We all have those days. Those days that seem endless, the days in which our kids won’t stop bickering and you are just about to pull your hair out if one more fit is thrown.
These hard days usually start after a long stretch without any outside playtime due to either weather or illness, and can seem incredibly difficult to curtail.
However, you don’t have to deal with these negative behaviors, especially if you know that your kids will be cooped up for a bit longer. Here are a few quick and easy ways to reset your kids’ attitudes that can all be done in under an hour:
Bust Out the Emergency Toys
Always keep a box of special emergency toys to random rainy days. These types of toys need to be different from those your kids normally play with so that they will immediately captivate their attention. Pull them out on hard days and then set the timer for 30 to 45 minutes. Once the time is up, put those toys back up so that they will work for the next rainy day.
Shred Paper
When kids play outside, they are usually digging in the dirt, building and tearing down forts, or just breaking twigs and pulling up grass. These activities are mini stress relievers that they often use without knowing. However, when they are inside for a long duration of time, kids don’t have access to these sorts of behaviors.
To release that pent up anxiety and to release any grudges they may be holding towards siblings, let them tear up paper. Simply put a stack of paper in the middle of a room and yell “Go!” have them start shredding it. After a couple of minutes yell “Stop!” and let them scramble to quickly clean it all up. They can throw it up in the air and let it rain on them like confetti, get out all emotions, and turn that cooped up feeling into laughter.
Get Your Groove On
Kids love music and are highly responsiveto it. If you don’t have enough time to set up a game or complete a more intensive activity, simply put on your kids’ favorite music. Crank it up, and get everyone – yourself included – dancing around the house. Your kids will enjoy the physical activity, laughs will be heard, and you should have a good mood reset in no time.
The Animal Game
For mom, this is a pretty easy one. Simply have your kids line up in a room, about arm’s length apart from each other, and start calling out animals. With each call, your kids have to act like whatever animal you have just called out. Once they seem to have down that particular animal, call out another one – the sillier the better. Your kids will be laughing quickly, and you will get great enjoyment out of it to.
Slow Mo
A good fun game that gets everyone feeling silly and happy again is Slow Mo. When your kids seem to be bouncing off the walls or antagonizing each other to no end, call out “Slow Mo!” Everyone must then move and speak in slow motion. Try to do it in a fashion where you lead, so that your kids must follow you around and mimic all your actions. This will allow you to make it more silly which should quickly brighten moods.
There are several other easy ways to reset poor moods, from art projects to mini games, you simply need to be a little creative and have an arsenal of them to be ready to use at a moments notice. Bad days, especially consecutive bad days, can really turn a household in to a nightmare. So if you begin to notice moods turning sour, quickly employ a few of these reset strategies to have your household happy once again.
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