Ideas for Teaching Your Children Lifelong Self-Care Strategies
Guest Author Anya Willis at Home | Fitkids.info
While your children might appear to be energy balls full of indestructible joy at times, the struggles of life will touch them sooner or later. Self-care strategies can equip kids to handle stressors and minimize the chances of severe mental conditions. Try these suggestions to encourage your little ones toward a healthy personal maintenance routine.
Build an Appreciation for Nature
Help children gain the emotional and physical benefits of the outdoors by allowing them regular time to play outdoors. Time outside stimulates all of the senses, improves focus, and reduces stress. This may be challenging if you live in an urban area, so schedule time for the playground or park. Let them get dirty and indulge in their imagination as they create stories from natural scenes and find symbols and shapes in the clouds. Have them visit websites and read books about natural events and settings when they can’t go outdoors.
Instill a Goal-Setting Mindset
Fortify a lifelong desire to form and achieve goals, which improves their concentration and motivation. Encourage them to write down their goals and analyze if their objectives are achievable. Teach them how to construct a timeline for reaching the goal and meditate on the reward. For long-term goals that take weeks or months, plan little reviews to revise their plan as necessary. Allow them to celebrate the victory of finally accomplishing a target.
Teach Financial Literacy
Include children in the conversation about money. Telling children that you can’t afford a trip or a toy is confusing when you make other significant purchases or they see the total on a week’s grocery bill. Show them how to save and spend money wisely as early as possible. When children want a new plaything or you’re investigating a piece of exercise equipment, show them the process of reading product reviews and ratings to determine which items have staying power and are worth the expense.
Emphasize the Importance of Family
A decades-long study found that warm relationships lead to greater happiness, longevity, and income. Don’t allow a day to go by without speaking to each family member and expressing affection. Maintain a schedule that prioritizes the children, especially during hectic seasons. Your kids will discern your love for them and the value of family, and you won’t feel guilty over lost opportunities.
Try the following ideas to carve out quality time with each child:
- Read your childhood books to them at bedtime
- Plan a camping trip
- Take a pet for a walk
- Make lunches together for the next day of school and work
- Volunteer
- Teach the kids a new skill
Practice Gratitude
Genuine gratefulness goes beyond saying a forced “thank you” when receiving a gift or help. Grateful individuals tend to appreciate themselves more and take better care of themselves physically and mentally. Create a routine of sending thank-you notes after receiving a kind gesture and just because.
Discuss things you’re grateful for before bed each night. Teach where things come from and how they are made. Children learn the effort and processes behind things they receive and become more appreciative.
Encourage Proper Sleep Hygiene
A lack of sleep can stunt a child’s mental and physical growth and lead to impulsive behaviors, anxiety, and depression. The family should cooperate to have consistent bedtimes and waking hours, even on weekends. Limit electronics from the bedrooms. Ensure mattresses and pillows are comfortable and replaced when necessary.
Look for other ways to train and model self-care for your kids. Your guidance can lay the foundation for your children to have productive and positive lives into adulthood.
