Parents usually focus on mental fitness of their kids when
there is a crisis to deal with. Other than that, the topic of mental health is
often left out of discussion. What mental health really is? Mental health is
the health of brain. It mainly involves ability to think and process the
situations in order to derive solutions which are beneficial in every aspect.
The better your mental health is, the better you will be able to derive
solutions. With that said, mentally fit
children are usually quite capable in managing emotions, interacting with
others, learning inside and outside of school, and self-awareness for the
purpose of looking after their own well-being.
Now, a child who is not mentally fit is always going to act
out in different ways when there is the time of frustration. These reactions
can be in different ways from throwing tantrums to self-harming. However, it’s
never late to help the kids in attaining good level of mental fitness.
There are a few ways you can help your kids in practicing
mental fitness skills. Let’s discuss.
Reduce screen time
Children, now days, interact with the TVs, computers and
phones a lot. And it is one of the most accepted facts that screen never even
tends to show what the real life is. It, in fact, focuses more on fantasies.
Now, the damage this screen can do to the children’s mind is that they find
less opportunities to face real situations in their lives because they are too
busy watching their favorite shows and playing games. Hence, they get affected
by the gap in their mental fitness which would get created due to reduced
social interaction.
With that said, there are a few things that you should take into consideration.
- There should be no TVs in the bedrooms.
- You should plan about giving your kids some outdoor activities like walk, going to the playground, swimming etc.
- Don’t let the children under 2-year age to watch TV.
- TVs should be switched off during meal times.
- Since children are always going to follow what their parents do, reduce your screen time as well.
Encourage your kids
to do exercise
If you want to keep your child mentally fit, you will also
have to focus on his/her physical fitness. Physical fitness activities basically
stimulate the blood flow to every cell of the body including brain cells.
Furthermore, unstructured play can help children to use their thinking
abilities to find a way out of different situations. Hence, they get their
mental fitness improved from this angle as well.
Kids should be encouraged to perform physical activity of at
least 60 minutes on daily basis. Intensity can be added in the workout after
kids develop a habit to go out and play or do exercise.
