Month: February 2024

A study by the University of North Carolina found that hugging reduces the effects of stress where blood pressures significantly decreased. Another study at the same University found that hugging increases the love hormone, Oxytocin, while decreases the risk of heart disease.

Hugging literally is good for your heart. Hug therapy has been used with autistic and withdrawn children to teach trust. Hugging just feels great!

We get lots of hugs at Christmas, birthdays and family occasions, when we say hello or goodbye, when we are upset or just want to show our friends, family and children we love them. A hug is often better than words. Hugs are a fabulous way of expressing our appreciation of each other and are a crucial part of our human interactions and communication.

Here are 5 good reasons to HUG:

1. Hugs feel good

2. Hugs can relieve pain and depression

3. Hugs can help boost the immune systems and help us fight colds and flu, as well as increase our energy levels

4. Hugs can make us feel healthier and happier

5. Hugs are a great stress relief

So it’s official – hugging is good for our heart, soul, body and minds – so get hugging! Hug yourself, hug your children, have a group family hug, hug your partner (often), hug your family members, even hug your pets. There are so many opportunities to hug – just enjoy it. As you hug today, close your eyes and remind yourself how much you are loved and how much you love and care for the person you are hugging.

How many hugs can you give and receive today?

Investing in the bank of love and friendship

Here is a simple and wonderful way to encourage children to build friendships and good relationships. Explain to your child that we all have a love and friendship bank inside. When they show love and affection or time and energy towards their friend, they are depositing in the bank account of that friendship. When they are not talking or saying unkind words they are making a withdrawal. Tell children that when we have good balances, it shows on our face and we are happy. When we have negative balances, we are more likely to be angry and sad.

Once we get into debt with a friend, it can cause lots of sadness and hurt. The best way is to start depositing. Here are ways children can make an investment or deposit:

Share a joke

Spend time

Smile

Laugh together

Bring flowers

Make a gift

Buy a gift

Go for a walk

Enjoy an activity

Dance

Hug

Sing together

Play together

Thinking about someone

Here are ways we can make a withdrawal and get into debt:

Be selfish

Say something unkind

Hurt

Shout

Be sarcastic

Not talking

Pull a face

Say a spiteful joke

Fight and hit

Kick

Sneer

Ignoring someone

Be uncaring

Be unthoughtful

Here is a great CD https://relaxkids.com/product/elevator-of-happiness/  to encourage positive thinking, love and feelings of friendship

As children grow, it is important that they learn the art of self care. It is vital for their self esteem that they learn to feel loving towards themselves. Here are some tips to help children develop the art of self care

1 Make a list of everything you like about yourself. It might be that you like your eyes or hair and better still you like the fact that you are patient or kind or friendly. See how long you can make the list.

2 Ask friends and family what they like about you. Add this to your list as you may have missed out some points.

3 Find a special notebook and write your list down. You might like to decorate the notebook. This is your special notebook and every time someone says or writes something nice about you, write it down. Keep it safe as you are going to continue writing in this book when you are a teen and then when you are an adult. Look at the notebook often and keep reminding yourself of your wonderful qualities. Every time you feel a little down, you will be able to come back to your notebook and feel special and loved again.

4 Repeat to your self ‘I am a very loveable person, I am wonderful and loving and kind’ Even when people are talking to you, try to keep reminding yourself what you are. You might like to write your special words and put them up in your room to remind you how special you are.

5 Everyday, do something that you love doing – something that makes you feel good about yourself. It could be going for a walk or run or bike ride or playing your favourite game. Doing things you love will help you feel better about yourself.

6 If you make a mistake, don’t beat yourself up inside about it. Everyone makes mistakes and it is how we learn and improve. Simply accept that you made a mistake, say sorry and remind yourself that you are special.

7 Give yourself a hug before you go to sleep. See if you can feel the loving feeling in your body as you hug yourself and remind yourself ‘I am lovely, I am lovely’

8 Each day spend some time being quiet. You can use this time to relax and also remind yourself how special you are. You might even like to silently repeat your affirmations.

Tips on how to help children be more mindful

Meditation and relaxation is something that every school should adopt as it is extremely economical and does not require expensive props.  At the most, teachers just need a CD, a bell/rain stick and the children’s attentive minds and willing bodies.

Meditation can be practised by children of all ages and all faiths as it is non religious.  You only need a short amount of time to run meditation sessions in your school.  Short sessions that are done regularly will create better results than one off longer sessions.  It is important to keep it fun and fresh so the children enjoy it.

The wonderful thing about mindfulness and meditation is that there is no right or wrong way and each child will find their own unique way of being quiet and focussing their mind and finding stillness within which will help them with the busyness of their life.

If you are interested in bringing in mindfulness and meditation into your classroom, it is good idea to start having your own practice.  This makes it easier to support your pupils on their silent journey.

Create an environment that allows pupils to focus.  If you do not have a quiet room, ask children to move things away from their desks to reduce distractions or sit on the carpet.

Try to stick to the same time each day to practice so pupils get used to it.  You may like to try starting the day off with a few minutes mindfulness or after lunch or break times to refocus their minds.

Use a bell or music or rainstick to remind pupils that it is time to be quiet.  Pupils like to be involved and can always take it in turns to ring the bell or start the music.

Use the bell to end the short meditation or relaxation session.

If there is time, allow children to share their experience.  You don’t have to do this every time.

CDs for princes and princesses around the world

When I was a children’s entertainer, most of the little girls would dress up as little princesses and boys would love being superheroes. Children and adults love fairy tales and I think that is why most of us love a royal wedding.

Our love of fairy tales gave me the idea to write my book – https://relaxkids.com/product/aladdins-magic-carpet/ where children could imagine they were princesses and superheroes going on magical adventures in their mind. I did something that had never been done before and took all the fairytales and turned them into visualisations.

We all love positive and happy endings to fairytales and enjoy good conquering evil.

The book allowed these fairy tales to come alive in children’s minds. I had no idea the visualisations would be so popular, and what a profound effect it would have on those who listened to them.

I then made a two fairytale CDS, https://relaxkids.com/product/princesses/ and https://relaxkids.com/product/superheroes/

Children around the world now go to sleep dreaming of being in their own fairytales. So, if you would like your child to dream of fairy tales each night and wake up fresh and full of creativity, you might like to order one of my fairytale CDs

Please do let me know how you get on with them.

Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose (slowly), and then out through your mouth.  Put your hand on your chest and spend a few moments feeling calm and relaxed.  Now, imagine that you have a smile in your heart.  Watch how you start to have loving feelings. Can you send that smile up to your face?  Let your mouth smile gently.  Breathe in, and out and rest there for a few moments. 

Now open your eyes and see how different you all feel. 

Valentines Day is a great opportunity to remind the ones that you love, that you respect and appreciate them. Focus on the things that make the people in your life special and encourage their dreams

Valentines Day is the perfect excuse to celebrate love.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner! Time to share some time with the ones you love!

Valentine’s Day may be a time to appreciate one another and celebrate your love, but this does not necessarily mean that we have to lavish each other in expensive gifts, where the price tag may have been raised because of the holiday associated with the time of year.

Why not celebrate Valentine’s Day this year with a lovely duvet day for all the family, grab some comfy cushions, put your pyjamas on and pad out the living room in front of the fire. All decide on some favourite DVDs, snacks and treats and spend some quality time as a family. Just relax! You could even try some relaxation exercises together, so that you all experience being calm and serene in this manic world together.

Make your family’s heart smile with this exercise:

Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose (slowly), and then out through your mouth. Put your hand on your chest and spend a few moments feeling calm and relaxed. Now, imagine that you have a smile in your heart. Watch how you start to have loving feelings. Can you send that smile up to your face? Let your mouth smile gently. Breathe in, and out and rest there for a few moments. Now open your eyes and see how different you all feel.

Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to remind the ones that you love, that you respect and appreciate them. Focus on the things that make the people in your life special and encourage their dreams.

Keep the romance alive even if you are busy with work and parenting. 

Here’s one for the adults!

It can be pretty difficult to find time to keep romance alive when we are all so busy. There is the argument that we should all create small moments with cuddles and laughs throughout the whole year to appreciate the ones we love but for those of us who need a little reminder – Valentine’s day is here. But stay calm – we don’t have to splash out on lavish gifts or expensive gestures just because the card shops tell us to! It’s the little things that count. Here is some inspiration for your V-Day:

DIY Spa: You don’t have to be a trained masseuse to give your partner an indulgent experience. Why not take turns to give each other the treatment of choice? Team that with a glass of your favourite tipple and your favourite CD and you are quids in!

Pyjama Party: Spend the whole day in your pyjamas. Bring the duvets down and spend the day doing nothing – or whatever your version of nothing is, whether that be chatting, watching a dvd or listening to your favourite singer.

Hit the cinema: Remember the old days before you had kids when going to the cinema was a regular treat. Why not re-visit those days. With everyone jumping on the Valentine’s bandwagon, getting a babysitter can be difficult, so why not catch a matinee?

Make your own gifts: Head to a craft store together and give each other a budget and a time deadline in which you have to create something for the other person. It will keep you busy all day and give you something fun to talk about at night as you reveal what you have made for one another!

Long Lasting Flowers: Buy / make flowers instead of spending lots on real ones. This way they can be a reminder all year round of your love for each other and won’t need to be replaced so quickly. You could set up a tradition where you put one flower in the vase each year and take turns supplying it and watch your love grow over the years!

Have a wonderful Valentine’s

With love from everyone at RK x

Pancake Day is a wonderful family tradition.

Pancake day is here – but whether you are opting for home made treats or shop bought batter, get stuck in and enjoy this great day! Traditionally Shrove Tuesday was the beginning of lent – where you use up your flour, eggs and butter. It is now widely celebrated all over the world, with other countries favouring more savoury fillings – including chickpeas, salmon, curry, salad and more!

Pancake day doesn’t have to be an unhealthy one. You can still use it as an opportunity to give your kids 1 of their 5 a day. I love bananas and chopped nuts with my pancakes, but other options could include warm apple and cinnamon, tinned fruits, dried fruits with a big blob of natural yoghurt or for the chocoholics amongst you, Nutella is a fab way of getting that cocoa fix and some of your calcium for the day!

Have fun! And good luck to the competitors of the Olney Pancake Race in Buckinghamshire! It’s great to see that the tradition lives on!

Valentines Day is the perfect excuse to celebrate love.

Valentine’s Day may be a time to appreciate one another and celebrate your love, but this does not necessarily mean that we have to lavish each other in expensive gifts, where the price tag may have been raised because of the holiday associated with the time of year. 

Why not celebrate Valentines Day this year with a lovely duvet day for all the family, grab some comfy cushions, put your pyjamas on and pad out the living room in front of the fire. All decide on some favourite DVDs, snacks and treats and spend some quality time as a family. Just relax! You could even try some relaxation exercises together, so that you all experience being calm and serene in this manic world together. 

Crafty hearts

You could also make some hearts and write what you love about each other in the hearts.

Love notes

Why not send each other a secret love letter and list all the reasons why you love each other or leave love notes around the house.

Cookies

You could make heart shaped cookies or fortune cookies and leave love notes inside each one.

Dinner

Get the children involved in dinner and let each member have their favourite item.  Decorate the table and light candles to make it special.

Here are some questions to get the whole class or family thinking about…

Put some relaxing music on and take out 5 minutes out of the busy day to ask children to think about people who have made a big difference to them

Ask them to:

‘Name the people who have helped you’

‘Name the people who make you feel special’.

‘Name the people who make you feel loved and valuable’.

‘Name the people who you love being with’.

When they have completed this, they might like to write a note or letter to some of these special people.

The things we want and need are free!

The main things our children want and need are free… time, energy, love, hugs, attention and praise. A great way to ensure that they are getting what they need is to make a selection of love tokens. You can make these with your children out of paper or card and laminate them or collect and draw words on pebbles.

Here are some token ideas:

Hug token

Game token

Story token

Love token

Time token

Laughter token

Foot rub token

Once they are made, place the love tokens in a box, bag or jar.

Make up your own rules as to when they take a token. It could be once a day or one in the morning and evening or when they need it or come home from school. Let them choose and token and trade it in for some quality time with you. Don’t forget to join in and pick tokens out of the jar to claim your hugs and kisses.

Please let us know how you get on with this activity and pass this on to your friends and fam

Positive statements are a great way of inspiring children to be positive.Here are some thoughts to share with your child.

I am unique. I am special. I think about all the things that make me special. I choose to think thoughts that make me feel good about myself. I deserve to have good in my life, I know that I am special. I love the fact that I am different and unique – I am not afraid to be different. I am not afraid to be special. I know that I am loved and respected. I love and respect myself. I believe in myself I know that I make a difference to those around me. I can make a valuable contribution to my community.

I know that I am wonderful. I feel good about myself. I believe in myself.

I feel confident I can do whatever I want. I think I have to think confident thoughts I fill my mind with positive thoughts about myself. I only have good thoughts about myself – everyday I think of more and more reasons why I am amazing.

I will make a list of why I am so special. I am proud of the things I have achieved. I congratulate myself. I love myself. I am unique and wonderful. I am individual and one of a kind. There is no one in the world quite like me. I am magnificent – I think about all the reasons why I am magnificent. I refuse to think negative thoughts.

I refuse to listen to any negative words from others, No matter what anyone says, I know inside that I am OK. No matter what happens, I know that I am unique and amazing.

I am proud to be different. I will now start to appreciate how amazing I am. I am starting to love myself I accept myself just the way that I am. I love and accept myself.

Please pass this on,  forward to a friend

If you liked this blog,  tell your friends, colleagues, local schools and nurseries and help us help others! Thank you.

What does the word love mean to children?

It’s the month of love. and it is so interesting to hear what your children’s thoughts on love are. Here’s some of the best below! The answers were broad and deep… Ask your kids what they think!

‘When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.’ – Rebecca – age 8

‘When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.’ – Billy – age 4

‘Love is when a girl and boy put on perfume and they go out and smell each other.’ – Karl – age 5

‘Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your chips without making them give you any of theirs.’ – Chrissy – age 6

‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.’- Terri – age 4

‘Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.’ – Danny – age 7

‘Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mummy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss’ – Emily – age 8

‘Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.’ – Bobby – age 7 (Wow!)

‘If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.’ – Nikka – age 6 (We need a few million more Nikkas on this planet)

‘Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.’ – Noelle – age 7

‘Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.’- Tommy – age 6

‘During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.’ – Cindy – age 8

‘My mummy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.’ – Clare – age 6

‘Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.’ – Elaine-age 5

‘Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.’ – Mary Ann – age 4

‘I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes, and has to go out and buy new ones.’ – Lauren – age 4

‘When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.’ (what an image) – Karen – age 7

‘Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.’ – Mark – age 6

‘You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.’- Jessica – age 8