Life’s pretty unpredictable. One moment, your kid is spinning joyously on the living room rug. Suddenly, they’re having an emotional meltdown because their favorite toy won’t behave. How do you teach your kid the vital skill of how to keep calm? Well, you’ve stumbled upon the right guide. In this post, we have brilliantly dissected this critical life skill for both kids and parents – based on our Goal Mine Classes. It’s a step-by-step wonder that transcends adorable video content to teach kids to master the art of remaining calm independently. Ready? You’ve got this!
Table of Contents
| Steps | Details |
|---|---|
| Step 1: Recognize the Emotion | Teach your kids to acknowledge their emotions. Use words to express feelings and reactions. Identify the physical signs of stress or upset. |
| Step 2: Implementing Breathing Techniques | Teach simple, controlled breathing exercises. Use visual aids to demonstrate the correct technique. |
| Step 3: Muscle Relaxation | Introduce the concept of muscle relaxation to combat physical manifestations of stress. Discuss progressive muscle relaxation and its benefits. |
| Step 4: Visualization | Teach them to create a happy and calm ‘go-to’ place in their mind. Discuss their ideal calm place and how to visit it when they feel overwhelmed. |
| Step 5: Affirmations | Encourage your child to use soothing self-talk phrases. Come up with calming affirmations together and practice repeating them during calm moments. |
Step 1: Recognize the Emotion
Step 1 involves teaching your kids to acknowledge their emotions. Like locating the big red ‘YOU ARE HERE’ dot on a theme park map, identifying their feelings sets the stage for the journey of self-calming.
- Use words to express feelings and reactions
- Identify the physical signs of stress or upset
Step 2: Implementing Breathing Techniques
The power of mindful breathing cannot be overstated! Simple, controlled breathing exercises can anchor chaotic emotions, slowing down racing hearts and minds.
- Teach deep belly breathing
- Use visual aids to demonstrate the correct technique
Read more: Using Positive Affirmations for Kids
Step 3: Muscle Relaxation
Children’s stress is often physically apparent in clenched fists or tight jaws. Introducing them to muscle relaxation can be a game-changer, as it directly combats physical manifestations of stress.
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Post relaxation discussion
Step 4: Visualization
Enabling your kids to create a happy and calm ‘go-to’ place in their minds is a highly beneficial tool. Visualization allows them to escape the moment’s chaos and attain tranquility.
- Discuss their ideal calm place
- Role-play how to visit it when they feel overwhelmed
Step 5: Affirmations
Positive affirmations are a fantastic way to encourage a calm mindset. They equip your child with a default set of soothing self-talk phrases when things get tough.
- Come up with calming affirmations together
- Practice repeating them during calm moments
Goally | 100+ Streaming Video Classes
Does your child need some extra guidance on building essential life skills? Goally’s skill building tablet for kids includes a TV app that has the most robust video library of skills training videos for kids. Ranging from content like “How to Brush Your Teeth” to “How to Make Friends at School,” we have dozens of interactive video lessons for kids with thinking and learning differences.
HERE’s a video explaining how to works.
So, there you have it! A simple, step-by-step guide to teaching your kids how to keep calm. Distilling this ability into bite-sized, digestible tasks can do wonders in guiding your kids on their journey to mastering emotional self-regulation. Remember, each step is crucial and builds upon the previous one, fortifying their calming toolkit. Moreover, we also have other fun and interactive lessons waiting to be discovered on our Goal Mine channel. If you found step 1 helpful, consider getting Goally’s dedicated Tablet to unlock the rest of the video lessons that’ll elevate your child’s self-calming game to a new level.
Frequently Asked Questions on How to Keep Calm
1. What are some ways to teach kids how to keep calm?
Breaking down the skill through steps like recognizing emotions, employing breathing techniques, practicing muscle relaxation, using visualization, and employing affirmations are effective.
2. How can I make teaching my kid how to keep calm easier?
Goally's task analysis breaks down the process of keeping calm into manageable steps, making it easier for your kid to learn and practice.
3. Are there any tools to help kids learn how to keep calm?
Yes, the Goally tablet offers interactive video classes, including lessons on staying calm, built on task analysis and behavioral skills training.
4. Is teaching kids how to keep calm important?
Absolutely. It's a vital life skill that helps kids with emotional self-regulation, fostering their mental health and overall wellness.
5. Can teaching my child how to keep calm help them at school?
Yes, a child who knows how to keep calm can better deal with stress, enhancing their focus and performance at school.
Goally
We help parents teach their kids life skills, like doing bedtime and morning independently. Backed by science, we incorporate evidence-based practices and expert-informed designs in all of our apps and content.
