The Five Dimensions of Wellbeing

A child’s wellbeing is at the centre of their growth. As they develop, their wellbeing needs change and one sector may become prominent while another becomes a minor requirement for the moment. Wellbeing is however connected and if your child isn’t receiving the appropriate amount of support in one area, another area will be thrown out of kilter as well. 

The five dimensions of wellbeing play an important role in the growth of your child and being aware of these dimensions and how to meet your child’s needs is important.

Children and the Five Dimensions of Wellbeing

Emotional Wellbeing

Emotional wellbeing is all about how children cope and can often be seen in their level of resilience. This is an area that should grow as they develop and get older. A major part of emotional wellbeing is for children to be able to recognise their emotions and ensuring they learn positive emotions from things that make them feel good and bring them joy and bring a sense of joy. 

Something many people don’t realise is that feeling positive emotions regularly help build resilience to, and the ability to deal with, the negative things that happen in life. A good level of resilience helps to adapt to and deal with stress and negativity, while providing the tools to know how to bounce back from challenges. Children will learn how to deal with stress and negativity from their caregivers. Showing healthy responses to the non-positives in life will help lessen any fear in your child as they develop. 

How to teach a child about emotional wellbeing? Try gratitude exercises. Depending on your child’s age, have them sit down before bed and think about three things they are grateful for. It doesn’t need to be big things, even something like having someone talk to them is enough. 

Social Wellbeing

Social wellbeing is an extremely important part of development for a child. It allows for building quality relationships based upon respect, communication, shared interests, support and understanding. 

There are plenty of activities that can help grow a child’s social wellbeing including dancing, singing, drawing, and storytelling. Having meals as a family and spending time as a family unit (however that looks for your family), is a great way to grow relationships within the family as well as promoting other wellbeing factors including emotional and intellectual. 

Spiritual Wellbeing

Spiritual wellbeing is an extremely important element of a child’s development. It is this element that allows them to build a connection to their culture, community or religion, including developing their beliefs, values and ethics. A good level of spiritual wellbeing provides a child with the ability to understand purpose and the meaning of life. 

Spiritual wellbeing looks different for everyone, and it is important to teach children that spiritual wellbeing may be different to someone else. Caregivers can help children discover their sense of purpose whether that be through exploring a love for animals or people or learning about different cultures and religions. 

Providing children with the ability to learn the various ways their peers see spiritual wellbeing, through education, the environment, and new concepts will allow them to understand that their sense of purpose doesn’t need to match someone else’s. 

Physical Wellbeing

A good sense of physical wellbeing will help your child get through everyday tasks. Often associated with nutrition, rest, sleep, physical activity and a sense of security, it is important for children to understand the concepts and ideas behind what can help them be at their peak of physical wellbeing. For younger children, this could be as simple as ensuring they have nutritionally balanced meals and enough sleep, while for older children it should encompass encouraging taking part in physical activities and learning when their body need rest. 

Mental Wellbeing

Mental or intellectual wellbeing is all focused on encouraging and fostering a love of learning as well as teaching children to realise their own potential, working productively and learning how to contribute to their community. This element contributes to building motivation, engagement, challenging oneself and celebrating achievements. 

Creating environments where children can discover their potential is essential. Whether this be in or out of the home, motivating and engaging children in outings to the library, the art gallery or a children’s interactive event can be a great way to foster mental and intellectual wellbeing. 

Treasured Tots has recently introduced a wellness program into their centres, focussing on three key pillars of Resilience (adaptability and providing skills to meet challenges), Wellbeing (being physically and emotionally strong and healthy with a sense of belonging) and Awareness (being in tune with and recognising thoughts, feelings and actions). 

This program is designed to provide children with an opportunity to learn about themselves and those around them through interactive experiences including physical, emotional and mental health. The team at Treasured Tots believes this program will create a holistic wellness environment, allowing both children (and their families) and staff to find a balance between the body, soul and mind. 

If you’re interested in finding out more about how the Treasured Tots Wellness Program can assist your child, contact the team today.