Introducing Children to Self-Care

*Collaborative Post

Self-care is something that people of all ages should take seriously. Not only does it keep your physical health in good condition, but it also helps to keep your mental health in check.

As with all good habits, starting young helps to ingrain them into your brain and make them part of your routine. Focusing on self-care from a young age with your kids will help them to grow into well-rounded, emotionally intelligent adults. Here are some tips to help your little ones get on the self-care hype.

Establishing daily routines

Time management is something that children of all ages can struggle with. Learning how to balance responsibilities with fun is a lesson that will be ongoing throughout their childhood so repeated conversations will be needed.

Some parents find it easier to educate about time management once they are in daycare or going to school. Waking up at the same time as well as having regular meals, learning, play and bedtimes help kids to understand time and responsibilities.

Modelling self-care behaviours

Children are known for being little imitators. From copying facial expressions to actions, nothing seems to pass by without them noticing!

You can take advantage of this and encourage them to copy different behaviours. For example, brushing your teeth with them will help to guide them with the right motions. The same goes for any personal hygiene task.

Exercise can be encouraged in the same way. Get outside as a family and go for walks or kick a football in the park. Not only are these great bonding experiences but they are demonstrating that exercise and movement are fun.

Encouraging independence in self-care tasks

As your child grows they will naturally want to become more independent. Tasks such as dressing themselves, washing their hands and feeding themselves are all parts of natural development.

With all of these developments, patience is key. Kids won’t be able to get it right from their first attempt so try and stay patient and calm, even if a big mess has been made! For the best development, try to let your kids work on these skills at their own pace. This will reduce stress and make it a smooth process for everyone.

Once your little ones are a bit older, you can begin to develop more age-appropriate routines based on these fundamental skills, such as establishing a routine of skincare for kids.

Teaching emotional wellbeing

Teaching kids to be emotionally aware is possibly one of the hardest parts of being a parent as it can often make you hold a mirror up to your own skills.

From a young age, try to point out different emotions that you and they are feeling. Helping to label these feelings helps your child to identify them in themselves when they arise.

Finding ways to express these emotions is key, especially the more negative ones such as anger and sadness. You may want to incorporate a calm-down corner in their room with calming books, toys and textures to help them unwind. Breathing exercises are also something kids can pick up quickly to help them cope.

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.