‘Did you know there are animals in your head? There’s a Guard Dog, a Wise Owl, a Sifting Sooty and an Elephant!’
This is the opening line of an award-winning podcast which teaches children how their brains work and helps them navigate the sometimes tricky world of mental health and wellbeing.
Created by dynamo team, Kristina Freeman and Alice Peel, and their creative team, the Grow Your Mind podcast is full of relatable scenarios, songs, and great tips for kids.
Kristina and Alice bring many years of experience in public health, education and social work to the podcast, and it shows. The episodes are thoughtful and evidence-informed, but allow children to develop a language for their feelings, thoughts, and body signals in a natural and explorative way.
‘We use neuroscience and storytelling to create innovative and engaging mental health strategies to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing of children, educators and families.’
But the most engaging and unique aspect of this podcast is that it is voiced by children, specifically the 12-year-old experts (students) of Ms Thea’s class.
The students bring to life stories across a range of topics, from belonging to gender, consent to climate change, relationships to emotional regulation. Drawing on the quirky animal characters they use to describe the different parts of the brain (for example, the Guard Dog representing the amygdala, Wise Owl representing the prefrontal cortex, and Elephant as the hippocampus) the children navigate common challenges, finding common ground, understanding, and connection with others along the way.
With a focus gratitude, compassion, mindfulness, physical exercise, and character strengths, the five seasons of the Grow Your Mind podcast explore the nuanced and complex terrain of mental health in subtle and engaging ways.
Grow Your Mind is a social enterprise, who also run programs in schools and offer a range of resources on their website, including a fabulous book by Alice called, How to be a Fantastic Sensational Good-Enough Kid.
This podcast is well worth a listen if you are a teacher, parent, psychologist, or social worker looking for a way to explore mental health with the children in your life. Highly recommended!
Check it out here.
Reviewed by Sue King-Smith
