Month: November 2023

Christmas party games for all!

Christmas can be so much fun as it is the one time where everyone gets together. Children love party games, so you might like to make your Christmas day into a real party.Instead of turning on the TV this Christmas, keep the festive spirit with some fun family games that will keep everyone laughing and releasing those all important endorphins.

Christmas Pass the Parcel –  Wrap a small gift with lots of wrappers and have a sweet or forfeit in between each layer. You could have forfeits such as: Give grandma a big hug and a kiss. Say the alphabet backwards.  Talk about Christmas for 30 seconds. Sing a Christmas song. Name Santas 8 reindeers. Hop around the circle. Bark like a dog to the tune of Jingle Bells. Be inventive!!

Pin the Carrot on the Snowman – Draw a big picture of a snowman and get everyone in turn to put the carrot nose on the snowman. Don’t forget that they have to be blindfolded.

Christmas A-Z – One person starts the game saying a Christmassy word beginning with the letter A, and the next person B and the next person C and so on until someone can’t think of anything. i.e. Advent, Baubles, Christmas cake etc

Guess who I am? – Under everyones plate, place cards with the name of a famous person or Christmas character written on it. The person sitting to the side of that person will stick the card with tape to that persons forehead making sure they don’t see the name. Everyone else but the person who is wearing the card can see the name. Everyone asks each other questions to see if they can guess who they are. 

Hum a Tune – Give everyone sitting round the Christmas dinner table a Christmas Carol or song. They then have to hum the tune to that song/carol for others to guess. This game is always lots of fun.

Christmas Stories – One person starts the game off by making up a story about Christmas and stop after two or three sentences. The person sitting next to them has to continue the story and so on.

Christmas I Spy – Everyone loves I spy! Why not play Christmas I Spy and list things related to Christmas.

The Big Wrap – Wrap up a present with lots of wrappers and make it as hard as possible to unwrap. Each person rolls the dice. When a person gets a 6, they put on gloves and try and unwrap the present until someone else gets a 6 and takes the gloves and starts to unwrap the present. The person who unwraps the final layer wins the present.

Let’s reflect on what we are grateful for today…

Today is Thanksgiving, an occasion which began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It is a tradition for families to get together for a Thanksgiving dinner, which consists of a turkey roast and quite commonly followed up with a delicious pumpkin pie.

Whilst we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, it has prompted us to stop and think. It’s given us an opportunity to reflect on this past year and look ahead to the new year that is rapidly approaching. We may not be digging into a scrumptious dinner with our families, but what we can do is have a moment to reflect on what we are thankful for.

We encourage you all to take a couple of minutes out of your day to have a mindful moment, to truly reflect on what you are grateful for in your life. Why not call a family member, let them know how much you appreciate them and how grateful you are to have them in your life. Before you tuck into your dinner, take a moment to think how privileged you are to be able to have a hot dinner each evening or have a warm shower in the morning. Do anything that allows you to reflect on what you are grateful for.

Sometimes we can take what we have in life for granted, we all do it. But at times, there is nothing quite as humbling than looking back on what we are grateful for.

Waiting for Christmas day to arrive can be hard for children.  

Advent calendars are a great way to make the Christmas wait easier.  Counting down the days to Christmas becomes fun and full of anticipation.

Most shop bought advent calendars have a chocolate treat behind each door.  I remember as a child, taking it in turns to open the doors and so sharing the chocolates.  I know some children now have their own advent calendar.

At Relax Kids, we are constantly coming up with ideas to help children feel happy and positive each day.

Some school teachers have created advent calendars with our Star Cards in each pocket.  Each day a pupil would take a star card and that would be the theme for the day.  https://relaxkids.com/store/product-category/affirmation-cards/ 

One day would be a QUIET day, another would be a HAPPY day and another would be a KIND day.  It is a great way to help children learn positive qualities and practise them during the day.

One of our creative Relax Kids coaches Katharine has come up with a fabulous advent calendar.  

Katharine made little doors and behind each door stuck a Relax Kids sticker.  Each day, her little boy will open a door and find a star sticker.

If you feel inspired and would like to make a positive advent calendar this year and encourage your child to think about their positive qualities, you can buy Relax Kids stickers for only 99p https://relaxkids.com/product/star-stickers/ 

Encourage kindness

It is the season of goodwill and although it is not possible to solve all the problems in the world, we can do little things to contribute to our worlds atmosphere and in turn, positive things will happen.

This Christmas, you may like to suggest to your little ones that they think about others in this way.

Ask them to think about:

1. A wish for themselves. This can be anything in their wildest dreams. Something that really gets their creativity flowing and generates a smile.

2. a wish for someone else. Perhaps a peer, a family member or someone who they have seen but do not know. Send them your positive thoughts

3. a wish for the world. Ask them to think about what they would like to change in our world. Simply by observing it and listening to what this is,  we can give positive thoughts as a gift.

If we all start making little gestures to the rest of the world, then the rest will follow suit.

Don’t forget to order your copy of Best Selling The Wishing Star – https://relaxkids.com/product/the-wishing-star/ 

Fun things to do, should it be wet and horrible

In January, the weather is anything but predictable! Here are a few fun things to do today, should it be wet and horrible!!

1. Bake cookies or decorate pizzas for dinner together as a family.

2. Make a tent in the living room out of sheets and toys!

3. Make sock puppets and put on a show!

4. Have a tea party picnic in the lounge.

5. Dress up as one another – always a giggle!

6. Build a huge puzzle together.

7. Play hide and seek.

8. Read stories to one another.

9. Get out your umbrella and go for a walk!

10. Have some relaxation time with one of your favourite Relax Kids CDs. https://relaxkids.com/product/nature/ may be nice as it brings the outside in!

To help you glow during the winter months

Practice these simple relaxation exercises with your family/class to help you glow during the winter months.

Icy Breaths

Imagine there is a frosty window in front of you. Take in a deep breath, open your mouth and blow warm air on the frosty window. Watch as the frost melts on the window.

Frozen Statues

Get into a comfortable sitting or standing position and see how still you can be  like a frozen statue. This is very good for your concentration.

Warming Massage

Make a fist with your hand and pummel your arms and legs as fast and strong as you can. You should feel your whole body warming up. This is a great exercise to help wake you up in the morning.

Don’t forget there are so many more visualisations and exercises in our https://relaxkids.com/store/product-category/books/

Please pass it on and tell all your friends

If you have found this blog helpful please pass it on to your friends, colleagues, schools and nurseries and help us help more families and schools.

How relaxation can make a difference!

For many of us the onset of winter is the time to stock up with Kleenex and cough mixture. The winter months seem to invite a variety of colds and flu. Schools and playgroups are full of dreaded viruses and bugs. This can be a miserable time for parents and children as immune systems take a beating.

If you are interested in boosting your child’s immune system, relaxation along with healthy eating is the way forward. Relaxation can help strengthen and balance the immune system. A stuffy nose, and sore throat are all caused by the mucus-producing process of the immune system attacking innocuous invaders. Through relaxation, the nervous system can tell the immune system to settle down and stop attacking the foreign bodies.

When the immune system backs off, inflammation and mucus decrease and symptoms diminish. Relaxing the nervous system has been shown to help direct the immune system to attack the viruses and bacteria that increase in colder weather. If children are given the opportunity to totally relax their bodies and immune systems, they will have such a powerful tool that they can use throughout their lives. 

Relax Kids offers children and parents an easy and magical way to rest, relax whilst building up a strong immune system. When children meditate or relax, they go into a state of peace and calm. 

When they listen to our relaxation CDs, they experience positive feelings and so release natural endorphins which help build the immune system. So a daily dose of Relax Kids meditations is just what they need, not only to help improve sleep and general behaviour, but help fend off colds. Other ways to boost your child’s immune system are lots of exercise, laughter and lots of healthy and fresh food.

Here is a lovely exercise for you to try at home today!

SHOWER OF LIGHT

Close your eyes, be very still and imagine you are standing under a shower of light. Thousands of tiny droplets of light are raining over you. First of all they touch the top of your head, and instantly your head feels calm and relaxed. Then they drip down your face and the whole of your face begins to feel soft and calm. Your face is relaxed. The shower of light continues and touches your shoulders and arms. As become soft and relaxed. Your arms are relaxed. The rain of light is pouring now over your whole body, including your legs and feet, and you enjoy the feeling as they too relax. Your legs are relaxed. Now your whole body is covered in these beautiful droplets of light, like tiny stars. This shower makes you feel so calm and peaceful and so light. Your body is relaxed, relaxed, relaxed, relaxed.

And now, when you are ready, wiggle your fingers and toes, have a big stretch and open your eyes.

This is an extract from Best Selling  Wishing Star Book https://relaxkids.com/product/the-wishing-star/ by Marneta Viegas

The importance of teaching children to manage stress

The world is becoming more and more stressful.  Time seems to be racing past as everything becomes quicker.

It is National Stress Awareness Day on 1st November. According to AXA UK and Centre for Business and Economic Research (Cebr), people reaching the point of struggling with burnout and work-related stress is a significant issue for the UK economy, with an estimated £28bn lost last year due to poor mental health at work. The majority of this cost is due to loss of working days because of stress, burnout and general poor mental health, with businesses losing 23.3m working days as a result of these issues.

Increasing financial pressures, fear of the future, family conflicts and work pressures all contribute to rising stress.

Stress is harmful to our bodies as it causes a surge of hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline to be released into the body. These stress hormones are released to boost our ability to deal with pressures or threats.

Once that pressure or threat has passed, the stress hormone levels should return to normal. But the problems occur when we are under constant stress. Long periods of stress can make us more susceptible to illness, panic attacks, migraines, high blood pressure, heart conditions and insomnia.

If you feel stressed, try to find time to enjoy a few moments of quiet time each day.  Experiencing a few moments of calm, will help your body return to balance.  Do encourage your child to sit with you.

1 Sit comfortably and close your eyes

2 Become aware of your breathing.  As you breath in, say ‘I’m calm, I’m calm’ and as you breath out repeat ‘I’m calm, I’m calm.

3 Your mind will probably wander, but try to focus on your breathing and become aware of being in the present.

4 Notice how your body feels.  If there are pockets of tension, gently allow the muscles to relax as you continue to breathe.

Continue this for 20 minutes if you have the time.

Regular relaxation will help restore any damage that stress has had on your body.