The coronavirus continues to expand and disrupt the lives and normal routines of almost every person. As lockdowns begin to occur and our once busy lives begin to slow down or completely stop, it’s important to ensure that all members of our families are doing well and staying happy, focused, and healthy. In times of stress and uncertainty, much like we are currently experiencing, negative emotions and a sense of fear can take hold of us. While such an unpleasant experience is something we’d all naturally seek to avoid, the importance of limiting such negative feelings in the youngest members of our families, our children, is vital.
For our children, the experience that the coronavirus is creating for them can leave a lasting impact. Many of us are feeling highly stressed by the news and threat this virus poses to both our health and our livelihoods in many cases. The stress we feel can easily trickle down to our children, creating a sense of fear and nervousness that can affect their ability to complete schoolwork and get along well with other members of the family. Children are very sensitive to the state of being that other family members inhabit, making them just like little sponges. For this reason, it’s crucial we take steps to ensure that even amid fears of the coronavirus, our children are able to remain happy, focused, and healthy. Here we explore some of the best for making a positive experience amid the chaos a reality for our children.
One of the most vital first steps that must be considered when applying ideas for keeping kids happy, focused, and healthy is the changes they are experiencing that could create a sense of instability for them. Has your area called for a lockdown and self-quarantine? If so, your child has interrupted one of the most important and valuable parts of their day — school. As schools close and children are sent home to reuse their classes online, we cannot discount the impact that such a major change can have on our child’s wellbeing.
Children thrive in situations with predictability and stability. It’s important for a child’s ability to focus that there not be a constant flux of new and challenging situations. Having your child now staying home all day and night, missing out on the structure of their school experience as well as the socialization, is a major change that will decrease your child’s ability to focus well and ultimately can affect their happiness.
Keep your child’s environment and schedule as identical to its previous form before the change wrought by the coronavirus occurred. If your child was used to having lunch at noon and did their homework at 7 PM, try to continue observing these habits as unchanged as possible. The stability and sense of security that stems from keeping as many aspects of your child’s previous schedule will do wonders in providing them with a sense of focus and even happiness, as they feel less uproot and have fewer major changes to contend with.
Another important idea for helping to keep your child happy, focused, and healthy during the coronavirus is to limit their exposure to news about the virus and even just discussion as well. While it’s important that we stay informed on the situation, our children will only be made anxious by constant exposure to breaking news about a devastating disease. Instead of allowing your child to become worn down by the constant discussion of the coronavirus, implement a time each day for checking in with each other. This check-in time can serve as their daily news-check is they have concerns or questions or it can serve the purpose of helping keep their minds focused on other topics that might interest them further, helping to ensure our children stay happy and focused during the coronavirus outbreak.
Creating fun and engaging activities for your child to benefit from during this challenging time is an excellent way to help soften the impact of this chaotic time. The activities a child does can be held at the same time each day, helping to create a routine for the child that will lend support to them by creating a sense of normalcy. Additionally, choosing calming activities that require focus, like coloring, solving puzzles, or reading stories are ideal choices for helping children to zone into something that will give them a break from perceiving the unusual aspects of the coronavirus pandemic that might create fear or uncertainty in them.
An invaluable tool for helping keep children happy, focused, and healthy is meditation. While meditation might seem like a steep request for a child to participate in, the benefits of mindfulness for children, such as improved focus and mood, make the time it takes to get your child started with meditation completely worth it. Have your child join along as you begin meditating; they only need to meditate for 1 minute, during which you can work with them to teach this vital skill. Meditation is an excellent way to safeguard your child’s health, as it’s been proven to effectively reduce stress as well as improve our focus and mood.
Fitness is another important tool that should be utilized to keep our children healthy during these difficult times. While simply playing by hosting physical games like running and playing sports can help to protect your child’s health, taking this effort one step further can make the difference between restless and stressed children or happy and healthy children. There are many companies currently offering free virtual online exercise classes, such as beginner’s karate. Helping your child get started in participating in physical activity even while stuck at home during a lockdown is an incredible tool for improving our children’s physical health and ultimately their mental health through keeping them exercised and giving them an outlet to express stress.
It can be difficult for even adults today to make sense of the current situation in regards to the coronavirus; our children have less understanding of the situation yet are more sensitive to it than we are. At Premier Martial Arts, we cherish the health of children and want to ensure every child is given the tools they need to stay happy, focused, and healthy during these difficult times.
A List of Participating Virtual Karate Schools:
- Abilene, TX
- Abilene, TX – Wylie
- Aiken, SC
- Asheville, NC
- Augusta, GA
- Aurora, CO
- Bedford, TX
- Brunswick, GA
- Central Point, OR
- Conshohocken, PA
- Cranston, RI
- Creve Coeur
- Dickinson, TX
- Dover, DE
- Elk Grove, CA
- Evans, GA
- Knoxville, TN – Farragut
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Forty Fort, PA
- Franklin TN
- Gainseville, VA
- Georgetown, IN
- Grovetown, GA
- Knoxville, TN – Hardin Valley
- Harlingen, TX
- Haverhill, MA
- Huntingdon Valley, PA
- Lake Wylie, SC
- Lawrence, KS
- League City, TX
- Lebanon, TN
- Littleton, CO
- Mableton, GA
- Magnolia, TX
- Manassas, VA
- Marietta, GA
- Martinez, GA
- Newark, NY
- North Augusta, SC
- North Kingstown, RI
- Knoxville, TN – Northshore
- Pearland, TX
- Plano, TX
- Plantation, FL
- Powder Springs, GA
- Raynham, MA
- Round Rock, TX
- Sanford, FL
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Sharon Springs, GA
- Troy, MI
- West Cary
- West Linn, OR
- Knoxville, TN – West Town
- Weston, FL
- Wichita, KS
- Woodbridge, VA
