COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit
Ensuring Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being
Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Health
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can affect children and young people directly and indirectly. Beyond getting sick, many young people’s social, emotional, and mental well-being has been impacted by the pandemic. Trauma faced at this developmental stage can continue to affect them across their lifespan.
Some of the challenges children and young people face during the COVID-19 pandemic relate to:
- Changes in their routines (e.g., having to physically distance from family, friends, worship community)
- Breaks in continuity of learning (e.g., virtual learning environments, technology access and connectivity issues)
- Breaks in continuity of health care (e.g., missed well-child and immunization visits, limited access to mental, speech, and occupational health services)
- Missed significant life events (e.g., grief of missing celebrations, vacation plans, and/or milestone life events)
- Lost security and safety (e.g., housing and food insecurity, increased exposure to violence and online harms, threat of physical illness and uncertainty for the future)
CDC developed this COVID-19 Parental Resource Kit: Ensuring Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being to help support parents, caregivers, and other adults serving children and young people in recognizing children and young people’s social, emotional, and mental health challenges and helping to ensure their well-being.
Resources, by Age Group
Learn about the social, emotional, and mental health challenges faced by each age group, find out what you can do to help, and access age-group specific resources to get you started.
Early Childhood (0-5y) | Childhood (6-12y) | Adolescence (13-17y) | Young Adults (18-24y)
Resources
Explore different types of resources available to help you support young people’s social, emotional, and mental well-being across the lifespan.
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image iconPostcard Reminders
Ready to print postcards encouraging COVID-19 mitigation and prevention practices, and socio-emotional wellbeing. Parents can print; children can write a note and send to a loved one. Parents and children can also be inspired by these and make their own out of index cards. This resource may be useful for children 6-12 years.
Door Hangers
These ready-to-print door hangers can serve as reminders for children, young people, and adults alike to remember some COVID-19 prevention and mitigation practices. Parents and children can also be inspired by these and make their own with paper and crayons or other art supplies. This resource may be useful for children and young people of all ages.
Activity Book
This activity book is intended to provide information to young children and families about how to prevent and cope with COVID-19. This resource may be useful for children ages 4-7 years.
