Relaxing Methods To Enjoy at Home With Your Kids

Most of the schools are closed. Your friends and family members are getting sick and need isolation at home. These and other factors can cause anxiety and stress for children during this pandemic. Here are the relaxing methods for children living in stressful situations.

Lazy Cat

This exercise releases muscle tension. Ask them to pretend they are lazy cats that just woke up from a lovely long nap.

• Have a big yawn.
• And a meow.
• Now stretch out your arms, legs and back – slowly like a cat – and relax. 

Stress Balls

Using stress ball exercise releases muscle tension and massages your hands. Let them make their own stress ball(s) by filling balloons with dry lentils or rice.

• Take the ball(s) in one or both hands and squeeze and release.
• Experiment with squeezing the ball. Find a way that is right for you, adjusting the speed, pressure, and timing of your squeezes to whatever way you like.

Flower and Candle

This simple exercise will encourage deep breathing – a way to relax. Let them pretend they are having a nice smelling flower in one hand and a slow-burning candle in the other.

• Breathe in slowly through your nose as you smell the flower.
• Breathe out slowly through your mouth as you blow out the candle.
• Repeat a few times.

Lemon

This exercise also releases muscle tension. Ask the children to pretend they have a lemon in their hands.

• Reach up to the tree and pick a lemon with each hand.
• Squeeze the lemons hard to get all the juice out – squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
• Throw the lemons on the floor and relax your hands.
• Then repeat, until you have enough juice for a glass of lemonade!
• After your last squeeze and throw, shake out your hands to relax!

Feather/Statue

The feather/statue kind of exercise releases muscle tension as well. Ask the children to imagine that they are a feather floating through the air for about ten seconds.

• Suddenly you freeze and transform into a statue. Don’t move!
• Then slowly relax as you transform back into the floating feather again.
• Repeat, making sure to finish as a floaty feather in a relaxed state.

Turtle

The turtle exercise will also release muscle tension. Let them pretend to be a turtle going for a slow, relaxed turtle walk.

• Oh no, it’s started to rain!
• Curl up tight under your shell for about ten seconds.
• The sun’s out again, so come out of your shell and return to your relaxing walk.
• Repeat a few times, making sure to finish with a walk so that your body is relaxed.