Being able to help your children learn how to manage stress in a positive way is important. The skills they learn when they are little can impact how they handle stress later in life. Thinking outside the box is key when it comes to stress management. The following guide walks you through a few activities to do with your child to minimize the stress they feel on a daily basis.
Create a Sand Tray Therapy Kit
Sand can be very calming. Feeling it fall through their fingertips can help to calm children’s anxiety and you can wet it so that it can be molded into different shapes. It allows your child to show off their creativity while relieving stress at the same time.
Use Paint as a Form of Expression
Paint can be a great medium to use for self-expression. Provide your child with different-sized paint brushes and different shades of acrylic paint so they can paint on canvas or wood. If your child starts to feel self-conscious about their painting ability, add a bit of pouring medium to the paint so that your child can create a poured-paint piece of art without having to have precision with a paintbrush.
Have a Dance Party
Many children enjoy expressing themselves through movement. Music is a very powerful tool that can help motivate children to feel peace after a long day. Being able to be silly and dance crazily can help them to release their stress and enjoy themselves at the same time. You can also use a dance party as a bonding experience with your child.
Journaling Can Provide a Needed Release for Stressed Kids
Being able to express frustration in a solitary way can make it easier to handle irritations that occur. There are many kids who feel as though they can’t talk about the way they feel because they don’t know how to express it properly. Being able to write down how they feel can help them to gather their thoughts and provide them with an outlet to express themselves. It can also provide a way for them to refer back to how they felt in the past to feel motivation toward other things in the future.
Talk to your child about the things that they think would be enjoyable to do. Your child may want to try different forms of art such as clay molding, playing an instrument or even just playing sport. Everyone needs an outlet and helping your child find theirs is important.