Self-esteem, self-worth, and mental health are all aspects that can be hard to talk about but are worth the conversation. If you’re looking for a way to understand someone else or express yourself but don’t necessarily feel like you have the right tools, there are always options, though they may be hard to find.
If you’re looking to help yourself or someone else cope with difficult emotions or mental health situations, you can use toys or games to ease into conversations that can be life-changing. We have several options meant to help get those conversations started or ease some anxiety around the topic.
Toys And Games That Promote Mental Health Awareness
Breaking Barriers Down
As the name suggests, Breaking Barriers Down is a block-building game that helps you share your feelings and emotions in a safe manner with a board game at the center that will help ease into conversations.
To help ease into conversations about mental health and awareness, games like Breaking Barriers Down make conversations easy to start. Take yourbasic block buildinggame and add in-depth questions that cover every emotion to help get an open dialogue and conversation surrounding important topics such as mental health.
From anger, sadness, happiness, and fear, you’ll discover essential questions to help kids or even adults open up to discuss difficult topics such as mental health awareness. Players will pull a block from the stack, and after every other round, a player will choose a card based on the color of the block they’ve removed. Each color distinctly represents an emotion, and there’s even a color that allows you to skip answering a question if you aren’t ready. Incorporate this game into a routine to help begin opening difficult conversations that can lead to more in-depth discussions.
Totem
Make everyone at the table feel good with Totem, the feel-good game that enhances self-esteem, team building, and community. Totem promotes mental health and awareness while encouraging conversations and creating feel-good moments.
Sometimes, you just need to feel good, and you may not always find it in yourself to feel that way. That’s where games like Totem come in. This gamebrings your community togetherand allows everyone at the table to uplift one another. By the end of the game, you’ll have boosted your self-esteem, discovered strengths you may not have known you had, and addressed your mental and emotional health.
Totem is also a team-building board game that allows adults to speak on their emotions in a healthy manner while giving support to one another and allows everyone to learn to be appreciated and appreciate each other.
Moodles Pawster Pup Plush Dog
This 12-inch Moodle Pawster Pup plush is a soft sensory stuffed animal that is as helpful as it is adorable. With six different faces, you can express your feelings in a safe way. Even without that, it’s an adorable sensory plush that will be there when you need it.
Moodles allow you to show how you’re feeling when you aren’t up to talking about it at the moment. They also provide something to hug, squeeze, and cuddle when you’re not feeling your best. A soft, snuggly plush that has six different faces, each representing an emotion that allows you to express yourself in a safe way.
You may think it’s just for kids, and while it’s helpful for them, anyone can utilize this plush when words are just too overwhelming or when you just need a good cuddle buddy after a long day. Communicate with partners and loved ones in a safe way while having an adorable cuddly plush by your side.
Marie Weighted Plush – The Aristocats
Marie from The Aristocats is perfect for sensory stimulation. She’s 16 inches, a good size for all your needs. Marie comes with an opening in the back to add a 2-pound weighted pouch. Bring some Disney magic and help cope with overload with this cuddly plush.
Toys and collectibles that are weighted help with a number of things, such as anxiety, overstimulation, stress, and self-regulation, among other things. Adding toys to your collection that can help you cope is a great place to start, and adding a little Disney magic on top of that is a neat treat. Though the Aristocats isn’t the most popular Disney franchise, having Marie is great, even if you just like cats.
A fluffy, soft, and comfortable option when you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, she’s big enough to be a go-to choice over some of the smaller plush options, and the 2.5 pounds you can add is weighted enough to help you with a good cuddle.
Feelwise
This 60-card tabletop game is great for helping you work on your mental and emotional health. These cards are meant to help you identify and understand your emotions, but they uniquely have options to help you work through them.
Feelwise not only allows you to understand your emotions but also teaches you how to deal with them. It’s meant to teach you how to handle your mental and emotional health so that even outside of the game, you’re prepared to deal with whatever life might send your way.
That’s what makes Feelwise stand out, it teaches you how to go through your emotions, and what to do to help you cope with them. Understanding is one thing, but this game builds your ability to work through mental and emotional roadblocks, to express yourself. The building blocks you need are there, and in nice cards so it won’t be overwhelming.
Friendly Cuddle Weighted Lap Dog
With five pounds of weight and a cuddle build, this lap blanket is your new best companion. Help with stress, sensory processing, and emotional and mental well-being by calming your emotions with this companion, who is also ready for travel.
This adorable weighted blanket is perfect, cuddly, and too cute. The friendly cuddle puppy blanket is the perfect weighted option for travel as well as for around the house. With several different puppy design options, you’re able to choose your perfectly cuddly puppy pal to help you get through those times where things might be a bit overwhelming.
Each friendly cuddle buddy is named and has five pounds of weight that is separated to be evenly distributed throughout the puppy blanket. It’s easily washable, and you can even heat up the weighted beads to create a warm, comfortable sensation for helping deal with mental stressors, emotions, anxiety, and more. Let yoursleeping plush buddyhelp ease your mind.
FAQ
Can Games Help With Mental Health
Yes. In the easiest sense, if done correctly, games can help with processing emotions, allow for space and time to express feelings, and help with destressing. Some games, even some on this list, can help with knowing how to express yourself and work through situations in fun and engaging ways.
What Activities Can You Do To Help With Mental Health
Several activities can help, but starting small may be your best choice. Getting a proper sleeping schedule, destressing, keeping to a routine, expressing your emotions in a healthy manner, continuing mindful practices, and even more. Some games in this list can help with these, as can sensory toys.
How Do Games Help With Therapy
Games, whether board games or card games, can help with immersion and engagement. Where certain methods may not work, engaging and relatable options that can keep you entertained may work much better for therapy than other options. Giving you options for how to express yourself or relate to other characters is good for helping with therapy.
