Deep breathing

Deep breathing helps get more oxygen to the blood stream, opening up the blood capillaries and hence the body calm down and reduce stress level.

Many fun ways to teach deep breathing to kids:

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is being aware of what's happening in the present moment. It can be a helpful tool if you have a hard time managing your thoughts and emotions or if you want to improve your concentration.

These coping skills are designed to help you focus and reduce stress.

Positive self-talk

It's easy for kids (and adults) to fall into a trap of talking negatively to ourselves. We might say:

• This is awful.

• I'm not good at this.

• I'll never learn how to do it.

• I stink.

How we think and talk to ourselves frames how we look at life. If we are always thinking in a negative mindset, our outlook on life be negative. If we think positively, our outlook on life will be more positive. We need to reframe how we are thinking. Instead of being negative, we need to change our thinking and tell ourselves a more positive story. Take those earlier negative statements that were listed and restate them in a more positive way.

Negative to positive statements:

This is awful / Let me focus on the things that I can control and the things that are going well

I'm not good at this / I'm just learning how to do this

I'll never learn how to do it / I haven't gotten it yet

I stink / I need to keep trying

I am not saying you should never complain, I am just encouraging you to not only think negatively about life.

Small physical movements

Squeeze something

Tensing and relaxing your muscle by squeezing something very small to a progressive muscle relaxation exercise, but in this case, you are just focused on your arms and hands. Here are a few items you could use:

• stress ball

• putty

• clay

• play dough

• sand

Take your squeezable item in your hand and squeeze it for a few seconds. Then let it go. Repeat a few times. Switch hands. See how that feels.

You could also make your own. Here is a simple no cook recipe for play dough:

• 2 cups flour

• 1 cup salt

• 1 tbsp. oil

• 1 cup cold water

• 2 drops liquid food coloring

Directions:

1. Mix together flour and salt.

2. Add water, food coloring and oil. Mix untill ingredients are combined.

3. Knead well. If consistency is too wet, add a little more flour.

Big physical movements

Go for a walk

Walking is a natural part of our lives. Have you ever noticed that, after you go for a walk, your mind is clearer? Simply by taking a walk you can give yourself a break and be more alert and prepared to learn. If going out for a walk is not an option, you can take a walk indoors and give yourself a break. Take a walk around your home or you can go outside and get some fresh air.

Exercise

Need to get out some excess energy quickly? Try doing some exercises at home. You can do:

• jumping jacks

• walk or run in place

• do push ups

• do sit ups

• run laps

Set a time limit for yourself - for exemple, I will do these three exercises for 30 seconds each. Or set a number you'd like to reach - I am going to do 20 jumping jacks.