Kate Middleton Sports an Apron for Arts and Crafts Session with Schoolchildren

Kensington Palace Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales

Kate Middleton is kicking off Children's Mental Health Week 2023 with the help of a few friends.

The Princess of Wales, 41, joined students at St. John's Primary School in Bethnal Green to chat about connecting with others and experiencing different feelings in a video released Sunday. The royal sported an apron as she sat among the group during the talk while working on different arts and crafts projects.

"I'm delighted to be supporting Children's Mental Health Week yet again, and it's lovely to be here at St. John's Primary School," Kate, sporting a black and white striped top, said at the start of the video. "It's been wonderful to speak to so many children here about the importance of connections and the important people in their lives too."

Keeping with this year's theme of "Let's Connect," Princess Kate asked the pupils why it's important to have bonds with friends and family.

"Connecting releases our emotions to other people you care about," one boy answered.

Kate replied, "Absolutely, and it helps you feel part of things, doesn't it? Makes you feel like you've got relationships and people in your life that matter."

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Students explained an art project where different colors described their moods. Kate asked them what they do if they are in the red zone, meaning they are feeling angry.

"I like to take deep breaths, and I drink a glass of water," one young girl said.

"It's a really great idea too," Princess Kate responded.

Kate told the students, "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."

Speaking to the camera, the mother of three said, "I'm a firm believer in giving children the skills that they need for life and focusing on their social and emotional development."

Kensington Palace Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales

Kate has marked Children's Mental Health Week in recent years in her role as the royal patron of Place2Be, the charity that organizes the event and provides school-based support to improve the emotional well-being of pupils, families, teachers and school staff.

Last year, she recorded a selfie-style video shared on social media where she encouraged children and parents to express their emotions in creative ways.

The royal previously visited schools in London to learn how children are improving their mental health and penned a message of support encouraging kids to "find your brave" as part of Children's Mental Health Week.

Place2Be's Chief Executive, Catherine Roche, said in a statement: "We are delighted to have the support of our Royal Patron HRH The Princess of Wales to help shine a spotlight on the importance of supporting mental health from an early age. As the children of St. John's Primary have shown, taking part in activities and having positive conversations that help us connect with others, make us feel so much better. This Children's Mental Health Week we are encouraging everyone to make time to connect."

Kensington Palace Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales

The video comes after a big week for Princess Kate, who launched the Shaping Us campaign as part of the Centre for Early Childhood, promoting the importance of the first five years of a child's life. After kicking off the campaign with a landmark speech, she released a claymation film showing how a little girl named Layla develops in her early years of life and how she is shaped by her interactions with the people and environment around her.

Kate took the campaign on the road Tuesday, visiting Leeds to hear about the city's child-friendly initiatives. She also launched a new Instagram page for The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

She also visited a classroom of 4-year-old and 5-year-old students to watch the claymation film and discuss everything from swimming to birthday cake to teddy bears.

Kensington Palace Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales

In 2021, Kate launched the Centre for Early Childhood as part of her and Prince William's larger Royal Foundation to "raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes, and what we can do as a society to embrace this golden opportunity to create a happier, more mentally healthy, more nurturing society."

Since then, she has been steadily growing a team of advisors, building to support Kate and the Centre "as work is accelerated to promote the fundamental importance of the first five years of a child's life," according to palace officials.

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Those close to the royal say that this ongoing work will define her public duties for decades to come.

"She wants this to be her life's work. In terms of legacy, she would want in 10 years' time to see a much greater societal change in awareness when it comes to the early years," a Kensington Palace spokesperson says.