Mental health affects every aspect of a person’s life. You should nurture your children’s psychological, emotional, and social well-being at a young age so they can grow up to be well-adjusted adults. Practice these nine habits to help your kids be mentally fit.
Outdoor play
Letting your little explorer spend ample time outside the house to play and experience the world independently satisfies their innate curiosity. Outdoor play aids cognitive development because nature is full of obstacles to overcome and mysteries to unravel.
Taking your children to a park or playground allows them to interact with other kids. Playing with others teaches them communication, cooperation, compromise, and other vital social skills.
Catching enough sunshine increases the body’s vitamin D production, which helps regulate mood, while exposure to natural elements — such as trees and breezes — is relaxing.
Mindfulness
Mindful children are attuned to their inner voice. Understanding what’s happening inside them makes it easier to manage emotions and overcome adversities.
Mindfulness begins with body appreciation. Teach your kids to pay attention to the things they involuntarily do — like breathing, seeing, hearing, or sweating — and explain why to encourage them to be more conscious of their bodily functions.
Moreover, train your children to label sensations, thoughts, and feelings. This activity expands their vocabulary and helps them express their inner experiences.
Adventurous eating
Picky eaters often stress over where and what to eat. Unfortunately, children tend to be reluctant to try unfamiliar foods. A limited diet can negatively impact their mental health because malnutrition can affect their academic performance.
Help your kids be more adventurous at the dinner table by serving small portions of various items, presenting meals in fun ways, and letting them play with food. More importantly, lead by example and eat the rainbow yourself.
Decluttering and organization
Messy spaces raise stress and anxiety levels, agitating and causing your kids to lose focus on what they’re doing. This is why it’s important to declutter, but being too on edge to concentrate can lead to sleep problems, making regulating emotions more challenging.
Train your children to tidy up their rooms, which helps keep clutter under control. Tell them where things should be and to put stuff back to keep their space neat and organized.
Positive Affirmations
Words are powerful, so teach your kids empowering statements to shape their self-image positively. Reciting affirmations aloud or in their head can help them overcome negative thoughts and emotions by reinforcing what they notice and like about themselves.
Furthermore, children can find words of encouragement beneficial without experiencing mental distress. Incorporating these messages into their routines — like when looking in the mirror in the morning or before bed — can make children happier, more resilient to tackle challenges, and more academically inclined.
Mottainai
“Mottainai” is a Japanese phrase meaning “regret over waste.” It stems from the Buddhist belief that everything is interconnected and interdependent. This centuries-old philosophy teaches kids to reduce, reuse and recycle and to live a sustainable lifestyle.
Mottanai also has a Shinto component. Practitioners of the Japanese religion Shintoism believe that sacred spirits reside in living and nonliving things. Therefore, everything deserves respect. Respecting valuables encourages children to feel thankful for what they have and discourages them from throwing anything away needlessly.
If you want to raise less materialistic kids, introducing the concept of mottanai is worthwhile. Deep-seated aversion to waste curbs consumption and promotes circularity — maximizing an item’s value to conserve resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Growth mindset
Children with a growth mindset have a positive attitude toward failure. They believe they can improve their abilities through learning, hard work, and perseverance. This belief encourages kids to take a chance without fearing mistakes and handle setbacks properly.
A growth mindset can help your little ones recover from bad grades and develop skills to perform better in activities they aren’t innately good at. This line of thinking is vital to dreaming big and realizing children’s potential.
Yoga
This practice aids mindfulness through movement and breathwork. It also improves sleep, emotional regulation, and stress management. Completing challenging poses can build self-confidence.
Although most yogis are adults, many school-aged and adolescents also practice yoga. In 2022, the National Health Interview Survey found that 12.3% of children aged 4–17 had done this spiritual discipline in the past 12 months.
If you believe in yoga’s benefits for kids, practicing it yourself will make it easier to convince them to try it. Children copy grownups, so make yoga a fun family bonding activity.
Rest
Downtime has merit. Rest can mean staying at home doing nothing, watching TV all day, taking longer naps, or performing breathing exercises. Changes of pace can be rejuvenating — regardless of what downtime means to your children.
Even productive activities can feel monotonous over time. Instead of breaking your children’s routines, incorporate rest into them to prevent your kids from feeling burnout so they can live more balanced lives.
Teach your kids positive mental health habits
Children don’t grow up to be mentally fit without parental influence. Introduce and help them develop positive habits while under your care to foster emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
