Pocket sized breathing exercises for kids will help your children keep calm on the go - and we're looking at how music affects our emotions! See what's new to the Be Happy Hub this week.
This week we had a request for some fun breathing exercises that can be used on the go, such as on lanyards, in pockets or bags. Our new Breathing Flashcards can be printed in A6 or A7 size and we even have a handy folded booklet too!
New Breathing Cards for Kids
Our new breathing cards bring your children 7 fun ways to keep calm on the go. Whether it's at school, on a plane or somewhere that makes them feel anxious. These cards will help children with anxiety or panic attacks know just what to do should they become overwhelmed whilst away from home.
Printable Breathing Flashcards for Children - A6
You can choose to download these fun breathing exercises for kids in A6 or A7 - simply print and cut out! Pictured above are the A6 printable and below are the A7 printable.
Our A7 size are the perfect size for school bags, pockets and even key chains. Why not laminate, cut out and add to a lanyard?
Or perhaps you'd rather have them in a small, portable booklet? This concertina style booklet is so easy to make, simply download, print and fold! Each page gives directions on how to feel calm by helping children learn to control their breathing. If you'd like to read about the benefits of deep breathing and how to encourage deep breathing from an early age, you can read our blog post here - 'How to Teach Your Child Deep Breathing.'
What else is new to the Be Happy Hub?
My Mindful Playlist
Did you know that music is extremely powerful for mental health? Research shows people who listen to music recover from stress faster than those who don't. Not only can music be an instant mood lifter, but scientific research has found that listening to upbeat music with an intention of getting in a better mood actually works.
In fact, there are so many benefits of listening to music, it probably warrants its own blog post! But for now, let's focus on one of our latest resources - My Mindful Playlist asks your children to come up with their own calming playlist to listen to when they need to feel relaxed. Perhaps they already know the songs on their playlist, or maybe they need to get listening to some music to figure out which songs belong on their playlist. This fun activity is all about exploring music that can help us to de-stress.
Songs That Make Me Feel...
Another music and mental health themed resource this week, this activity is all about learning how music impacts our emotions. Songs have the ability to make us feel all sorts of emotions - they can make us cry, they can make us feel excited and they can even give us goosebumps. Listening to music is a great way to improve our mental health, but first we need to know which songs and genres inspire those feel good emotions.
Have fun listening to different songs and music styles with your children and find ones that invoke all these emotions. Again, maybe your children already know exactly which songs make them feel happy or sad, but if they don't, be sure to engage in the mindful art of music therapy and broaden those musical horizons!
This week's *FRIDAY FREEBIE!* - For Mailing List subscribers only
The Miserable Monkey
This is the Miserable Monkey, he's as sad as can be, can you think of ways to make him happy? This week we're thinking about things that make us feel happy when we are sad. This is a great discussion activity for children ages 3-7. We have trialled this activity with younger children and it has been great fun!
Directions: Task your children with thinking of ways to cheer up our miserable monkey. Write them down on the banana slices and have fun feeding them to him! We used scissors to cut a small hole over the monkey's mouth to push the banana pieces through, but you could also glue them on or have your child simply imagine him eating them. When you're finished, cut out the monkeys happy smile and stick it in place - you've turned the miserable monkey's frown upside down!
This activity is all about discussion - ask children why they think the monkey feels sad, tell them that feeling sad is a natural emotion we all feel and then ask them what makes them feel happy for some ideas!
If your children aren't confident writers, you could use this activity in lots of other ways too. For example, you could have each child feed him a banana slice and say something to cheer him up as they feed him. Or, you could simply say that every banana piece makes him happier and happier! Just don't forget to stick that smile on at the end to show that our miserable monkey is now a happy monkey!
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