Menthol Elf is a story-based emotional literacy and wellbeing resource for children, families, and schools. This page explains what Menthol Elf is designed to do, what it is not designed to do, and how adults should use it responsibly.
What Menthol Elf Is
Menthol Elf uses gentle storytelling, emotional metaphors, character guidance, and simple calming strategies to help children notice feelings, name them kindly, understand everyday emotional experiences, and practise small self-regulation tools.
The stories and resources are intended to support emotional literacy, classroom wellbeing conversations, family story time, calm corners, PSHE-style discussion, and age-appropriate reflection for children aged 4-11.
What Menthol Elf Is Not
Menthol Elf is not a clinical mental health programme. It does not diagnose, assess, treat, or cure mental health conditions. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, safeguarding advice, or a substitute for professional help.
Menthol Elf should not be used to replace support from parents and carers, teachers, safeguarding leads, school pastoral teams, special educational needs coordinators, educational psychologists, counsellors, GPs, NHS services, CAMHS, or other qualified professionals.
How The Resources Should Be Used
Menthol Elf resources should be used as gentle conversation starters and learning materials. They can help children explore feelings through fictional characters and safe story situations, without requiring children to disclose personal experiences publicly.
- Feelings should be validated, not shamed or dismissed.
- Calming strategies should be offered as invitations, not demands.
- Children should be allowed to reflect through the story characters rather than talking directly about themselves.
- Adults should avoid asking children to share sensitive personal experiences in front of a group.
- Schools should use Menthol Elf alongside their own safeguarding, pastoral, PSHE, SEND, and wellbeing policies.
Alignment With Public Guidance
Menthol Elf is informed by a broad educational understanding of emotional literacy, wellbeing, and social-emotional learning. Public guidance in the UK encourages schools to support pupils in understanding feelings, developing language for emotions, making positive choices, and promoting social, emotional, and mental wellbeing through age-appropriate teaching and a whole-school approach.
Relevant public guidance includes GOV.UK guidance on physical health and mental wellbeing education, NICE guidance on social, emotional and mental wellbeing in education, NHS guidance on children and young people’s mental health services, and PSHE Association guidance on teaching mental health and emotional wellbeing safely and effectively.
Menthol Elf is not endorsed by GOV.UK, NICE, the NHS, or the PSHE Association. References to these bodies are provided only to explain the wider educational and safeguarding context in which schools may consider wellbeing resources.
When To Seek Additional Help
If a child’s feelings are intense, persistent, unsafe, distressing, or affecting daily life, adults should seek appropriate support and follow relevant safeguarding or pastoral procedures. In schools, this may mean speaking to the designated safeguarding lead, pastoral team, SENDCo, school nurse, or other appropriate professional. Families may wish to speak to a GP, NHS service, or qualified mental health professional.
If there is an immediate risk of harm, adults should follow emergency and safeguarding procedures without delay.
Our Core Principle
Menthol Elf begins from the belief that feelings are natural and can be understood. The stories aim to offer reassurance, language, and gentle practice, while respecting the limits of what a story-based educational resource can and cannot do.
Useful Public References
- GOV.UK: Physical health and mental wellbeing education
- NICE NG223: Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in education
- NHS: Children and young people’s mental health services
- PSHE Association: Mental health and emotional wellbeing
Content Creation And AI Use
Menthol Elf has been developed with support from OpenAI tools, including ChatGPT and Codex. These tools have been used to help with drafting, editing, story development, website planning, technical implementation, research organisation, and internal creative reference material.
All published material is reviewed and curated before use. The use of AI tools does not replace human editorial judgement, safeguarding consideration, rights review, or professional advice where needed.
Some visual materials used during development may have been generated or assisted by AI and are treated as concept or reference material unless clearly stated otherwise. Final publication artwork, where required, should be separately reviewed for rights, provenance, and suitability before commercial publication or wider distribution.
Menthol Elf is an independent creative project. OpenAI, ChatGPT, and Codex are tools used in the development process and are not authors, publishers, sponsors, endorsers, or rights holders of the Menthol Elf project.