7 Daily Exercises to Improve Child’s Mental Health

Alike adults, children also experience a myriad of emotions that ultimately shape their future behaviour. Fear, anxiety, depression, and anger can have a significant negative impact on your child’s well-being. Here is the list of exercises that will help your child cope with emotions. Moreover, it will also help your child calm down during the emotional turndowns and cope smartly with the situation.

Gratitude Practice

Gratitude practices are even performed by adults to treat themselves when tangled in negative thoughts. This activity has also shown incredible results in adults.

To perform this activity, take a paper.

List down the number of things you and your child are grateful for.

A gratitude statement brings positive energy and shifts the perspectives of your child.

Set Intentions

Deciding intentions or goals for a day will keep your children busy. Every morning, take out a paper and list down three things your child wants to achieve by the end of the day.

These targets may vary according to the child’s age and interests. However, the best part of journaling the goal is that it will occupy your child’s attention and facilitates mindfulness and personal responsibility.

Help your kid set intentions by asking questions like:

Today, what would make you proud?

What are your goals for the day?

What kind of day do you want to have for yourself and others today?

Such more questions will help your children define targets for themselves and feel proud of their achievements.

Night-Time Routine

Apart from writing exercises, sleep plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy emotional life. Moreover, the interior of your child’s room must be light and calming. Further, swap the devices like mobile phones, laptops, etc., with a book or other things. For a more productive night-time routine, parents can take out some time for a healthy bath with children and give them a quick massage by applying some calming lotion, essential oils, etc.

In addition to that, maintain the temperature of your child’s room cool but not too cold. Further, keep it quiet and as clean as possible and stick to the same bedtime.

Mindful Posing

This technique is unpopular; however, it may help your children develop joy and maintain high self-esteem. Body poses drive mindfulness in your child. They will get excited if you tell them things by doing fun poses, such as the superman pose, wonder woman pose. These poses will help them realize their true strength.

Nurture Hobbies and Interests

In the pursuit of a hobby, sport, or other passion, children and teens learn goals and develop confidence in themselves. Growing a skill in their spare time not only keeps their mind engaged and curious but also boosts their self-esteem. When problems arise, reinforcing your child’s self-esteem will foster sentiments of individual empowerment and trust in their own skills.

Encourage your children to try out different recreational activities until they find one particular thing that they would actually enjoy. Some youngsters like sports, while others prefer knowledge-based hobbies, while some are more inclined toward artistic outlets such as painting or writing.

Good “Tribe” can help your children excel in life

Children and adults thrive in peer groups. Your child is more likely to excel in academics and social life if he or she has a close-knit network of supporting pals.

Children require a helpful peer group that helps them excel in the activities and gives fruitful advice. Moreover, it is necessary to help them share their moment of joys, worries, goals, and dreams. Friendship promotes empathy and emotional maturity. Apart from that, it is a crucial aspect of social development. Thus, help your children find their friends.

Journaling

Children and adults always require a thing or a person to share the anecdotes of life. These anecdotes may cover their struggle, moments of joy, fear, etc., and letting them pout of the mind is crucial for mental health. Journaling can do wonders in children’s life. It reduces stress, helps maintain better immune function, etc.

Journaling aids in the development of “emotional literacy,” or the ability to recognize feelings. In a busy family, daily journaling might seem like a lot to keep up. However, it is a vital element for assisting your child with the next section, even if it is infrequent and requires encouragement for the first few weeks.

Expressing Feelings

Teach your children to express their feelings. Expressing feelings can help a child raise self-awareness and handle their emotions efficiently. Communication is the key to unlocking entangled problems. Frequently, when children feel challenged, they may become incapable of communicating their problems. These limitations can result in unusual lashing out, tantrums, and outbursts.

Conclusion

The growing rate of anxiety and depression in children is highlighting the demand to take crucial steps. According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA), nearly 25.1% of children aged between 13 and 18 years suffer from anxiety disorders. Moreover, untreated children having anxiety disorders may perform poorly in school. They may also lose out on critical social experiences and later engage in substance addiction, according to information from the same source.

The mental health industry is also growing at a rapid pace. The study from Astute Analytica states that the global mental health market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.43% over the forecast period from 2022 to 2030.