Do you know the feeling when you have been staring a project for too long and all the words stop making sense and you don’t know how you got there? Then you might get up, make yourself a cup of tea or watch your favorite show for 20 minutes. Just like adults need brain breaks, kids need them, too! Here are five of my tried and true de-stressing activities kids love also giving them essential brain breaks throughout the day. I picked these activities because they are quick and have an end to them so you are not stuck doing them for long periods of time.
- I-Spy: Great for so many ages! I can even get some middle schoolers to engage in this activity sometimes. For a refresher if it has been a while since you played, you take turns finding something in the room (don’t say it out loud) and say, “I spy something ___ (the color of the object). The other person has to try and guess what it is. If you want to make it higher stakes, you can keep score of whoever can guess it right within two tries. This toy is a classroom favorite for I-Spy!
2. Bop-It: You can buy it here or probably find it at your local Target/Walmart. Some kids just like playing it by themselves with you next to them or there is a multiplayer option where you can pass it. Kids can get pretty into Bop-It so I might put a timer on it so they are aware of how much time is left to play.
3. Mindful Walk: You can read my full post here. One of the quickest ways to get out of a stress funk is to change your environment. If the weather is nice, take a quick stroll with the child and have them name what they see, hear, feel, smell and touch.
4. Color Counting: If the child is particularly dysregulated I like to start with this gentle activity asking them to name everything they see that is red, blue, green, etc. You can notice their demeanor start to shift as you go along which is a good indicator they are gaining back more control of their emotions.
Helpful Healer 