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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Kate Middleton urges children to talk about their feelings as helps make paper chains

The Princess of Wales has urged children to "keep talking" about their feelings as she joined them for a craft session.

Kate made paper chains with pupils from a primary school in London’s East End and chatted with them about how they cope with their feelings in a video released to mark the start of Children's Mental Health Week.

One little boy from St John’s Church of England Primary School in Bethnal Green told the future Queen "connecting releases our emotions to other people that we care about".

While a classmate said to Kate: "I take deep breaths in, then I drink a glass of water" when the princess asked how they coped with strong feelings.

Kate in a new video to mark the start of Children's Mental Health Week (PA)

Kate is the royal patron of the children’s mental health charity Place2Be that founded the annual Children’s Mental Health Week.

This year has the theme Let’s Connect, encouraging youngsters to make meaningful connections with others to support their mental well-being.

At the end of the session, the princess said: "Well, thank you for having a chat with me today.

"And keep talking about your feelings and keep asking others how they’re doing and helping them to talk about their feelings as well.

Kate urged the youngsters to talk about their feelings (PA)

"I’m a firm believer in giving children the skills that they need for life and focusing on their social and emotional development."

Place2Be’s chief executive, Catherine Roche, said in the video: "Children’s Mental Health Week was founded by Place2Be in 2015 and the aim is to build awareness and understanding of children and young people’s mental health.

"All week, schools, families, youth groups will be getting involved and taking part. People thrive in communities and when we have really good positive connections with others, that’s really, really good for our emotional health and well-being."

Kate is the royal patron of the children’s mental health charity Place2Be (PA)

Last week, Kate launched her Shaping Us campaign, an ambitious project described as her "life’s work" and aimed at raising the profile of the early years' development of children.

As part of the campaign, she shared a family photograph of her as a baby, happily smiling and reaching to grab her father’s face.

The words "faces are a baby’s best toy" come with the treasured image along with the description "with Dad, by Mum".

A series of tweets, which she signed off with her name’s initial, C, read: "This weekend, we’d love for you all to spend time with your friends, families, colleagues and communities talking about your early childhoods and how they’ve shaped your lives.

"I hope you’ll also consider joining me in sharing a picture of yourselves before your fifth birthday to help with those conversations and to share some smiles and memories too."

This week Kate has said her early years' campaign goes beyond "raising kids" and is also about "shaping our society" and creating a "more nurturing world".

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