With schools closed and kids everywhere engaged in remote learning, stress is bound to run high. It can be difficult for kids to adjust to sitting in front of the computer doing school work for hours at a time while being apart from their classmates and other friends. One way to reduce some of that stress is to encourage them to download an app – or three. Below are some of the most kid-friendly, stress-reducing apps available, and the best part is that they’re all free.
Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame Street
(Available at: Amazon Apps, Apple Appstore, Google Play; Age range: 5-8)
This app teaches kids how to relax themselves so that they can better cope with stressful situations. Divided into five interactive scenarios, kids help Cookie Monster take deep breaths, come up with plans for addressing these stressful situations, and then try out those plans. It includes a useful section with additional strategies and resources for parents.
DreamyKid
(Available at: Google Play; Age range: 9-18)
This app teaches kids how to relax their minds with guided meditations, visualizations, and affirmations through calming, positive messages. There are issue-specific meditations that kids might find particularly useful, including meditations aimed at focusing on their schoolwork.
Emotionary
(Available at: Apple Appstore, Goggle Play; Age range: 5-12)
This app enhances kids’ emotional intelligence by offering more than 100 short, simple, dictionary-style definitions of common emotions, each accompanied by a unique emoticon. It helps kids to develop a richer, more expansive vocabulary of emotions, and it teaches them how to deal with those emotions so that they don’t become overwhelmed by their feelings. Kids can create and add their own emoticons for feelings that aren’t included in the app.
Nature Melody
(Available at: Apple Appstore, Google Play; Age range: 5-18)
This app is designed to help kids get a good, relaxing start to their day. It functions like an alarm clock and has more than 30 soothing, nature-inspired sounds to wake your kids up slowly and gently in the morning. The app can be used in the afternoon and evening, too, using the nap and a sleep timer function, for a stress-free end to their day.
Relax Melodies
(Available at: Amazon Apps, Apple Appstore, Google Play; Age range: 5-18)
Like Nature Melody, this app gives kids a soothing start and finish to their day, with more than 50 relaxing sounds and melodies. It has several other features, including the ability to create unique mixes by combining sounds and melodies, a collection of so-called community tunes that represent the most popular mixes, and a number of accompanying meditations.
Super Stretch Yoga
(Available at: Apple Appstore; Age range: 9-18)
Created by a well-known yoga instructor, Jessica Rosenberg, this interactive app teaches kids yoga through video demonstrations by other kids, with a focus on breathing and movement. It’s narrated by a character named Super Stretch and features 12 different poses with different skill levels. Kids can use the built-in camera to take pictures of themselves doing the various poses.
Three Good Things: A Happiness Journal
(Available at: Apple Appstore; Age range: 5-18)
This app encourages kids to think positively by writing, every day, about three good experiences. The app helps kids think more positively by writing daily about three good experiences they’ve had. The app has a feature that lets kids upload and share their writings on social media.
Wellbeyond Meditation for Kids
(Available at: Apple Appstore; Age range: 5-8)
Like DreamyKids, this is a mediation app, but one geared towards younger kids. It has several guided meditations to help kids center themselves, focus on their breath, be in tune with their feelings, and experience empathy for others. Each meditation is narrated by a female voice that uses simple instructions to guide kids through various breathing and visualizing exercises.
Wuf Shanti Yoga Fun Machine
(Available at: Amazon Apps, Apple Appstore; Google Play; Age range: 5-8)
Based on the PBS children’s show featuring the yoga dog, Wuf Shanti, this app teaches young kids yoga. It has brief video demonstrations, photos, and descriptions of a person dressed in a dog suit, who uses animal movements to explain yoga poses. The app also has meditations and videos about positive words and phrases that kids can use in stressful situations.
More Apps:
Summer Apps to keep the kids entertained
