Stress is inevitable in life, and it’s vital to learn how to cope and deal with obstacles thrown your way. There’s power in connection as you deal with challenges as a family. However, sometimes it’s hard to find activities to relieve stress while connecting with your child.
You can try many things, whether you and your spouse take a weekend getaway to Cumberland Gap or practice deep breathing with your child. The most important thing is to spend quality time having fun and building memories. Here are some family stress-relief activities that can help you feel better together.
Read Together
Books present bonding opportunities for you and your child. When they’re young, being expressive as you read to them can help boost your mood and distract you from daily stresses. Reading is an excellent example of relaxation activities for parents. As your child grows and starts choosing their own books, you can bond over sharing the details.
Perhaps you can even create a mini book club to reduce stress and engage your imagination. The content isn’t as important as the time you share discussing what you’ve read. Spend time sharing perspectives, favorite characters and plot elements you liked or disliked and what you would have done differently.
Peruse Photo Albums
Memories can evoke happy feelings and make you nostalgic. Looking through photo albums is an effective way to relax, relieve stress and connect with your child. Make a night of it and have the entire family get out old pictures and share their favorites.
This can be a great way to bond and share memories with your family. Life gets busy and hectic, and it’s nice to reflect and see how far you’ve come. Old photos can also be a way to share your family history with your child.
Utilize Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness practices can help you find your center and calm you down in times of frustration. You can cultivate mindfulness with deep breathing techniques or by quieting your mind. Your goal is to separate your thoughts from actions and notice how you feel. Mindfulness promotes calmness and generates inward thinking to quiet outward stressors.
Mindful walks on a hiking trail or around your neighborhood are one of the best family stress relief activities. Encourage your children to pay attention to their surroundings. They should notice the colors of the trees, the smell of fresh air and the crunch of leaves under their feet. Being present and grateful for little things and moments can relieve stress and be an excellent relaxation technique.
Dance It Out
Dancing is a perfect way to relieve stress and get your blood pumping. You can dance solo or make it a family affair. It can form connections and provide an outlet for anger or frustration. Movement like this increases serotonin, the feel-good hormone that can help combat the things that are bothering you.
Dancing is the perfect way to get your kids moving in a fun way without negative notions of exercise. Exposing your child to rhythm can also help them learn better. Remembering choreography can increase memory function, among other things.
Consider joining a dance class with your child or involving the whole family. The next time something stresses you out, crank up the jams and jump around in your living room — whatever works for you. Dancing releases tension and can spark laughter between you and your child.
Play Board Games
There’s nothing quite like some friendly competition to ease stress levels and spark joy in a family. Board games are so much fun for children and parents alike. You can also play charades anywhere since it doesn’t require a board, dice or anything.
Some other family fun games are the classics like Monopoly, Scrabble or Scattergories. If you have young children, you can tailor your games to something they’ll enjoy, like Go Fish, Trouble or Checkers. Games are an excellent strategy to distract yourself from your struggles and reduce stress.
Hit the Water
Another great way to get your family moving is to have some fun in the sun. Even if the weather isn’t hot enough to swim, outdoor activities near the water can build connection and bonding opportunities for your family. Being near water is calming and can affect your overall well-being. Camping, kayaking, canoeing, picnicking and hiking are all great ways to relieve stress in nature.
Water benefits your mental health and can improve negative thoughts and emotions. Nature is a natural stress reliever — it has calming effects on your mind and body. Research shows that you only need to spend 10 minutes in nature to boost your stress levels.
Family Stress-Relief Activities
There are many opportunities to reduce stress in your family naturally, and they don’t require going to therapy or spending lots of money. Difficulties will arise, but these stress-relief activities can help you cope and connect as you tackle life’s many challenges.
