Stress Relief Activities For Kids In 2023

Table of Contents

Stress Relief Activities For Kids

Stress is often thought of as a grown-up condition, but children can also experience stress. Stress in children can result from school, homework, friends, family disruptions, changes in routines, and many other situations. Stress can be observed as an obvious physical reaction such as crying or a headache, or it can be an emotional or behavioural reaction such as worrying or shyness.

Reactions to stress can vary with the child’s age and stage of development. If early childhood practitioners can identify stress in young children, they can intervene with stress-relief strategies before little pressures turn into big problems. There are several strategies children can be taught to help them cope with stress.

Importance Of Stress Relief Activities For Kids

Stress relief activities for kids can range from the basics, such as breathing exercises, to games to more complex activities that involve role-playing, sharing, and problem-solving. Activities for kids to help them cope with stress should be age-appropriate, fun, and flexible to accommodate his or her unique personality.

Taking a break from the stress of school can do a child a world of good. Make sure your children are being physically active, take the time to have some fun, and turn off the electronics to enjoy each other’s company. Psychologists agree that all children should take stress reduction and stress management into account as part of their overall well-being and development.

Stress relief activities are often effective in promoting children’s overall well-being. With your help, your child can learn to cope and manage his or her stress. These stress-relief activities may also enhance your child’s academic performance, social skills, problem-solving, and overall ability to cope with life’s challenges.

These stress-relief activities are based on the well-known programs used by adults. The suggestions in this list are designed to help kids experience stress relief as they learn to manage their own behaviours and feelings.

When children are under stress, they may begin to exhibit physical symptoms, such as Stomach ache, Tightening of muscles, Sweating, Coughing, Feeling hot or cold, Rapid breathing or shallow breathing, Sweating, and Changes in appetite.

This is especially problematic in young children who may not be able to express their feelings. Sometimes, the most appropriate reaction to stress is for a parent or child to engage in a calming activity. A calming activity can help relieve some of the physical symptoms of stress, such as a tight stomach or tense muscles.

When a child is able to engage in a calming activity, the child will soon learn to cope better with stress. While stress can be a positive or a negative thing, children with stressful situations or behaviours in school should still have opportunities to try stress-relief activities that help them feel more relaxed. Activities that help with stress include:

Play-Doh,
Apothecary Legos,
Jenga,
Ludo,
Jumping rope,
Muffin Tin Art,
Bubble Bath,
Soft puppets,
Drawing,
Dancing, etc.

Many stress-relieving activities involve crying, like the techniques taught by Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), the Harvard Children’s Health Center, and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Learning to cry and using tears in this way has been found to decrease negative emotional reactions, as well as anxiety and stress. Parents, caregivers and teachers play a crucial role in helping children cope with stress.

Most stress-relief activities for kids involve daily tasks that take little time but have a big impact. Every day tasks such as washing dishes, sweeping the floor, practicing writing, reading or riding a bike are all stress relievers. There are many stress-relief activities for kids that involve parents or caregivers.

Some of the popular stress-relief activities for kids include the following: Make art projects with your children. Connect with your kids during playtime. Take regular, moderate walks around the neighbourhood. Make up silly games to keep the family together. Play on the floor with your child.

Talking About Stress

Children learn about stressful situations primarily through conversations with their parents. Some parents use this opportunity to discuss with their children how to respond to different situations. Other parents simply allow children to feel the stress and deal with it as they think it best. A number of children’s books are written specifically for younger children.

In the best children’s books, stress is identified as a normal part of growing up, but children are able to deal with it in healthy ways. This is because authors typically write about situations in which kids are not told that stress is a normal part of life.

Listening to kids talk about their experiences of stress helps them process their feelings and is one of the best ways to help them feel better. Most children want to talk about their feelings and experiences with stress. By talking about stress, children can learn to manage their emotions and learn how to manage their own stress.

Discussing stress and its effects on their own emotions and behaviour can help children recognize when stress is occurring and how to handle it effectively. An important aspect of talking about stress is to give children permission to express their feelings.

Remember, children may not always have appropriate ways to express their feelings, so they may need support from adults. “I understand that you are very upset when you see your brother hitting your sister. However, hitting is not OK and is very stressful for your sister.”

Children may find it difficult to talk about their stress, especially in private. However, they may have questions about it. It’s best to start conversations with them now so they will understand how to cope with their own stress. It’s best to start conversations with them now so they will understand how to cope with their own stress.

Stress is not to be feared. Teach kids that it’s normal to feel stressed and that their feelings are valid. By bringing up topics about stress when kids express their emotions, they can learn to manage and understand their own stress. It is an important coping skill for children, but stress can sometimes make it hard to know how to talk about it.

Some children experience stress without expressing it. Others show stress in ways that others may not understand. You can talk with your child about what is going on and what helps you feel better.

Journaling

An easy way to relieve stress for your children and to have a nice new conversation is to help them keep a personal journal. Let them have their journal on a table or a shelf in the kitchen, or keep one in the bathroom, so it is always handy to turn to when they need to work out a problem or to get a friend’s contact information.

It may be helpful for children to start a journal to record their feelings about the stress they are experiencing so that they can get the perspective of seeing their feelings in context and as a temporary condition. Parents can use these journal entries to connect and communicate with their children, share their own experiences, and give the children support and reassurance.

Journaling can help children work out feelings and reduce anxiety. They may write out the anxiety related to schoolwork, or they can write about something they are happy about. When children journal, they are less likely to choose to play video games or watch television.

When they are feeling down, they can write down happy memories, or they can write about a time they did something they were proud of. This type of journaling can help children process stressful feelings, get clarity on their feelings, and feel more connected to their emotions. Journaling can also help children focus their thinking. When they are in a specific frame of mind, they can write about their thoughts more clearly and focus on their needs instead of the feelings of others.

As a family, start a habit of journaling and writing down your feelings about each day. This will help children process their emotions and become aware of any possible stressors that they might be feeling. There are many other creative ways to do this, such as writing a short story about what happened, writing down a list of all the things you are grateful for each day, or recording the weather and sky.

Whatever is best for your family, keep the journal going throughout the year. Journaling is a simple way to let out your feelings about school. Do not worry if you cannot write fluently, it is more important that you let out your thoughts in a stream of consciousness without worrying about the spelling. Children can benefit from learning to recognize stress and evaluate how it impacts their feelings, actions and relationships.

They can also learn to manage their feelings and describe their experiences. Keeping a journal allows children to express their emotions and then use their journals to reflect and analyze the stress reactions they experience. Talking about stressful feelings may be difficult for children, but journaling can be a helpful outlet. Ask your child how they are feeling.

Start by asking, “How are you feeling today?” or “How are you feeling right now?” If your child is too young to answer or is in a stressful situation that he or she is not able to describe, give your child a few minutes to think about the answer and give one when they are more ready.

Tell your child that by writing down their feelings, they can stop their anxious or overwhelmed feelings from overwhelming them. If your child is older than five years old, then you may need to help him or her with writing. You can draw out the sentence as much as you can.

Doing Hobbies

Children should do activities that provide them with opportunities to calm down and relax. Having them do enjoyable activities like playing games, doing arts and crafts, playing sports or doing activities with family and friends are excellent choices for stress relief activities.

These activities will help children focus on a pleasant experience while learning self-control, managing their emotions, coping with negative feelings, and getting ready for a stressful situation in the future. One way to reduce stress is to do something that you enjoy and that makes you happy. Doing something you enjoy will increase endorphins in your body and decrease the levels of cortisol in your body.

This positive hormonal reaction to stress reduces stress and creates a feeling of happiness. Healthy stress and anxiety can be reduced by a good-quality hobby that allows the child to develop and practice a range of life skills:

Games,
Puzzles,
Computer programming,
Arts and crafts,
Reading and learning new things,
Playing outside, and
Experiencing a range of activities and sports

can help kids overcome stress and become better, more confident, and more tolerant individuals. A way to relieve stress is to involve your children in some activity or another that is not structured. This is a good way to allow the child some freedom and time to just be. It can also help their mood.

Aerobic Activities

In childhood, aerobic activity can be aerobic or aerobically conditioned. Aerobically conditioned activities are those that benefit cardiovascular health (e.g., running, swimming) or aerobic endurance (e.g., jogging, walking), while aerobic activities are those that benefit muscle health (e.g., weightlifting). Aerobic exercise has a broad range of benefits for children, including:

Reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases (including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes),
Increased bone strength, and Improvements in the mood.

These benefits occur in both adults and children. The research and data supporting these claims are inconclusive. These activities have been proven to help ease stress and anxiety in children as well as adults. Activities that involve stretching and strength training are also effective in relieving stress.

Aerobic and weight training exercises help to increase aerobic fitness and support healthy body composition. These benefits can help reduce stress in children. When parents help their children build muscle, they also help to build their self-confidence. Having a strong body helps to decrease anxiety.

Physical activity is an essential component of a child’s life. Parents should try to get their children to engage in aerobic exercise every day, at least 30 minutes at a time. Your child may need a different approach to exercise than you, so it’s a good idea to share your exercise plan with your pediatrician.

Aerobic exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress, improve mood, increase muscle strength and flexibility, and improve overall health. Research has shown that aerobic exercise benefits children who are anxious or experiencing emotional problems as well as kids who are overweight or obese.

Aerobic exercises can lower blood pressure and heart rate as well as increase oxygen levels in the blood. Aerobic exercise also helps reduce depression, anxiety, and behaviour problems such as hyperactivity and temper tantrums.

Get Outside

Spend some time outdoors to get some fresh air and to be free of the stress of everyday life. Play outdoors with your children. This can be a great way to reduce stress. Get together with your child’s friends to go for a walk or play a game outside in the yard or in a local park.

Go for a walk around your neighbourhood and look for spring flowers. Let your child wear a mask and a scarf so that they can be sure to breathe in all the fresh air. Even if you have to do it several times a day, this simple change in routine can work wonders for your child’s stress level. Researchers have found that children’s stress levels can be reduced by spending time in nature.

The emotional benefit of spending time in nature for children was measured as well. The children became less anxious and tended to smile more and a child’s emotional processing was reduced and automatic parts of the brain were deactivated when going through a nature-based task.

After nature-based activities, participants engaged in more open-minded thinking, eye contact, and effortless vocalizations. Children from a young age, even before the age of 5, have an innate sense of what is the right thing to do and what is not, so it is really just a matter of exposing them to nature to create a secure connection.

Nature is great at helping children get over the common “mommy” and “daddy” stage of development and gives children the opportunity to explore and play without the distraction of technology. Introduce your children to the things that live in your neighbourhood and with time you will see how deeply connected they become.

Some places to start with the young ones would be picking leaves in your front yard or just looking at the nature around them. Getting outdoors is especially important for kids because a lot of what they are experiencing is new and their stress levels will naturally rise when they are confronted with new things.

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is essential for mental and physical health. Too little sleep can cause fatigue and irritability, while too much sleep can cause exhaustion. Inadequate sleep may also lead to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Good sleep habits encourage the brain to release hormones that promote the development of healthy brain cells and regulate the sleep-wake cycle. Not getting enough sleep may lead to anxiety and depression.

Parents should encourage their children to get an adequate amount of sleep. Stress can be a common cause of sleep problems. A lack of sleep can disrupt your child’s ability to cope with everyday life and negatively affect the way they feel about themselves.

Adolescents tend to develop stress-related sleeping disorders, like sleep apnea or insomnia. Teens might even resort to taking painkillers to get to sleep. Studies have shown that a lack of sleep can adversely affect behavior and can worsen a child’s stress levels. Sleep-deprived children are more likely to feel the physical effects of stress –including headache, fatigue, and body aches.

Kids can get extra sleep during the school week to help them cope with stress and fatigue. This can help them stay awake during school and help to keep them in a good mood. Sleep plays a large role in the regulation of our stress responses and our ability to cope with the demands of school.

Sensory Activities

Sensory activities can be used to help relieve stress, reduce anxiety and aid in sleep quality. These activities involve objects that produce stimuli in the brain that stimulate the child’s senses, stimulating his or her sensory system. Children can be asked to touch or taste objects that may trigger a stress response. For example, if your child is apprehensive about a certain situation or has a negative association with something, help him or her feel and touch it.

See if your child can eat the same food served to him or her when he or she was anxious about the same situation. Try drawing a picture or writing down feelings your child is having. Make sure to hold the picture or writing in his or her hand or provide him or her with a way to express and release the thoughts. Since sensory activities help with balance, sensory activities can help children become more comfortable with their bodies.

There are many ways to incorporate fun sensory activities into your home. Make a sensory bin, bake with baking soda or rice, watch a nature documentary, and play with string and small balls. Other ways to use small objects to calm a child’s nervous system can be used to rub salt on your child’s feet or to hold a feather to their skin. Stress is not just physical. We have all been stressed by unpleasant sounds, bright lights, strong smells, etc. It’s not just about the body.

Sounds can create the sensation of stress in children. Children need to develop their inner speech so that they can express themselves clearly, and they want to use their words to tell us what they are feeling or experiencing. Activities that are sensory-based can reduce stress and provide sensory stimulation. Many of the activities that are commonly used to increase self-esteem and develop a positive body image for children can help to reduce stress in children.

Listening To Music

Some children may find music relaxing. Singing a tune or listening to a lullaby can put them in a calming state of mind, and listening to music together can help strengthen relationships. Even creating a calming playlist of your favourite music can be an easy way to relax and unwind. Listening to relaxing music can help combat stress, decrease anxiety, and boost mood.

Listening to calming music during times of stress can decrease the stress response of your children and help to alleviate anxiety. Stressing out kids can be avoided by creating the right mood and setting. Reading, laughing, singing, dancing, or even exercising can be calming. If all else fails, playing some of your favourite music can help to put kids in a good state of mind.

Listening to children’s music has been found to increase children’s attention span and help them to focus. Music is a great stress reliever for children. Music can also give kids more control over their emotions than is often seen.

Conclusion

Stress relief activities for kids can make all the difference in helping children manage stress. Stress relief activities are commonly grouped into two categories: stress-relieving activities and relaxation activities. These different categories help children develop the ability to reduce their stress level when they are faced with a stressful situation.

I trust you enjoyed this article about the Stress Relief Activities For Kids. Please stay tuned for more blog posts to come shortly.

JeannetteZ

Your Opinion Is Important To Me

Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? I would love to hear from you. Please leave me your questions, experience and remarks about the Stress Relief Activities For Kids in the comments section below. You can also reach me by email at Jeannette@Close-To-Nature.org.