mental workout which is so important to children’s health. Ask the children to memorize some pages from the reader and recite it without looking or ask them to memorize the phonics rhyme on the phonics page. You could also ask them to memorize the key words from the glossary list and see how many they remember.

Explore our range of readers and get inspired

Activity ideas

Now try out some of the activities below which can be linked to the Readers which will help your children/young learners focus on their wellbeing.

1. Paint a scene

This activity is calm, relaxing and mindful for the children to complete. The world is a busy place, and this activity links in with the idea of self-actualization and esteem. Painting or drawing keeps our mind focused on one task, and reduces stress and anxiety. It can help us process difficult emotions and can cheer us up when we are feeling down.  

Encourage your young learners to paint or draw a peaceful scene that they can imagine themselves in. It could be a beach, a forest, or even outer space. This activity allows children to express their creativity and imagination while also promoting relaxation and mindfulness.

Need: Self-actualization, Esteem

2. Reading emotion diary

Self-awareness is such a useful tool for our wellbeing – through this activity, the children take a moment each day to read a few pages of a book and then look inside themselves to think about how they are feeling before and after reading. This is powerful, as over time the children will understand that reading is a good way to calm the mind and manage emotions – something that can help them improve their own wellbeing and feel safe. 

Encourage your learner to write down their feelings in a diary after reading and reflect on how the reading has affected their emotions. This activity promotes self-awareness and emotional intelligence, which are crucial for maintaining good mental health.

Need: Self-actualization, Safety

3. Reading emotions

Emotional intelligence is such an important part of life. Understanding how someone is feeling through body language, such as facial expressions, gestures and body movements, can be useful when someone is sad, angry or upset. It can help us decide what they need and can help them feel listened to, loved and valued. In this activity, the children practice this by analyzing the characters’ emotions. It will help children build confidence when dealing with difficult or sensitive topics with family and friends. 

Choose a Reader with a diverse range of characters and ask your learner to identify and describe the emotions shown by each character. This activity promotes empathy, communication skills and social-emotional learning.

Need: Love/belonging, Esteem 

4. Guess the scene meditation

This activity is a great exercise for the brain. It helps children to visualize and picture different surroundings in their minds and imagine different smells, sounds and textures, and bring them to life. As the children’s minds are focused on one thing, they begin to relax and feel calm. This activity can be a great tool to use before bedtime to help children fall asleep peacefully.

Guide your learners through a guided meditation where they imagine themselves in different peaceful scenes. You can also ask them to create their own scene and describe it in detail. This activity promotes relaxation, mindfulness and creativity.

Need: Self-actualization, Safety

5. Develop resilience

In every story there is a lesson to be learned, and through this activity children learn how to deal with difficult situations through the characters. It teaches children that although there are hard times in life, if we are patient, work together and show resilience, then we can work through our problems.  

Choose a Reader with characters facing challenges and discuss with your learners how the characters handle the situation. Encourage them to think of ways they can apply this to their own lives when facing difficulties.

Need: Belonging, Esteem 

6. Create an exercise routine

This activity is creative and fun and will get the children moving and laughing at the same time. Physical exercise is so important to our wellbeing, so what is better than doing a workout with your favorite Disney character? The children can do these workouts in small groups, with family or as a class. This activity promotes physical health and social bonding.

Choose a few Disney characters and create simple exercises for each one. You can also use props or make it into a game by having the children take turns being different characters.

Need: Physiological

Read our blog post 'Choosing the right graded readers for young learners'.

Explore our range of readers and get inspired

More blogs from Pearson

  • A group of students at a table talking to their teacher
    Strategies for teaching large language classes effectively
    By Charlotte Guest
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Teaching large language classes can feel overwhelming, but research and practice consistently show that scale is a design challenge, not an impossible challenge. With intentional course structure, active learning routines and the right technology, instructors can create engaging, rigorous and humane learning environments even in high-enrolment contexts. The strategies below focus on what works at scale.

    Challenges of large language classes

    A “large class” has no universal definition. In the UK it may begin around 25–30 students; in the U.S., 35+; in many developing contexts, 60 or more. Regardless of the threshold, size amplifies common teaching challenges:

  • A group of teenage students having a classroom discussion
    5 Strategies for teaching mixed-ability secondary students
    By Anna Roslaniec
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    No two teenagers are exactly alike. In every secondary classroom, you'll find a wide range of English proficiency levels, learning styles, motivation and personalities. This diversity brings both challenges and opportunities, especially when teaching mixed-ability classes. By adapting your teaching strategies, you can ensure that all students experience success and remain engaged in their language learning journey.

    Here are five practical strategies for teaching mixed-ability secondary students.

  • An older couple, one giving the other a bouquet of roses.
    Valentine's-themed English words and their origins
    By Charlotte Guest
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Valentine’s Day is a time to share kind words, sweet messages and warm feelings. If you are learning English, this is also a great time to learn new love-related words. Many of these words have interesting histories. Some come from Old English, others arrived from Latin or French. When you know where a word comes from, it can be easier to remember and use it.

    This post gives you a simple list of common Valentine words and their origins, plus a few with unusual stories. Read the short explanations, say the words out loud and try a few example sentences.

    Core Valentine and love words

    Valentine

    From Latin "Valentinus", based on "valens", meaning “strong” or “healthy.” The day is named after Saint Valentine. A “valentine” can be the card you send or the person you love.

    Love

    One of the oldest English words. In Old English, it was "lufu". It is related to German "Liebe" and Dutch "liefde". It has always meant strong feeling and care.

    Heart

    From Old English "heorte". The heart is a symbol of emotion. The heart shape in art comes from medieval ideas about feeling, not the real organ’s shape.

    Romance

    From Old French "romans". It first meant stories in Romance languages (from Latin). Later, it became linked with love stories and strong feelings.

    Cupid

    From Latin Cupido, meaning “desire.” In Roman myth, Cupid is the god who makes people fall in love with his arrows. Today, he is a friendly symbol on cards.

    Terms of affection and relationships

    Sweetheart

    Made from two old words: "sweet" + "heart". It appeared in Middle English from Old English roots. English often creates new ideas by joining simple words.

    Darling

    From Old English "deorling", meaning “dear little one” or “beloved.” Today, it is a soft, caring way to speak to someone you love.

    Beau

    From French "beau", meaning “handsome.” In English, a beau is a boyfriend or a male admirer, often in an older or formal style. It is pronounced “boh”. Plural: beaux or beaus.

    Fiancé/fiancée

    From French. Traditionally, "fiancé" is male and "fiancée" is female, but many people now use fiancé for anyone engaged to marry. The accent marks show the French origin.

    Paramour

    From Old French "par amour", “through love.” In English, a paramour is a lover, often secret. It shows how words can carry both romance and mystery.

    Dating and romantic behavior

    Date

    In the 19th century, American English started using "date" for a social meeting. The idea comes from marking a day on a calendar. To date means to spend romantic time together.

    Adore

    From Latin "adorare", through French. To adore means to love deeply and to respect. You can adore a person or a song.

    Smitten

    From the verb "smite", Old English smitan, “to strike.” If you are smitten, love has “struck” you. This is a strong, playful way to say you fell in love.

    Flirt

    Probably from a word meaning “to flick” or “to move quickly.” Over time, it came to mean playful romantic behavior. The exact origin is not certain, which makes it an interesting mystery word.

    Tryst

    A Scots word for a fixed meeting or appointment. Today, a tryst is a secret or private romantic meeting. It keeps the feeling of “an agreed time to meet.”

    Serenade

    From Italian "serenata", “an evening song,” from a word meaning “calm, clear.” To serenade is to sing or play music to someone you love, often at night.

    Gifts, beauty and attraction

    Bouquet

    Another French word, meaning “a bunch of flowers.” A bouquet of roses is a classic Valentine’s gift. You can also use a bouquet for birthdays and celebrations.

    Glamour

    From a Scottish form of "grammar". Long ago, grammar also meant learning and sometimes “magic.” Glamour became the word for a special, almost magical beauty or charm.

    Chivalry

    From Old French "chevalerie", related to cheval, “horse.” It first meant the way of knights on horseback. Later, it became the idea of polite, noble behavior, especially toward others in romance.

    Marriage and commitment

    Wedding, bride, and (bride)groom

    Wedding comes from Old English "weddian", “to pledge.” Bride is from Old English bryd. Groom, in bridegroom, was once "guma", an old word for “man.” Over time, it changed to the familiar groom.

    Troth and betrothed

    Troth comes from Old English "treowth", meaning “truth,” “faith,” or “loyal promise.” To “plight one’s troth” means “to promise to marry.” Betrothed means “engaged to marry,” from be- + troth.

    Honeymoon

    "Sweet" + "moon". "Honey" suggests the sweet time after the wedding, and "moon" suggests a month. Long ago, some couples drank honey wine (mead) in the first month of marriage. Today, a honeymoon is the trip after the wedding.

    Now you know some new Valentine’s words and where they come from. Use them to share feelings, write messages, and enjoy the season. Make sure to practice: put each word into a simple sentence and practice saying it aloud. You can also make small flashcards and review them for a few minutes each day.