It's part of human nature to focus outwards and forget to take care of yourself. Self-care isn't an innate ability, but a skill that must be taught and modeled. The earlier you can teach a child the importance of taking care of their own body and mind, the better set up for success in life they'll be.
Find a Hobby
Like adults, kids have a lot of responsibilities: school, homework, studying, chores, sports, clubs, and other extracurriculars. Outside of these commitments, it's important to take some downtime to do something they enjoy. Art is one common hobby. To encourage this, try creating a craft closet with paints, crayons, craft supplies, glue, scissors, and other odds and ends. This will allow children to access age-appropriate materials to create whenever they want. Often, these artistic creations can give you a window into the child's mind.
Many children also enjoy hobbies like listening to music or playing video games. Though too much technology time isn't ideal, Zenbusiness writes that some time spent playing can have many positive effects on the brain, in addition to simply being fun. Some studies have shown video games to improve spatial awareness, memory, and even morality. These benefits can last into adulthood.
Mental Health
Mental wellness is another important type of self-care. Children can begin to meditate from a young age, and it's easy to get started. Guided meditations feature a parent or recording talking the child through what they should think of and focus on. Mindfulness is a type of meditation where you simply focus on using all your senses. These grounding exercises can help a child reduce anxiety and stress.
Children can also practice being grateful. Regardless of wealth or lifestyle, there's usually something in life to feel gratitude for. Careful that children are not focusing only on material possessions, which is easy to do, but also consider things like their family, opportunities they have in life, and simply for being alive. These intangible blessings are easy to overlook for children sometimes, but with practice can be addressed.
Modeling
It's easy to tell a kid that self-care is important. However, it's much more difficult to show them. Modeling these behaviors is a very important way to show how vital self-care is and to reduce stress in your home. Stay at home parents may be able to create a schedule or establish specific rules for the day to keep stress low for everyone and to make sure self-care is incorporated into the day. If everyone is out of the home during the day, these same ideas can be applied to morning or evening routines for everyone's benefit.
Self-Care is Important
No matter when you work it into your day, self-care is important for the whole family. In a time when 1 in 3 teenagers will experience an anxiety disorder, the earlier these soothing practices can be established, the better. Ideas for implementing these are everywhere.
