Encouraging Self Care for Kids

July 24 is Self Care Day, and it’s really important for us as parents and teachers to help our kids understand what self-care is and how to develop those habits early on in life. It’s not about literally taking care of your physical needs (though that can be part of it!) but more about tending to your mental health and feelings.

Self Love Rainbow has a great graphic all about the basics for kids (and adults!) who might need help getting started. It’s great to talk to kids about what you do for self care (and start up some routines if you don’t already do self-care regularly!) as options that they might consider for their own self care.

It’s important that self-care activities for kids be age appropriate, of course. Journaling, for example, is a great way to process emotions, but it might not be suitable to all ages or all kids.

Incorporating physical activity into a self-care routine is a great idea at all ages, whether that’s going for a family walk through the neighborhood (which was at least a daily occurrence, if not more often, when we were all home during covid), doing yoga together or riding a bike inside or outside.

Other easy ideas are reading books or listening to audio books; doing something creative like drawing, painting or knitting; talking to a friend; playing games; or playing with or petting your pet.

Mental Health Center Kids has a list of 101 different self-care activities that are great for kids if you need more ideas. Have your kids (at home or in the classroom) make a list of activities they like to do and use that list as a reminder when things get stressful or even when they say they’re bored.

Do you have tips for encouraging self care among kids? I’d love to hear them!

[Photo: Self Love Rainbow]

Free Printable Christian Gratitude Journal As you delve into the pages of the Christian Gratitude Coloring Journal, you’ll find not only a creative outlet but also an opportunity to deepen your relationship with your faith. Rediscover the joy of slowing down, appreciating life’s little wonders, and nurturing your connection with the divine. Allow this journal to be a beacon of light that illuminates your path towards spiritual growth and genuine contentment.

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Summer Reading Printables and Tips for Parents

As I write this, back to school time is right around the corner, and if you have kids going to school for the first time or who might need a refresher on what school is like, books can be a big help in calming fears and letting them know what to expect.

School Days by Fabiola Sepulvelda is a wordless picture book full of photographs of various things that happen during the school day, such as leaving home, getting off the bus, greeting your teacher, raising your hand to talk, circle time, reading, quiet work, lunch, recess, art and music, and greeting your parent at the end of the day.

This is a nice book to prompt conversations about the way things might look and things that might happen at school, and could also be used in the classroom to talk about routines and what happens each day. It’s meant to be for kids who don’t yet know how to read, but could be used with older kids as well.

Ready for School by Dona Herweck Rice and illustrated by Amanda Morrow follows a little girl through a day getting ready for school and thinking about all the things that happen at school. It covers things like calendar time, mat time, being read to, math (they’re learning to count to five), recess and art. She’s so excited to go she wakes her mom up and it’s still nighttime.

This one is good for kids who like reminders of how the routine goes (both getting ready for school and being there) and those who might be apprehensive about what’s going to happen or if it will be fun.

The same author has a series of books that are meant to be for ESL learners but would work for others as well. Welcome to School has photos and single words or short phrases for things you do to get ready for school, different ways you might travel there, greetings, morning meeting activities. people you might see at school (like teacher, student, custodian), places and objects you’ll find around school, things at recess and school rules (like line up and raise hand).

Your School Day uses longer phrases (“riding in car” instead of just “car,” for example) and older children in the photos. The routine is also for older kids and uses bigger words like announcements and equipment. It also shows photos of different subjects kids might study, different kinds of learning groups and more people and places you’ll find in school.

A Day at School is kind of in between these two, with older elementary students going through many of the same things. This one doesn’t mention morning meetings but also doesn’t use the level of vocabulary of the book for older kids. Either this one of Welcome to School would be fine to use with young kids who already speak English but might like to see all the things and people they’ll see at school.

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