Wednesday, May 21, 2014

How Can You Help Your Child Deal With Stress?

image

If you’re concerned that your child is not handling stress well, you’ll want to make time to teach your child coping skills. Try the activities described here to help your child cope with high stress situations.

Teach your child to dance. If your kid seems uptight, try loosening him up with physical activity. Put on some music and set the example by you dancing first. The more physical you can get him to be, the more likely he'll release his stress.

Give your child something to squeeze. Squeezing a stress ball may help your child deal with immediate sources of pressure. Buy your child a squishy stress ball and teach him to squeeze it when he’s upset or angry.

Massage it out. Kids need affection, and massaging muscles can help your child relax and trust you care. Give your child a hug. You can turn bedtime into snuggle time.

Turn the lights out. When stressful situations get too much, some children can't talk about it in daylight, but they may be able to open up once the lights are out and you are sitting on her bed. Be gentle, and ask leading questions, listening to your child's answers. If you become your child's safe place, your child will be able to handle a lot more.

Tune it out. Play soothing music in the background as your child does homework or reads. Music affects our heart rate and mood; playing the right music may help your child let go of that ball of stress she’s kept clenched inside her all day.

Laugh it out. There's even such a thing as laughter therapy! Find ways to laugh at the lighter things in life. Make note of funny things that happen and look for chances to laugh together.

Don't give up; you are helping your child learn how to find stress relief in difficult situations.

No comments:

Post a Comment