Cat Williamson Wellbeing

A Small Sketch, A Big Impact 🐦✨

Did you know that Draw a Bird Day (April 8th) started with a seven-year-old girl named Dorie Cooper? In 1943, her simple request for a bird drawing brought a wave of joy to wounded soldiers in a hospital ward.

In a fast-paced world, this day reminds us that joy doesn’t have to be grand to be meaningful. Whether it’s a quick scribble or a shared moment of creativity, these tiny acts help our children feel grounded and connected.

Drawing is more than art; it can be emotional literacy in action:
🌱 Mindfulness: Slowing down to look for beauty in the everyday.
🌱 Expression: Putting pencil to paper to process big feelings.
🌱 Connection: Realising that a simple gift can lift someone else’s spirit.

Today’s Challenge: Grab a crayon and draw a bird with your child. Don't worry about it being perfect—aim for being present. Who could you give your drawing to today? 🧡

Want the "Find the Joy" Bird Drawing Kit for your family? 🐦✨
It's a 2-pager with:
✅ A 2-minute "Joy-Spotting" nature guide.
✅ A "Breath Drawing" mindfulness exercise.
✅ 3 "Heart-to-Heart" questions to ask while you sketch.

To get your free copy:
1️⃣ FOLLOW my page for more emotional literacy tips.
2️⃣ LIKE this post to spread the joy.
3️⃣ COMMENT "BIRD" below (and share to your stories for an extra smile!).
I’ll 'fly' 🐦 into your DMs with it. 📩

🐰🌷Would your child benefit from a little “Eggs-tra”🐣support this Easter?! 🐰🌷

The school holidays are a great time to hit the reset button. While many children love the break, others find the change in routine tricky or would benefit from a gentle head start on the new term. Perhaps they need a confidence boost or help managing big emotions.

Whether it’s a one-off holiday boost or ongoing support, I’m here to help, using games, art and conversation.

💬 Message me to book a free 30-minute chat to explore how I could support your child.

See what other parents think. 🔗in comments.

🥃Are you a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person? 🥃

It’s a phrase we’ve all heard, but it also says a lot about how we look at the world — and how our children learn to look at it too.

🖼️ One of the things I support children with is learning how to reframe negative thoughts. When something feels overwhelming, we explore whether there might be another way of seeing the situation — one that feels calmer, kinder or more hopeful.

💭 In my sessions, we use playful tools like characters, stories and games to help children recognise unhelpful thoughts and practise more positive ones. Over time, this builds confidence, emotional resilience and a stronger sense of self.

If you know a parent who might find this helpful, feel free to share this post. And if you’d like to find out more about how this kind of support could help your child, I’m always here to chat.

End of an era 💛

This week I said goodbye to a school that has been part of my family’s life since 2009 — and where I’ve been an employee for the past six years.

Since 2023, I have loved working as their Emotional Literacy Support Assistant, supporting children with their feelings and emotional wellbeing.

Leaving was emotional — there were tears, even though it was my decision. Balancing my work at the school alongside my other role and private work supporting children had become too much, and I needed to make a change.

The mix of emotions I’ve experienced has been a powerful reminder of what I share with the children I work with. That nauseous feeling last weekend was a clue that I was feeling nervous about my final week — something I often talk about with children, as our bodies can give us early signals about how we’re feeling.

Alongside the nerves came sadness, a sense of loss, and fear about the unknown. These experiences help me empathise even more with children going through change and remind them that endings can also be beginnings.

Can you spot the note that the little boy in our last ELSA session wrote to me? 🥰

First week back. 🏫✅

💬How did it go?

Getting back into routine can involve children adjusting emotionally as well as practically. You might have noticed worries, tiredness, or big feelings lingering. Gentle support can really help. 🥰

✔️Predictable routines and consistency can help children feel grounded and secure.
✔️As can your calm presence and reassurance.
✔️Even short conversations or quiet moments matter - offering space and time to talk or simply be together.

If you’d like support in helping your child navigate big feelings or school transitions, I’m always happy to have a chat.

😵‍💫🎄This time of year can feel like a whirlwind for families.🎄😵‍💫

Children experience the excitement, noise, and changes in routine just as deeply — sometimes even more so. It can lead to emotional outbursts or meltdowns when they’re communicating big feelings the only way they know how.

Taking time to recharge helps calm their nervous system and we can teach emotional regulation through example.

What helps your child (and you!) recharge? 🪫🔋

🫖 ☕️ 🛁 🧘‍♀️ 📚 🎶🖌️🧩⚽️🐕🐈‍⬛🌳😴

If you’d like support with emotional literacy or managing big feelings, feel free to message me 💛

Would your child benefit from some support with managing their emotions? 😊😡☹️😬

In an article that I wrote for Rapport magazine recently,📚✨ I share my thoughts on how NLP and Emotional Literacy Support training can be combined to support children in schools. Of course I apply this with the children I work with outside school as well.

Do get in touch to learn more, have a chat or if you’d like to read the article.

Sometimes we just need to stop. ✋

Take a pause.

🧐 This gives us a chance to notice how we’re feeling and think about how we are going to respond or what we’re going to do next.

😤 We might be feeling angry and need to build in that pause to choose to react in a way that is helpful for us.

🥺😬 We might be feeling anxious or stressed and need to pause to feel calmer and more resourceful.

😊 We might want to notice and remember feeling good.

Although I often think about this in relation to children at school, it is relevant to us all.

Noticing our emotions is an important part of emotional literacy/intelligence.

Do you pay attention to how you are feeling?

🍁September already!

📚For many of us, it’s the beginning of a new academic year. Expectations and uncertainty can be high for children, uni students and parents - not forgetting teaching staff as well!

🏡 Excitement and/or anxiety may well be rising in your home.

💡To help manage anxiety and create a more positive outlook, why not take a few minutes to focus on how you and/or your child WOULD LIKE to feel as they start the new year. How would that look? What might they see and hear? (Perhaps them happily laughing with friends.)

Hope it goes well. I’m happy to chat and offer some ideas on using Lego or art to help create a mindset of possibility and a focus on what we DO want..

I’m hoping I can share this great example of emotional intelligence - can you see it?

We can’t control others but we can control our reactions.

Justin Wright on LinkedIn: Emotional intelligence is knowing that: You can't choose what happens to… | 227 comments Emotional intelligence is knowing that: You can't choose what happens to you, but you can always choose how you respond. EQ is understanding your own… | 227 comments on LinkedIn

Next steps support.

When our children move on, we want them to be able to make the most of opportunities and reach their potential. 💪🏻 The challenge of change can sometimes make it less easy for them to do so. Equipping them with tools can ease the process. 😊

If you’d like to chat about how I could support your child with their next step - from starting a new school year, junior school, senior school or perhaps university, please get in touch. I offer a free 30 minute call.

I wanted to mention the importance of positive self-talk during Mental Health Awareness Week and this post “spoke to me”. 🐕Can also apply to 🐈🐈‍⬛! 😉Let’s talk to ourselves as we would to our best friends. 🥰

This is amazing! 🤣🐩