Relaxation exercises for children

When it comes to working with children, relaxation exercises are a lot more fun.

Physical relaxation

The exercise found in the link below is one which I have used with a number of children. I have found it more beneficial to just do three of the parts at a time, and these can be varied between sessions.

https://depts.washington.edu/hcsats/PDF/TF-%20CBT/pages/4%20Emotion%20Regulation%20Skills/Client%20Handouts/Relaxation/Relaxation%20Script%20for%20Younger%20Children.pdf

I devised the table below as a quick reminder to children about the parts of the exercise:

Relaxation exercise reminders

Body part	Action
Hands and arms Arms and shoulders	Squeeze a lemon and then let it go Be a cat stretching and then relaxing
Shoulders and neck	Be a turtle pulling its head into its shell and then coming out again to relax
Jaw	Chew a giant jawbreaker bubblegum ball and then relax your mouth
Face and nose	Wrinkle your nose and forehead against a pesky fly, and then relax when it flies away
Stomach	Squeeze through a small, tight gap in a fence and then relax on the other side
Legs and feet	Push your feet and toes down into the bottom of a deep mud puddle, then step out of the puddle and relax

Mental relaxation

The Pathways to Resilience Trust provided this exercise in their handouts to parents of children going the Fun Friends Program:

Lie down comfortably and take 5 deep, slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Imagine you are breathing in calm happy feelings and breathing away angry and sad feelings. The wind is blowing the sad, worried and angry feelings far away from you. Now make your muscles as hard and stiff as you can, then relax, shake your arms and legs gently. Tense and relax again.

Now imagine your favourite outside place to be – imagine all the fun things you can see, all the sounds you can hear, all the beautiful scents you can smell in your favourite place; and all the tastes of the yummy foods you can eat and drink in your favourite place and how the grass, water or sand feel on your skin. Help them draw their favourite place.

The blog below has many exercises to fit many situations:

http://kidsrelaxation.com/blog

Breathing

The Pathways to Resilience Trust  introduced me to Milkshake breathing as part of their training in conducting the Friends Program. 

This is the reminder sheet that I devised for children to whom I taught it:

Milkshake breathing

Breathe in deeply through your nose to make your tummy rise and fall.

Breathe out slowly through your mouth.

Get a plastic tumbler and put some water into the bottom of it.

Put a straw into the water and breathe out slowly and gently so that you make gentle bubbles without spilling the water.

When you feel sad, angry or upset or very excited breathe in slowly through your nose and out through your mouth 10 times in a row (pretend you are doing milkshake breathing).

Here is the link to the Pathways to Resilience Trust:
http://www.pathwaystoresilience.org/

And don't forget that blowing bubbles can be a fun form of controlled breathing!