4 creative activities to try at home that can enhance your children’s wellbeing

Looking for kids activities that contribute to their  wellbeing and help them feel calm? Your wish is our command. At CocoRio, we’re passionate about the ways creativity can promote positive emotional development, healthy lifestyles, calm moods and happy experiences. From journalling to cooking, creative activities can help improve their fine and gross motor skills, support language and communication and even reduce stress and anxiety. 

 Not sure where to start? We believe in utilising the resources you have at home.Whether you get creative with them yourself or choose to opt for one of our CocoRio creative nannies or mentors to give them a helping hand, you’ll have everything you need to try these creative activities to enhance their wellbeing. 

1.Do a mini yoga session

Hello, little stretchers! If you’re looking to try movement-based creativity, yoga with your child is a great place to start. Why? Research has shown that school-based yoga and mindfulness can promote a more relaxed, comfortable state for teaching and learning, bringing children into the present moment and providing healthy ways to express their emotions and behaviour. To start your yoga session, grab a yoga mat or sit on the grass outside. Ask your child to put their hands on their tummy and feel it expand as they breathe in, then watch as it retracts when they breathe out. The best part? You can do it together. Get them to copy your yoga poses and have fun with it – you could even sing songs or read a story in between moves. Try these yoga poses for a comfortable stretch - Downward Facing Dog, Frog Pose, Child’s Pose and Tree Pose.

2.Master the art of mindful colouring

Mindful colouring is a calming activity that allows children to get creative. In fact, concentrating on colouring into a template and staying within the lines can be great for children who are feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated. Why? It relaxes the mind and body and helps to improve their mood. Most importantly, mindful colouring allows your little one to get creative with colour and switch off, so it’s a great opportunity to bond with your little one and focus on the task together. We’d recommend finding a calm place, switching on some relaxing music and starting colouring! Top tip: to avoid buying a colouring book, you could print out an online template. Let the mindful colouring commence!

3.Start a journalling ritual

Think ‘Dear Diary’ but for 2024. Yes, just like a diary back in the day, journalling can be your child’s safe space to write or note down their emotions, adventures and thoughts. InAnd in a world of increasing screen time and online activity, you’ll enjoy seeing your child develop their language and creativity through writing. Documenting in this way can actually help them develop social skills, reduce stress, improve their emotional wellbeing and foster mindfulness. Don’t worry, If your little one can’t write, ask them questions and complete their journal for them. You could ask them what they did today, how they are feeling, to describe their friends or tell you about their favourite things. Want to go one step further? Include a gratitude list as part of their journalling, writing down 3 things they’re grateful for each day.

4.Make some healthy recipes

There’s nothing quite like cooking alongside your mini sous chef. And when you share the kitchen and cook together, you’ll want to make something healthy and delicious. This encourages positive eating habits, promotes a happy environment and can even teach your child about numerical concepts and languages (thanks to ingredient quantities, weighing scales, recipe methods and cookbooks). Need some inspo? Cook an omelette with an abundance of vegetables, decorate rice cakes with yoghurt and fruit or make a colourful fruit and vegetable smoothie.