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October 20, 2023
Ways to teach your Kin Kiddo to decompress and cope.
As the fall brings change to the trees and the air it also comes with many other life changes as well. School is back in session at full swing. Many of us are filled with appointments, activities, and extracurriculars. This can be overwhelming for adults and caregivers but also for the little ones in our life. We at Kinship Connections thought our caregivers could use some fun coping tools created for kids.
Here are some examples of ways to teach kiddos to both decompress and cope when they feel overwhelmed.
1. Deep Breathing- Make it fun. Smell the roses, soak in the scent. Blow out all the birthday candles.
2. Count to 10- Give your kid something to visualize something that makes them calm and have them count 10 of them slowly. For example, a child is obsessed with Pokemon. Lets count all ten of our pokemon cards and pretend you have cards.
3. Exercise or movement breaks- Sometimes you can see overstimulation and overwhelm all over a kids body. Have them start taking movement breaks. Set a timer for 1 minute and have them get all of their wiggles out, etc.
4. Do something with your hands- Art, Drawing, Crocheting, Building Blocks, and so many more activities with their hands will help them decompress and get out some of that energy.
If you have any questions or need ideas on how to help teach your kinship children coping mechanisms, a kinship navigator would love to connect with you. Dial 2-1-1.