Self-Care Tips for Kids

Self-care involves a series of tasks that people perform in order to take care of their physical and mental health. Promoting self-care in children will help you raise happy and self-sufficient kids.

During childhood, children acquire all kinds of knowledge. However, one of the most important things they learn is how to treat themselves. Since sooner or later they’ll have to deal with themselves, it’s a good idea to teach them to do it with love and respect. This is why in this article, you’ll find self-care tips for kids.

Since the day babies are born, adults take care of them, feed them and protect them. Nevertheless, as time goes by, they start becoming more independent. And, what you teach them during childhood will transform the rest of their lives. That’s why it’s so important to make them understand how important self-care is.

Why is self-care necessary for kids?

Self-care refers to activities that we can engage in to take care of our own physical, mental and emotional health. It’s about adopting habits focused on our own well-being and on considering ourselves as our priority. So, why is it important to promote self-care in children? Because, they’re like sponges.

If we tell them they’re important and valuable, we’ll be favoring their self-esteem and happiness. As a result, they’ll become children who’ll be in contact with themselves, their needs and value. 

Self-care tips for kids

Start with yourself

First of all, you should know that parents are children’s role models. Therefore children will learn from their parents everything about the world that surrounds them. So, if you’re the one in charge of taking care of them during their first years of life, they’ll learn everything from you.

They’ll pay attention to the way you take care of your health and well-being, and they’ll repeat those actions. For example, they’ll want to dress themselves and brush their teeth without your help. Furthermore, they’ll learn to talk to themselves kindly if that’s what you do.

In addition, you set an example for them whenever you take care of yourself. When you become a mother, children become your priority, and sometimes, it’s hard to find time for yourself. However, you must do it. Firstly, you’ll do it for yourself, and secondly, you’ll do it for them.

This is because children will do what you do and not what you say. So, when you take care of your body and emotions, you’ll show them firsthand how important it is to do so. 

Take care of your body

To take care of your body, you can carry out specific actions. Notwithstanding, the most important thing is how you nourish it. Teach your children to eat a variety of healthy foods. And motivate them to do it for their health – not for their beauty.

Additionally, encourage them to practice sports to have fun and to get stronger. Help them adopt healthy habits, like brushing their teeth after every meal or brushing their hair every morning. It’s important that they understand they have to do these things for their own hygiene and health – not because you say so.

Take care of spaces

When we tell our children to clean their bedroom or make their bed, we tend to make it look like an act of discipline. However, it’ll be better if we tell them that our space influences our mood and that a tidy room equals a tidy mind. So, you can encourage them to take care of their space, by letting them decorate their bedroom the way they like.

The idea is that tidying up their bedroom become a self-care act instead of an obligation. They must feel satisfied, because they’re helping themselves to have a nice and clean space of their own.

Emotional self-care tips

Finally, to help children develop emotional self-care, you should help them become familiar with their emotions. They should be able to identify and control them. There are different resources you can use, such as children’s books, but above all, you should talk to them whenever they get to face a difficult situation.

This way, you’ll help them accept negative emotions and look for positive attitudes. In fact, you can train them to change their thoughts. Following these self-care tips for kids, you’ll be promoting love and responsibility. And, you’ll be teaching them valuable habits they’ll adopt to live a healthy and happy life.