MindMe Kit: the toys that chase away fear
Smiley, UNICEF's National Ambassador in Romania, discovers how a community in Galați County, devastated by flooding, is contributing to a global solution
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In September 2024, "Prof. Emil Panaitescu" Secondary School had just been renovated and was ready to welcome its students back for the new school year. The rain and the flash flood that hit just days before school was set to start left everything unrecognizable.
"For three days, all we did was shovel mud... It took two weeks before we could go back into the school," recalls Mirela Năstase, the deputy principal. Thousands of helping hands reached out from across the country to support the community at the time. UNICEF provided aid to the affected communities, including the one in Cudalbi. But the emotional toll proved harder to manage.
Crisis situations like flooding can leave lasting effects on children's mental health and emotional balance. After the events of 2024, many children in Cudalbi continued to feel anxious. They're afraid when the rain gets heavier, worried for themselves and their families, and they've needed more emotional support since returning to school.
"Even though they're young, they understood how serious it was," adds Anca Dediu, a primary school teacher at "Prof. Emil Panaitescu" Secondary School, now a satellite unit of Technological High School No. 1 in Cudalbi.
Children's mental health matters and it's a right that must be protected
Nothing can really prepare you for something like this. The 2024 floods far exceeded the scale of those in 2013. At the time, UNICEF was already developing the MindMe kit for children emotionally affected by crises like these: a tool designed to be simple to use across different settings, helping children regulate and manage their emotions.
Cudalbi was one of the communities where children and teachers took part in developing this kit, one that will go on to benefit children around the world.
With MindMe kit, children become calmer and more focused
In February 2025, a UNICEF team met with children, teachers, experts, and caregivers affected by the flooding in Galați. They listened to their stories, worked to understand their needs, and began co-creating the first version of the MindMe kit.
Since then, more than 900 children and teenagers from flood-affected communities in Galați County have used the kit's elements in classroom activities or during breaks. These include items like stress balls, coloring books, games, and noise-cancelling headphones. Every child has their own favorite.
"When I put my headphones on, I can focus on what I'm doing," says Alex, a fourth-grader.
"My favorite is a journal where we can write down our feelings. I feel so much lighter when I write my feelings down in a book," says Ștefania, a seventh-grader.
"I picked the stuffed cat because it makes me feel good and gives me more courage, the headphones because they block out noise, and the blanket because it's heavy and I like that," says Cristina, also a fourth-grader.
By far, the stress balls are their favorites. "As far as I know, those were the most wanted item across every single class, mine included. You can use them at break, during class, not just during homeroom period," says Valentin, a tenth-grader.
"This is the first time I've spoken with someone affected by the floods," said Smiley, UNICEF's National Ambassador in Romania, after the children in Anca Dediu's class shared their favorite toys from the MindMe kit with him.
MindMe's presence in the community became a living laboratory where teachers could test out different ways the kit might help them bring mental health support into the classroom. The reactions from Cudalbi's children and teachers are valuable insights that this community is contributing toward shaping the final version of the MindMe kit as a global UNICEF product.
MindMe Kit: useful well beyond the moment of crisis
Teachers say that after the activities with the MindMe kit took place, children are more confident, more relaxed, and work better together as a team.
Having lived through two floods in the past 15 years, Lilian Ceoromilă, principal of Technological High School No. 1 in Cudalbi, has come to understand just how useful the kit's items can be: "They're ideal in moments like that." Children need practical, age-appropriate resources to help them cope, recover, and build resilience, especially when a crisis like flooding upends their lives. Field workers, too, need tools that are easy to implement and can be smoothly worked into their interventions.
The MindMe kit is more than just a tool for humanitarian emergency response. It's a step toward a world where every child has access to what they need to feel safe, supported, and understood. Because every child has the right to mental health.
