See how wellness for kids is a growing movement to include meditations, weighted blankets, and sleep apps.
Plus, the verdict on if it’s a gimmick.
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You cuddle on the couch with yourweighted blanket, turning on something light to watch on TVnothing scary.
Then, you toggle over to YouTube to do a short meditation, led by your favorite influencer.
Bedtime rolls arounddefinitely your most dreaded part of the day.
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To help, you fire up your trusty sleep app, which finally lulls you softly to sleep.
Sound like an evening your favorite wellness influencer would post on IG?
Its actually one that could easily be made a reality for children.
Clearly mindfulness for kids has moved way beyond just yoga in the classrooms.
But are these new products actually helping children, or are they just a cash grab?
Traumatic experiences,like a parents death or divorce, can trigger anxiety disorders in some kids.
Dr. Gewirtz says many children also feel pressured to succeed from an early age.
Then you throw in a pandemic.
Dr. Gewirtz says the very real health threat of COVID-19 is felt by children just as it is adults.
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On top of that, the lack of social interaction and routine disruption dont help.
The pandemic is very stressfulto everyone, she says.
A lot of kids feel over-scheduled or an intense pressure to succeed.
She also says they decided to include little emoji accessories, representing different emotions kids may be feeling.
The emojis provide a way for them to better process their emotions.
Dr. Gewirtz agrees that play is, in fact, how kids process their emotions.
Play is really important.
It acknowledges these feelings and then gives them little activities to do.
Moshi($39/year) also incorporates mindfulness for kids through tech.
These breathing exercises are tailored specifically for emotional moments kids themselves might struggle with, like time-outs.
Chambers says that Moshis team works closely with sleep experts and scientists to create the apps programming.
The bedtime stories are custom created and feature a mix of narration, singing, and white noise.
One bedtime story about a train has an underlying sound of a train on the track.
Its a soft noise and its actually the same speed as a childs resting heartbeat, Chambers says.
Founder Kathrin Hamm says the company planned to launch its kids line in the fall.
The weighted blanket for kids can be used in a few different ways, Hamm says.
One is obviously for sleep.
Especially now with schedules being disrupted, kids are having an even harder time falling asleep.
The weighted blanket can help them fall asleep faster and also get better quality sleep.
The second way it can be used is at nap time.
And the third is in times of anxiety for 10 or 20 minutes just to calm down.
Is wellness for kids a gimmick?
But in general, shes all for anxiety-reducing kids tools like the ones highlighted here.
Certainly theres no better time than helping kids manage their anxiety than during a pandemic.
Creating a wellness routine before middle school?
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