Every parent places a high priority on their children’s happiness and overall well-being. However, not many know that it can be created easily. No, we are not asking about making your kids happy by gifting them toys and chocolates. In reality, happiness is something that should come from within. When happiness is innate, the human body produces happy hormones, like oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. These happy hormones are chemicals produced by our bodies and are responsible for making us experience positive feelings like happiness and pleasure.
We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, positioned among the top 10 schools in Gurgaon, believe that the release of happy hormones shouldn’t be limited to materialistic pleasures like toys and chocolates. Instead, parents can help keep their little ones feeling happy most of the time and contribute to their overall well-being by simply engaging them in activities that release happy hormones. Especially if you feel your children have started remaining more stressed, anxious, and dull because of a demanding routine, encourage them to participate in the following activities and see their happiness levels soar.
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Embrace the Power of Laughter Yoga
We highly recommend laughter yoga because it is a fun and active way to get your child giggling and releasing more happy hormones. Unlike traditional yoga, laughter yoga isn’t focused on stretching and specific poses. It is about combining playful exercises with simulated laughter to induce genuine chuckles.
Laughter yoga sessions often involve silly movements, clapping with laughter outbursts, pretending to laugh at silly situations, etc. These simple exercises have a profound impact and can help release endorphins, body’s natural mood elevators. You can find numerous laughter yoga videos on YouTube and start practicing them at home with your kids.
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Tap into the Power of Music Therapy
We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok believe music isn’t just entertaining but also therapeutic. Simply listening to a happy beat can instantly uplift a person from feeling sad to excited and joyful. So, whenever you see your kids feeling upset or unmotivated, play a song to uplift their mood and see the magic. You can also encourage them to sing along so their body experiences a surge of happy hormones, especially dopamine.
Besides singing, even playing instruments can promote feelings of motivation, happiness, and enjoyment. Even if you don’t have any musical instruments at home, ask your kids to tap on pots, pans, bins, etc., to create some music. It would have the same effect on your child’s mood.
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Engage in Creative Plays with Sensory Toys
Sensory toys aren’t ordinary fun fidgets but powerful tools to trigger the release of happy hormones. When kids play with different textures, sounds, and visual stimuli, it activates various brain regions, resulting in the release of dopamine. As parents, you can look for age-appropriate sensory toys that are fun and safe for their kids, like kinetic sand, a squishy ball, etc. If your kids are too young, create a homemade sensory bin for them by filling a clean bin with beans, pasta, or crinkled paper. Keep rotating sensory toys so your kids don’t get bored over time.
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Encourage Acts of Kindness
Kindness is contagious because it doesn’t benefit the recipient alone. When kids participate in acts of kindness through volunteering work, charity, helping their classmates, aiding age-appropriate home chores, etc., they experience a rush of oxytocin, a hormone responsible for fostering feelings of love, trust, and connection. The best part about this activity is that no act of kindness is too small, so kids should not shy away from performing even the smallest of kind actions. Doing so activates their brain’s reward center, releasing happy hormones.
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Introduce Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation might look like a misfit for kids because they’re often viewed as adult activities. However, we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok has a different viewpoint. We believe these tools are designed for everyone because they help practitioners focus on the present moment, resulting in lowering stress and promoting the release of feel-good hormones. When kids practice mindfulness activities like deep breathing, they trigger the release of serotonin, a hormone known for promoting feelings of well-being and calmness.
The best part about mindfulness and meditation is that it doesn’t have to be complex or elaborate. Something as simple as sitting undisturbed for five minutes and focusing on breath and the surroundings can do wonders. Peaceful walks in the nature also have great impact on the overall well-being.
Conclusion
Kids deserve to be happy all the time and parents can help them achieve it. After all, happiness is contagious. A happy child can make their parents as well as a lot many people around them happy. Moreover, happiness is vital for physical and mental well-being of kids. It is, hence, wise to invest efforts to ensure a constant release of happy hormones in kids.
Since all kids are unique and may respond better to certain activities than other, we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, one of the best schools in Gurgaon, recommend parents to introduce their children to multiple activities and see which one clicks. You can begin trying out the activities discussed in this blog post and stick to the ones that your kids enjoy the most. Regardless of the activity you choose, see to it that you practice it for extended periods to see tangible improvements.