Calm Breathing for Children

As a parent, you can help your child learn “calm breathing.”  

This will help them to ease anxiety and anger on their own, as well as minimize the intensity of "big feelings.” 

Teaching your children to use calm breathing to regulate their emotions is important because it shows them how to change their breathing to decrease the effects of their emotions.

It is helpful to practice with your child daily and while they are calm. If they learn to do it comfortably in a calm place, they will become secure in their breathing skills and able to use them when experiencing “big feelings.” 

This is a list of different breathing techniques you can try with your child:

Yoga for Children

Have you ever wondered about the possible benefits of introducing yoga practice to your children?

Yoga provides some significant support and outlets for children. Here are just a few benefits to consider:

Yoga and Kids: New Ways to Connect with Your Children

Building Connections through Yoga Games

Toddlers and preschoolers naturally live in the moment and love to play! They are also beginning to encounter emotional, social, and physical challenges or conflicts. Yoga games and activities can help to support your child’s development of self esteem, confidence and self regulation. By incorporating some of the basics of yoga into play, you can positively support your child in navigating and building connections with themselves and others…and have some fun together! Below is a yoga game to try with your child at home. You do not need any yoga experience to play this game.

Connecting with Kids with Special Needs through Toys and Play

Toys Can Build Connections Between Kids with Special Needs and their Peers

 By Child Therapy Chicago's guest blogger from Lekotek

“Inclusion” is a popular word used around children with special needs. It reflects the emotional need of every human being to be included and the desire to share experiences, and there is, perhaps, no better place to put the concept of inclusion to work than through toys and play. Hot categories of toys this year are electronics, plush, arts and crafts and sports, so let’s explore what’s new in these areas and how they can bring kids together.

Helping Children with Special Needs Cope with Stress through Play

Stress Busters

By Child Therapy Chicago's guest blogger from Lekotek

The pressures of school can be tough on kids, especially those with special needs. Play can help children relax, recharge their batteries and take on new challenges.

It’s hard to remember a time when kids had more stress in their lives. Schools are forced to pressure children more and more to pass tests to keep their stream of funding. Our educational system is also under mounting pressure as the global ranking for America’s schools continues to trend downward. Homework has trended upward with little impact.

What research has proven again and again is that kids learn best through play. Guided play advances cognitive skills like language, as well as social skills such as emotional regulation. Group play experiences also greatly impact a child’s coping abilities, empathy, mood and resiliency. Despite evidence linking play to development, parents, educators and policy makers have allowed children’s play time to drastically erode in the last two decades.

Play functions as an antidote to the pressures of life, including school anxiety. Here are some product ideas to help kids defuse stress and refresh their bodies. These suggestions are especially beneficial for children with special needs who have their share of school struggles:

Feeding Baby: Building a Secure Attachment

In addition to meeting the basic physiological need of nourishment, feeding serves an important function in a child’s emotional development. When a child is fed, not only does instinctual gratification occur but the foundations of love, nurturance, trust, and a secure attachment are made.