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Stress levels are at an all-time high due to the year 2020. However, stress has always been around and isn’t going away. This is why it is so important to learn effective coping skills and calming activities for kids.
As adults, we know all about stress. We experience stress every day and hopefully have been able to determine which coping techniques work best for us. However, our children need some help.
Children today have added pressures causing them stress. There is now the world of social media, overwhelming responsibilities with extracurricular activities, and a more competitive academic environment. Unlike us adults, they haven’t had the time yet to find their perfect coping technique. So how do we help them?
First, it is important to understand what things are causing our children stress and the signs of stress. To help them learn different coping techniques and discover which works best for them, here is a list of 25 simple calming activities for kids to help cope with everyday stress.
KIDS JOURNAL PAGES
Get these journal pages for kids to help them cope with their everyday stress. These journal pages guide your child in self-reflection after every day. They can choose freewriting or drawing. There are prompts to reflect on their goals, gratitude, and more.
What Do Kids Stress About?
As an adult, it might be difficult to understand why your child would feel stressed. They don’t have bills to pay, rude coworkers, dinner to make, and a house to clean. However, if you take yourself back to 4th grade, 7th grade, or 10th grade, I am sure you can think of 100 things that caused you stress.
According to Medline Plus, these are the most common reasons why school-age children experience stress:
Worrying about schoolwork or grades
Juggling responsibilities, such as school and work or sports
Problems with friends, bullying, or peer group pressures
Changing schools, moving, or dealing with housing problems or homelessness
Having negative thoughts about themselves
Going through body changes, in both boys and girls
Seeing parents go through a divorce or separation
Money problems in the family
Living in an unsafe home or neighborhood
How Do I Know if My Child Is Stressed?
Now that you know the reasons why your child may feel stressed, it is important to identify their signs of stress. You might pace around the room, get real quiet, or go on a cleaning frenzy. We all have our own little quirks and so does your child.
According to Medline Plus, common signs of stress in children are:
Physical symptoms:
Decreased appetite, other changes in eating habits
Headache
New or recurrent bedwetting
Nightmares
Sleep disturbances
Upset stomach or vague stomach pain
Other physical symptoms with no physical illness
Emotional or behavioral symptoms:
Anxiety, worry
Not able to relax
New or recurring fears (fear of the dark, fear of being alone, fear of strangers)
Clinging, unwilling to let you out of sight
Anger, crying, whining
Not able to control emotions
Aggressive or stubborn behavior
Going back to behaviors present at a younger age
Doesn’t want to participate in family or school activities
Very Well Family also list these as behavioral symptoms:
Development of a nervous habit, such as nail-biting
Difficulty concentrating
Getting into trouble at school
Hoarding items of seeming insignificance
Withdrawing from family or friends
25 Simple Calming Activities for Kids
To help your child practice different coping techniques and discover which works best for them, here is a list of 25 different calming activities you can do with your child. Click on the activity to learn more about it and get some inspiration.
1. Practice Breathing
It is well known that breathing techniques are very effective in reducing stress, but how do you get your child to do these. Take a minute to research breathing techniques for kids and you’ll find many different methods. Here are some fun ideas:
Mountain breathing – This involves your child tracing one hand with their finger while they focus on breathing. Read more about this great trick here.
Blow bubbles – They won’t even know they are practicing deep breathing.
Belly breathing – The right way to breathe is with your belly. Have your child place a stuffed animal on their belly and ask them to breathe as they watch their animal go up and down.
2. Push Hands Together
Have your child push their palms together and count to 5. Repeat this as many times as you need.
3. Do Limb Squeezes
Ask your child to cross their legs and give themselves a big hug. This technique is practicing something called proprioceptive and there are many different ways to do this. You can read more about proprioceptive here.
4. Count
Counting requires your child to shift their focus away from the stress. Ask your child to count in a way that requires a little focus, but isn’t too difficult. If your kiddo has already mastered counting, ask them to count their heartbeats.
5. Try Inversion
What is inversion? It is just a fancy name for lowering the head below the heart. In simplest terms, it is being upside down. Does your child ever lay on the couch upside down, enjoy being upside down on the monkey bars, or finds themselves in a downward dog yoga pose? Well, good news, it’s an incredibly effective way to reduce stress!
6. Do Yoga
Yoga is great for anyone and everyone! Many schools are beginning to incorporate yoga into their routines, and this is one of my son’s favorite school activities. You can find amazing kid yoga videos or read more about it here.
7. Journal
There are many ways your child could journal. They could use this as a diary or you can try to give them some writing prompts or ideas, you could do fill in the blanks, drawing, scrapbooking, or maybe even write a letter to someone.
KIDS JOURNAL PAGES
Get these journal pages for kids to help them cope with their everyday stress. These journal pages guide your child in self-reflection after every day. They can choose freewriting or drawing. There are prompts to reflect on their goals, gratitude, and more.
8. Make and Use a Stress Ball
There are many stress balls you can buy and you can find some here, but you can also make one yourself. I do caution you about the mess while making them and if they break. If you want to make your own, you will need balloons, a funnel, rice, and flour.
9. Do Art Therapy
Practice some art therapy by drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting and so much more. Read more about art therapy and get more ideas here.
10. Try Pet Therapy
Pet therapy is incredibly effective with children and promoting calmness. Read more about its benefits here.
11. Cuddle With a Warm Compress
Sometimes rest is the best option. Have your child cuddle with their favorite animal. You can wrap them up in a blanket or let them use a weighted blanket. You can also try a warm compress like this one here.
12. Use Your Senses
Having your child focus on their senses takes their focus away from their stress. You could have a snack and ask them about the different things they taste, or you could go outside and see what they smell, see, hear and feel.
13. Go Outside
Spending time with nature is always good to relieve stress. Have a pic-nick, fly a kite, or go pick some flowers.
14. Try Slow-Motion
If your child is having a hard time slowing down, play the slow-down game. See who can eat lunch, walk to the car or play with toys in slow-motion.
15. Play With Water
Water play has many benefits for children. The repetitive actions of moving water around in the tub or a pool or watching it fall out of a cup can be calming.
16. Make Your Own Fidget
There is a reason fidget spinners gained so much popularity. Fidgets are able to calm anxiety and improve concentration. You can buy fidgets here or make your own.
17. Make Discovery Bottles
Discovery bottles have a similar calming effect to a lava lamp. You can make a discovery bottle out of almost anything. You can find some great ideas here.
18. Read a Book in a Quiet, Cozy Spot
Reading is great for any time and finding an extra special, quiet, and cozy spot can calm your child and give them a chance to recharge.
19. Focus on Something Else
If you see that your child is having a hard time relaxing and shifting their focus away from their stress, encourage them to focus on something else. Ask them to practice saying the alphabet backward or practice a tongue twister.
20. Drink Hot Chocolate
You know that feeling when you are stressed and you take the first sip of your favorite coffee? How great does that make you feel, even if only for a moment? Your child could get the same effect from their favorite hot drink, such as hot chocolate.
21. Do Some Wall Push-Ups
Have your child do some wall push-ups. This is great to burn some energy and refocus them. Have them look at their hands while they do this as it helps take away the focus from everything else and back on themself.
22. Crinkle Tissue Paper
Remember how all those baby toys had that crinkling sound? That sound is relaxing to your child. Give them some tissue paper to play with for an easy and quick way to calm their nerves.
23. Pop Bubble Wrap
Similar to playing with tissue paper, popping bubble wrap is another easy and quick way to shift your children’s focus away from the stress.
24. Play With Playdough
Many adults would tell you that bread making is so relaxing due to the kneeing of the bread. A great way for your child to experience this is by playing with playdough.
25. Make a Bracelet
The focus it takes to thread beads can be calming for your kiddo. It is another great way to take their focus away from their stress.
Start Now
Try a few of these calming activities for kids and see what works for your child. Stress may be inevitable in life, but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer through it. Prepare your child and begin introducing coping techniques now so they are more equipped for stress later in life.
Leave a comment sharing your favorite coping technique for yourself. Also, share which calming activity you are planning to try first with your children.
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