Children’s Wellbeing, Can Performing Arts Help?

Our Franchisee Becky from Jigsaw Oxford shares 5 simple and effective mindfulness techniques to help children’s wellbeing

We can’t deny that it’s been an eventful few years. And if we adults are feeling the stress then we can guess that the children around us are feeling it too in their own way. We may not think of children’s lives or wellbeing in that way, but they have pressures just like us. School, homework, friendships, social media, the list goes on and on.

The great news is there are some really simple and super effective techniques that you can share with your kids to help them relax from the stresses of their daily lives. You don’t need to be a yoga teacher or have a fancy set-up. You just need a little space and 5 minutes of your time.

Here are Becky’s 5 top tips for sharing a little mindfulness with your young ones.

BREATHING 

When we are stressed, our breath becomes shorter and shallower. We want to be encouraging our children to slow their breathing down and make it deeper. Then we can begin to relax our nervous systems and feel calm. Asking a child to sit and breathe may feel a little overwhelming, but here are some really fun ways to do this. You could find a flat surface, grab a big bag of feathers and spend 5 minutes blowing them across a table to each other. You could also ‘blow out’ some imaginary candles. Remind them that it feels really great if they breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth.

MAGIC MASSAGE

Massage is so good for our nervous system and helps to really chill us out. Encourage them to give themselves a foot massage, or tapping the top of their heads, or even a hand massage to get rid of that tension from laptops/writing/homeschooling. Add some relaxing music too!

CREATE THE SPACE

We all love to create a special space to do yoga. Candles, music, a lovely mat. Kids are exactly the same. Don’t be afraid to dim the lights and find the softest blanket.

BE SILLY

This one is so important. They spend so much time being told to be quiet/still/sensible. Instead, encourage them to pull funny faces, tell silly stories together and sing at the top of your lungs, just because. So much of life is aimed at us achieving something, especially for kids. Make time for lots of creative fun.

LET GO ON THE OUTCOME 

And finally, extra-curricular activities are a great way for a child to let off some steam. Having a place to go where they feel welcome to express themselves can be really special. Our weekend dance, drama and singing classes provide just that. A place to build confidence, let off steam, to feel part of a team and to totally be yourself. And is there anything more wonderful than that?

At Jigsaw Arts, a big part of what we do is encourage our students to let go of inhibitions and just freely express themselves and it’s a wonderful way to get out of our thinking brains and just be. 

Jigsaw students expressing themselves and having fun at their weekend performing arts classes.

To find out more about our weekend schools, or to find a Jigsaw school near you, click here.