Self-Soothing Techniques for Children

Breathing Exercises

• Breathing exercises that involve your child letting his belly expand as he inhales through his nose and deflate as he exhales through his mouth can help calm excited nerves. The intake of oxygen and exhaling of carbon dioxide when a kid breathes deeply can lower his blood pressure and slow his heartbeat, according to Harvard Medical School. When teaching this technique to a younger child, have him blow on a pinwheel so it spins slowly or create big bubbles with a bottle of bubble solution. An older child in elementary school can pretend that he is blowing out candles on a cake or blowing up a make-believe balloon, using his hands as the pretend balloon. If a child is old enough to chew gum, have him blow bubbles as large as he can without them popping.

Muscle Relaxation

• When a child feels anxious, oxygen-rich blood triggered by her fight-or-flight response may cause large muscle groups to feel tense, according to the University of Texas. Practicing progressive muscle relaxation helps release the tension so the child feels calmer. Guide a younger child by telling her to bring her shoulders up to her ears for five seconds and then relax. Then have her squeeze a foam ball in each hand at the same time for five seconds before relaxing. Finally, tell the kid to curl her toes for five seconds and then relax. If you have an older child, have her contract more muscle groups, like the biceps, stomach, thighs and calves. Repeat the exercise with each muscle group five times.

Guided Imagery and Meditation

• Mediation and guided imagery teach a child to calm his body and mind, and develop self-control, says family development expert Gayle Peterson on her website. Guided imagery and meditation work best in a quiet, comfortable environment. When you do guided imagery, your kid closes his eyes as you use a soothing voice to help him imagine that he̵7;s in a relaxing situation. With a younger child, you may have him imagine that he̵7;s filling bubbles with his negative emotions, which disappear into the air. In an article for ̶0;Real Simple,̶1; author Danny Dreyer recommends having an older child imagine he is in a snow globe and pretend the snow flurries are his negative emotions. As he meditates, he imagines the snow settling to the bottom of the globe. He then focuses on something other than his troubles, like his breathing or how his hands feel.

Listening to Music

• Calm music helps lower a child's level of stress hormones, blood pressure and heart rate, according to PsychCentral. When a younger child feels stressed, have her listen to calm music, such as lullabies, using a pair of headphones. Create a playlist of calm, spa-like music for an older child to play on an MP3 player. Or, let a child play a quiet instrument to calm down, such as a rain stick, chimes or a Tibetan singing bowl.