I have a six year old son with Anxiety and OCD. These are a few things I do to help him relax or help guide him out of his OCD to help “change his mind”.

• Mandala coloring pages have been a fun and creative way to help my son relax and change his focus.  They all have different designs and patterns and he can have lots of fun making a colorful creation.  Mandala’s can help with visual balancing.  Its lot’s of fun for adults too!! 

• We spend lots of time outside with his friends.  We ride bikes, go to the park, play in the sand, go swimming, or jump on our trampoline.  I try to keep him very active. 

• A warm bath always helps to relax him.

• Walking bare foot in the grass or sand is very calming for anyone.  Sometimes we walk outside on the grass in the moonlight. It really works and feels good!

• When his anxiety is really bad we get our pillows and a blanket and we snuggle together and watch the fish in our fish tank.

• He loves arts and crafts and that is a life saver for us.  It keeps his mind busy on his task at hand.

• Not very long ago we started gratitude journals.  We do them at night before he goes to bed and he really enjoys it.  He gets to write or draw whatever he wants.  It has helped take his mind off the fears he has at night.  

• Playing with him helps get his mind off his anxiety.  We play lots of board games and he loves card games. 

• Understanding children with anxiety and educating myself has helped tremendously in social situations.  I learned to allow him to be able to feel whatever he feels and except it and not try to change it.  I have learned to comfort and support him. 

• If there is a change in the schedule I always let my son know ahead of time.  I have learned that telling him ahead of time helps him to be able to handle the change easier.