It’s Mental Health month!
We are channeling our inner Buddha to best address mental wellness for our kids. Yes, it’s hard for children under 5 years old to grasp what mental health is as they are more familiar with the physical world. Don’t forget to bookmark this list of 5 ways to raise mentally-fit kids.
1 / Child-fit yoga poses
What’s great about doing yoga is that it’s easy for children even under 2 years old to follow. Adults model the different positions and our old time favorites are the mountain, bridge, or tunnel. Children approach this as a copy-cat activity as they happily execute each pose.
2 / Balloon in my tummy
There are a lot of breathing exercises out there but to make it really fun for kids, we can make it like a game of making a balloon in our tummy. We can teach them to be in the present moment more by placing our hands in our stomach while breathing in and out, watching our tummy grow.
3 / I am brave, I am kind
As an adult, I find that asserting myself is a good mental strategy when I start to have an inferiority complex. So when our 4 year old daughter told me after a dance class that she felt shy, we started this habit of affirming ourselves during bedtime routine. We would chant relevant keywords to help her get through the feeling of shyness such as I am brave, I am gentle, I am kind, I am loveds, I am important, I am whole.
4 / Emotional wellness playbook
Good news~! The Genius of Play released their Emotional Wellness Playbook. We are raving about their Emoji Bingo game, which is age-appropriate for my 2yo and 4yo. My children are able to label basic emotions as early as 18 months such as happy, angry, or sad. I’m glad that they can continuously learn more emotions through this bingo card as they grow up. It’s fun to act out a variety of feelings and my children’s favorites are confident, disgusted, and guilty as they’re very silly to act out.
5 / Soothing songs
As an educator in a preschool or kindergarten, I use music in our circle time to actively encourage preschoolers to love themselves. This song “I Love My Body” by Mother Moon is the ideal song this mental health month. It helps preschoolers to acknowledge the different parts of the body, look at their image in front of the mirror, and feel good about themselves when they see the person looking back.
If you love 5 Ways To Raise Mentally-fit Kids, subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest blog releases.
Get ready for smoother days~!
You can drive test our beautiful products by printing our social emotional learning lesson plans.
