Child Mind Institute
Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Pre-K
The number of children with mental health disorders is sharply on the rise; at least 20% of our kids have a mental health or learning disorder. And beyond this number, all children, at some point, face several difficult challenges as they grow up. Early education on mental health skills is the key; learning basic, age-appropriate mental health skills at a young age has been proven to help kids thrive.
The Emmy-nominated Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Pre-K is a free, five-episode video series based on mental health research tailor-made for preschoolers (ages 3 to 5). Grounded by the clinical expertise of the Child Mind Institute, these videos teach kids five key skills that have been proven to support mental health. Each of these important ideas is taught in a way that children learn best: through entertaining and relatable stories set in a vivid, imaginary world. The videos culminate with a memorable song reinforcing these key messages, providing a fun and effective way to introduce kids to the concept of mental health.
Episode 1: Understanding Feelings
Episode 2: Using Your Words
English and Spanish language directors worked closely throughout the development and production of the series to ensure sensitivity to different cultures. And then a talented cast of actors and musicians brought it to life.
Each episode was written within the larger Forest Festival story, featuring the same group of hedgehogs, narrator, and structure. A percussive original song from the hedgehog "band” concludes each episode, with performances from the Emmy-nominated Lake Street Dive for the English version and Chicano band Las Cafeteras for the Spanish version.
The original music for this series took inspiration from the electronic sounds found in popular children's albums, leaning on percussion and Latin flavors of music to make the songs danceable - a must for a preschool audience. In one particular song about “Big Feelings,” there's a tempo change about a minute in, transitioning from a gentler portion about the different actions kids can do into an upbeat chorus with repeating lyrics emphasizing the theme: "Big feelings, they come and they go." All five songs are both in English and Spanish versions, translating the lyrics with minor changes to ensure cultural relevance.
The Hedgehog Land setting for this episode was inspired by school plays, creating a familiar yet captivating world for this preschool audience. Drawing from the creativity found in dress-up play, the focus was on fun, imaginative styling, helping kids believe these were forest hedgehogs while understanding human actors were playing the characters.
Whimsical but grounded in reality, our directors chose realistic forest locations, props, and set pieces like carousels and balloons children would see in real life. They opted to showcase actors in hedgehog-like costumes without hiding the human underneath.
The intent behind this wardrobe design was to make the costumes fun and appealing over hedgehog anatomical accuracy. We wanted kids to believe these were hedgehogs living in the forest while understanding human actors were playing the characters. Our wardrobe team selected ordinary human-looking pieces like button-up shirts, tracksuits, and boots in natural tones. They styled these items with whimsical materials like tulle, sunflower appliques, and patches for a nod to the imaginative dress-up play preschoolers understand. Finally, the costumes were accented with feathers, fake furs, and bath mat "spikes," giving each character an easily believable hedgehog look.
Using vintage film-like cutaways and otherworldly imagine spots, a mixed multimedia approach adds a gentle variety to engage but not overstimulate. This approach frames each episode in a fun, documentary-style format that kids and their caregivers both can enjoy.
Like previous installments of the Child Mind video series, Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Pre-K was designed with accessibility at the forefront, providing parents and caregivers multiple options to watch and enrich the series.
The free videos are hosted on a dedicated web platform and YouTube. Both the videos and the theme songs can be freely downloaded to watch and listen offline. In addition, each episode is accompanied by free companion guides tailored for educators and caregivers to guide discussion of the key concepts, along with colorful activity sheets for kids to reinforce these ideas.