Report for Carey West, Manager, Merton Preschool.
Relax Kids
Relax Kids creates calm confident kids.
Relax Kids classes give children the chance to build confidence and self-esteem as well as
learn tools and techniques that will set them up for life.
Those attending the sessions will learn skills that they can use every day:
 How to develop their self confidence
 How to manage their moods or emotions
 How to manage stress and anxiety
 How to increase their brain power
 How to relax and improve their sleep
Relax Kids uses relaxation techniques to help children recognise their strengths and manage
their emotional journey through life. The relaxation techniques provide a toolbox of skills
which can be transferred into later life. If children can learn to be calm under pressure at a
young age, then they stand in good stead for their adult life.
Relax Kids classes include the following activities:
 DYNAMIC warm ups and exercises
 EXCITING games
 RELAXING stretches
 CALMING breathing exercises
 SOOTHING self massage
 POSITIVE affirmations
 CREATIVE visualisations
Relax Kids supports mental health:
 Stills, calms and clears the minds
 Sharpens concentration and focus
 Improves memory retention
 Reduces stress and tension
 Increases positive thinking
 Stimulates imagination and creativity
Relax Kids supports emotional well-being:
 Develops self confidence
 Promotes positivity and self esteem
 Increases emotional literacy
 Builds emotional resilience
 Provides tools to cope with stress and anxiety
 Increases happiness and optimism
Relax Kids supports physical health:
 Develops body awareness, flexibility and relaxes muscles
 Decreases physical tension, releases endorphins and calms the nervous system
 Boosts energy levels and circulation and immune system and improves sleep
I have been working in Merton Preschool since May 2015 running Relax Kids sessions for a
small group of children. Each session lasts for 30 minutes and follows the unique 7 steps of
relaxation that all Relax Kids classes follow regardless of age of children (although the
activities are different according to age range).
Each session can really help children to learn tools to manage their emotions, manage their
behaviour, improve their self confidence and self esteem, help with sleep to name a few
things.
A typical class begins with a warm up followed by high energy and low energy games to
teach the children how easy it is to be noisy and loud one minute and then quiet and still
the next, we play a few games like this to help their understanding. We play slow games
which encourage the children to slow down (this might be melting like a snowman on a hot
sunny day, or being a seed and growing into a sunflower) this again helps children
understand the differences between being noisy and quiet.
We practise some gentle stretching exercises which help circulation and balance and then
the children do a gentle self massage which they all really love doing and I believe this is
used in the setting after my classes.
We then do a nice angel face massage where the children have learnt a routine that they
often remember from week to week (this is self massage). This helps reduce stress levels
and helps the children start to learn calming techniques.
Breathing is a big part of each class and each week there are two consistent breathing
exercises that children become really familiar with alongside 2 other breathing exercises
that they can also practice, this might be imagining they are breathing their worries or sad
thoughts into a balloon and then breathing their happy thoughts into a balloon.
The believe part is all about building self esteem and self confidence in the children. The
children learn to describe themselves in a positive way by copying what I say. For example
we pass around a mirror and say ‘I am special’ every week; encouraging the children to look
at themselves in the mirror and to say those words to themselves. This helps children start
to believe that they are those words which in itself is just so lovely. We also pass around a
star and say things like ‘I am clever’, ‘I am helpful’, ‘I am relaxed’
The final part is when we get the children to sit or lie nicely on blankets and then the
children hear relaxation stories which are, again, positive stories. The group in preschool
now listen to around 3 stories and are able to sit still during those stories.