7 Activities to Improve Your Family’s Mental Health This Summer

After a busy school year, filled with early start times, homework, extracurricular activities, and family members busily running in different directions, it’s time to take a deep breath and lean into a slower rhythm of life. That slower pace provides an opportunity to improve your family’s connection, peace, and overall mental health.

Below are a variety of mental health-friendly ideas to try to see what fits your family best. The goal, of course, is not to pile on more to-dos, but to add in a couple of key elements to help each family member feel loved, appreciated, and connected.

Play gratitude games

Being thankful is not just a good biblical habit. Many scientific studies prove the mental health benefits of gratitude. Teach your kids the beauty of a gratitude break, whether you’re driving in the car, out on an adventure, or simply hanging outside together.

My favorite gratitude exercise for individuals and families combines grounding and gratitude. This can be a great mental health skill for kids and adults of all ages, providing peace and calm when we refocus on what we have to be thankful for. This can be done anywhere, but is especially helpful outside in the fresh air.

Go through each of the five senses, naming something you’re thankful for, with each person taking a turn. Below are some examples.

What do you see? “I’m thankful for the sunshine.” “I’m thankful for the big shade tree.” “I’m thankful for the waves at the ocean.”

What do you hear? “I’m thankful for the birds singing.” “I’m thankful for baby brother’s giggle.” “I’m thankful for music.”

What can you touch/feel? “I’m thankful for the sun on my face.” “I’m thankful for the gentle wind.” “I’m thankful for your big hugs.”

What can you smell? “I’m thankful for the smell of the roses.” “I’m thankful for the smell of the salt water.” “I’m thankful for the smell of the oranges.”

What can you taste? “I’m thankful for the cool water to drink.” “I’m thankful for Popsicles that taste yummy and cool us down when it’s hot.” “I’m thankful for s’mores!”

Have fun with feelings

Find a child-friendly feelings chart online to print and/or purchase, and every day, have your family name their emotions. This is an important skill called “emotional granularity” that can help you and your children be able to recognize their own emotions and begin to communicate them in healthy ways.

Your goal is to validate the emotion and not try to talk them out of it. For example, instead of, “Don’t be sad. You can play with your friend tomorrow.” Try this: “I hear that you were sad because you couldn’t play with your friend yesterday. That makes sense since you love to play with him/her.”

You can also help them expand their emotional vocabulary by adding in a possible suggestion, such as: “Do you think you were also disappointed that you couldn’t play with your friend?”

Practice deep breathing and co-regulation

You’ve no doubt experienced your child’s emotional dysregulation. This is when their feelings get so big that they collapse into tears or start screaming, or have some type of “emotional outburst.” Parents have a special ability to help their child return to calm through a process called “co-regulation.”

For some kids, it can be helpful for their parents to lovingly scoop them up in their arms, hold them close, and – with as much empathy as the parent can muster – guess the child’s emotion. Say something like, “You seem angry (or sad or frustrated). Let’s take some deep breaths together to help your body feel calm.”

Practicing deep breathing before your child needs it can be helpful, so your child is prepared. Hold out your finger and say, “Imagine this is a beautiful flower and you want to smell it. Let’s take a deep breath together.” “Now, let’s imagine we’re a balloon, and fill up our whole body with air like a balloon – down to our toes and up to our head.” Then hold out your finger again, now pretend this is a birthday candle. Blow it out with all the air in your body.”

Then, when your child is dysregulated, you can hold them close, help them name their emotion, validate that emotion (i.e., “that makes sense that you are angry, tired, frustrated”), and help them take a deep breath, hold it, and breath it out nice and slow. You might need to repeat this a few times until you feel their bodies relax.

Please note that some children might not want to be held tight, and that’s ok. Work with them to see what feels safest and most calming, such as looking into each other’s eyes while you safely hold their hands in yours.

Special Note For Parents: If you’re feeling overwhelmed or dysregulated yourself, take a few deep breaths on your own, remind yourself that your emotions are normal, but you want this to be a healing moment for your child, not punishment. Co-regulation is meant to help your child’s body return to a sense of calm.

Holding them should feel safe and comforting, not angry or mean. If you’re struggling with emotional dysregulation and having a hard time helping your child feel calm, it’s possible the interaction is bringing up some painful thoughts or memories. Consider talking to a therapist to work through your own emotions to help you be the best parent you can be.

Pray Scripture prayers

Even toddlers and preschoolers can learn short Scripture truths that can help them feel safe and calm. Make it a fun exercise each day to practice a Scripture prayer, maybe in the morning or at bedtime. This is a scripture that they can pray. Zephaniah 3:17 is a great verse to start with. You can start with one line at a time, adding in motions to help it feel fun and memorable:

“For the Lord your God is living among you.
“He is a mighty savior.
“He will take delight in you with gladness.
“With his love, he will calm all your fears.
“He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Get moving

Have you ever noticed that when you feel stressed, your body feels tense, sore, or uncomfortable? Teach your kids to have a daily dance party. Put on some fun music and dance around with your kids, helping them loosen up and be silly. The goal is simply to get smiles, laughter, connection, and a relaxed body.

Explore something new

Do your children have special interests? Encourage them in their areas of strength this summer, and let them explore at their own pace. Maybe it’s cooking together in the kitchen, or learning a new craft, or practicing a sport together. Allow this to be a fun time of exploration, without trying to overcontrol the experience.

When possible, if something is free and doable, say “yes.” That does not mean you are abdicating your parental role. But you are helping them learn to be creative and speak up. For example, if they say, “Can we go to the park today?” Don’t automatically say “no.” Instead, validate the idea and see when that could be accommodated. For example, “Oh, that would be fun! Today we’re going to VBS, but let’s plan to go to the park next week.”

Some fanciful requests can’t be accommodated in real life, but you can create a playground in their brain that can become helpful in destressing in the future. Some comments that help with this include, “That’s an interesting idea. What would you do if you had a pet pig?” Or “Wow, that would be fun to fly in outer space. What do you think would be your favorite part of being an astronaut?”

Plan reading time

Yes, reading is important for your child’s education, but it is also an evidence-based practice that helps us feel calm and sparks our imagination. Many libraries have fun incentives for reading over the summer. The goal is to increase their love for books, so don’t be too rigid about reading levels if it’s a book they’re eager to read. Remember, this should be a fun, downtime activity to help them learn that books can help them feel more peaceful and calmer.

To develop family connection time, consider books you can read aloud to them. Finding books that have been turned into a movie, like “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” can be a fun incentive to watch after you’ve read the book together. Then you can enjoy family time, comparing the book with the movie in a fun, relaxed way.

These are just a few ideas to foster good mental health this summer. Get creative and see what works best for your family to increase calm, creativity, and connection.

Christian Counseling for Mental Health

If your child struggles with emotional outbursts and dysregulation, therapy can give you both the tools to help them express their emotions in healthy ways. Find a therapist at California Christian Counseling.