Specialists in the University’s Sheffield Institute of Education developed the resources with Trauma Informed Schools UK (TISUK) and Nifty Fox Creative following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022.
They have been updated and reissued to schools, councils and other services to support parents to help children to understand and deal with their feelings related to the current conflict in Israel and Gaza.
The resources focus on how to talk to children about conflict and war, the importance of play and how this can help children and young people to open up about their feelings, as well as activities to support mental wellbeing.
Professor Sally Pearse, Strategic Lead for Early Years at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Trauma is the response to any event that frightens us or makes us feel that our life is out of control. Children need to be supported to cope with and make sense of their feelings around the current conflict, coming as it does on the back of the pandemic that has also impacted on children’s feelings of safety and security.
“The trauma informed principles have never been more important to help support children who are suffering anxiety and trauma as a result of the current situation and the resources we have produced will hopefully support that.”
TISUK is a non-profit educational organisation that aims to provide appropriate training for schools, communities and organisations so that they become trauma informed and mentally healthy places for all. By appropriately training school staff they can help to deliver interventions addressing mild to moderate mental health problems in children.
Download the resources here:
The power of play (PDF, 9.5MB)
Talking to children about war and conflict (PDF, 6.9MB)
