The feeling of “I am not enough”, is fairly common among all ages.

As Parents and Teachers, we have a constant battle to keep the most children’s of this generation engaged in activities that not just enhance development but are extremely gratifying. We ignore the lingering effect of gratifying activities on your little ones brain.

First of all, for any child  and as a matter fact for any human, the body and mind, needs to be fed and strengthened with something that inspires us constantly and makes us feel good about ourselves.

Secondly, Fear and anxiety are physical. Send them for boxing or a long run, that energy flows right back into our body and restores the assurance and certainty we need.

Lets take a look at the activities that will lasting positive effect on the child and strengthen the soul, mind and body 

1. Yogasanasa. Standing on the head (Shirshasana)b. Surya Namaskar (Salutations to Sun)c. Pranayam - Breathing Exercises

2. Game Of Silence (Who is the quietest in the room?)3. Meditation4. Body Massage5. Chant the Mantras along with your kids6. Peace Room/ Peace Corner (With Distorting Mirrors and anti anxiety Toys)7. Dark Den with lights8. Wall of Love and Fear9. Wall of Fame

10. Wall of Gratitude11. Search Game: Find a place in the Map12. Blindfold Games13. Punch the boxing bag14. Rain Dance15. Rain Sports16. Rock Climbing17. Swimming Pool Games18. Run Vertical 19. Develop a Hobby

 

1. STANDING ON THE HEAD (SHIRSHASANA)

Kids find this interesting. Moreover, the very fact that most parents aren’t able to do as swiftly as their children, it boosts their ego, at F1-Car speed. 

Remember to start small. As a beginner, try to make your child to remain in this position for at least 30 seconds & release slowly.

2. SURYA NAMASKAR (SALUTATIONS TO SUN)

Best exercise to improve all aspects of the body, health, weight, focus, digestions, sleep, and anxiety.

Its well known as all-in-one exercise. A periodic practice of this one single exercise will wipe of all anxiety and health issues, and has much deeper relaxing effect than any other exercise.

It’s recommended to be performed on an empty stomach.

3. MEDITATION

“If every eight year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation”

Meditation with either open or closed eyes is good. For lesser distractions, teach the kids to medicate with closed eyes.

For Best Results:

Room: Sit in dark room, with no sounds and no lights.Light: Keep one single red bulb.Time: Start with 10 minutes and progressively increment to 30 mins.Place: Set a fix place to sit quietly, and set a fix time in the day.Position: Fold your legs while in sitting position, with your spine upright. Ensure

the child is comfortable. First few times, you may have to monitor the child.

Sound: Silence is bliss. If your child finds it uncomfortable, play background music of waterfall or seashore.

Ask the child to count breathing, if he is finding it hard to focus. When counting, he would be less distracted by his thoughts and emotions.

4. BODY MASSAGE

Its most effective tool to re-bond, relax and distress your child.

A good oil massage has proven to strengthen the dopamine levels, lower stress hormone levels, thus improving the sleep patterns and reducing the anxiety.

Initially, it can be a struggle to get your child to lie down peacefully. But after the massage, he/ she will see the difference.

For best results:

Atmosphere: Dim lights, right aroma in the room, and warm massage oil. You can play soft sounds - such as OM chants, waterfalls, or forests sounds in the

background. It will take few trials, to find out what calms the child. Try to keep the silence in the room. Speak softly, if needed to. Both of the parents can perform a body massage for the child. Father can do the

head & foot massage, while mother works on the rest of the body.

5. WARM BATH

A warm bath is relaxing. For better results, light some candles, add a few nice scents, and be present with the child. Have lesser distractions. Let the child talk.

6. PRACTICE SILENCE (WHO IS THE QUIETEST IN THE ROOM?)

Yes, you heard or read it right.

Schedule a time in the day, to dedicate to silence. Start small, like with 30 minutes and then increase over the period of time. Everyone, parents and family members have to be involved to be effective.

It’ll be a great lesson for your little ones. Turn it into a fun game: “Who can be the quietest?”

Remember it is NOT a moment of discipline. Aim is to make this fun game turn into an habit.

Break the silence with words of love and acts of good intent. Play some music, and laugh it out, with the kids.

7. CHANT THE MANTRAS ALONG WITH YOUR KIDS

Kids love to sing. Chanting improves focus and concentration and has powerful effects on brain development.

Initially start with simple “OM” mantra. Ask the child make different sounds of OM. It should be a fun exercise.

OM in 7-10 different tones and after each one, ask the child to repeat.

E.g.

Say OM in frog voice, sheep voice, dog or baby voice.

Once the fun part is over, you could try these with the child. Chant OM,

1. By closing left nasal2. By closing right nasal3. By closing both nasals.4. Chant Om with long and stretch sounds of first phonetic sound “A”. The sound

should feel more like from the stomach.5. Chant Om with long and stretch sounds of second phonetic sound “UUU”. A

sense of vibration should occur inside the throat.6. Chant Om with long and stretch sounds of last phonetic sound “MMMM”. A sense

of vibration should occur inside the head. Lay your hands on top of your head to feel the vibration.

8. PRANAYAM - BREATHING EXERCISES

Pranayam is a practice concerned with breath control.

A thought leads to feelings that affect the behavior and mood. Research has shown that practicing Pranayam can help treat anxiety and emotional distress.

9. PEACE ROOM/ PEACE CORNER (WITH DISTORTING MIRRORS AND ANTI ANXIETY TOYS)

Create an Anti-Anxiety corner for the child. This room should be filled with anti-anxiety toys such

Plain Mirror- at the entrance, so the child sees his / her face in the moment of anger or frustrations. Just like adult, they are very peculiar of they look and perceived.

Distorting Mirror - A distorting mirror or funhouse mirror or a curved mirror is a mirror with a curved reflecting surface. A pleasant way to make the child forget everything that just happened.

Fidgeting toys Cool Down Cubes : Let the child writes his "cool down" strategy on each ice

cube. He can write his feelings on each cube and later share with his parents or counselor.

Dim Lights Magnetic Maze - It’s a wonderful tool for kids to trace with their fingers. Floor Maze or Labyrinth - Create a Maze like structure on the floor. the child

walk through the paths and routes to the center and back.

You could choose to do a maze or a Labyrinth. A maze is complex branching puzzle with multiple choices of path and direction , while Labyrinth is single branching path - both leads to the center.

Both are effective methods to cool down the child and increase his focus.

10. DARK DEN WITH LIGHTS

Nothing like a small space of your dark, sweet aroma, and enchanting lights.

If you cannot take your child out for some adventure, this is best way for him to escape from his fear, anxiety. A space he calls his own.

Den that can block day light or tube lights color light objects such as balls that emit multi-color lights. Kids projector to project stars, moon, solar system. Background music for effect.

11. WALL OF LOVE AND FEAR

Just like a wall of fame, you could have a corner in a room, where you and he can share feelings. Most of the time, children prefer not to talk about it with adults.

For Best Results: Child can write down what could have the parent done better in that situation.

What upset him/her.In Response, Parent/ Teacher can write down what they were expecting out of

child, and the cause of sadness or disappointment.Be Subtle. Use assertive, positive and affirmative words.Put Smiles and Stars for what was good pertaining to that specific situation.

12. WALL OF FAME

Dedicate a wall for your child to paint and draw, and express emotions through colors.When it comes to this specific wall, you should have no rules.

13. WALL OF GRATITUDE

This one worked for kids in our family very well.

Either find the pictures of kids from streets, without food, shelter, or pictures from orphanage or take them with your child.Paste the pictures on wall.

Let the child look through them once in a while, and then write at least 1 thing every day that they feel thankful about.

Make markings against the very thing, that the child is thankful about more than once.

14. GET A HOBBY

There is always something out there for every single one of us as escape mechanism.No video games! Thats not a hobby, but an addiction, and certainly not calm your kids.We are referring to hobbies that specially help one calm down.Introduce a hobby, that child is passionate about.Some find it in :

• Long drive or Cycling

• Running• Jigsaw Puzzles• Sudoku• Music• Dance• Drawing• Mountain biking• Basketball / Soccer / Cricket• Play Drums/ piano or any instrument

Benefits of Hobby• Social Circle : Hobbies can lead you to a new social circle for yourself and

your kids.• Improves Memory : According to Psychological Science studies, mentally

challenging hobbies have showed significant gains in memory.• High level of engagement : Pastime offers the time and space to relax. It’s a

state of mind flow. It can put us in a near-meditative state. Developing these moments a person feels more content with their life

• Replace negative emotions : As the child develops expertise, it will be the best escape mechanism from stress and strong emotions.

• Enhances a sense of pride and joy : Child is fully engaged in what he is doing that he will lose track of time and temporary relief from stress. Hobbies provide a direct route to passion, sense of belonging and boosts self esteem.

15. PUNCH THE BOXING BAG

Get a serious professional punching bag, which the child can punch once a day , hit hard and Let it All Out!

Children should be taught that it’s ok to feel emotions. Do not allow the children to fight emotions, run away from them, or block them out.

16. SEARCH GAME: FIND A PLACE IN THE MAP

With bunch of kids together, a specific city is asked to find in a large map. hint such as state name, name of the country, National animal, or flag is provided.

Timer is provided. The first team to find it in time gets the points.

Benefits :

• Attention to details• Memory Skills• Improve the IQ• Teamwork - Kids come up with a strategy on how to perform the search in the

given time. Most divide the tasks among team members while search is being done.

For best results :

Keep the teams small 2-4 children max. Use an Hour Glass or Sand time ( they come in different colors, fancy designs and

times limits such 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, or even 30 mins timer)

17. BLINDFOLD GAMES

This has been a part of team building activities for many years. The blindfolded person has to rely upon a sighted person to lead and help the blindfolded person succeed. This is good exercise in schools and at home for developing communication with peers/ siblings, and learning to trust each other in group or project works.

Traditional games such as• Pin the Tail on the Donkey : Either draw the outline of a donkey or paste a

large picture on the wall. Each team member takes turns to pin a tail on the donkey while wearing a blindfold. Blindfolded child could Start 3 to 5metres from the drawing and can be guided by his partner.

• All Blindfolds line up : For a group of 5 to 12. Blindfold everyone in the group then ask them to line up in either :

o Height ordero Birthday ordero Alphabetic order - Of first name or Last Name or both.o Shoe size order

18. OTHER ACTIVITIES

RAIN DANCE

RAIN SPORTS

ROCK CLIMBING

SWIMMING POOL GAMES

Most ADHD ADD or ODD kids love water, but are lazy to swim.So make the swimming games interesting and tiring. 

19. RUN VERTICAL

Running up the stairs, and clock the time to complete. It’s the best way to get the kids to sweat, and let it out and let it go.