Has your child ever said to you that they feel like their muscles feel tight or their body is stiff whenever they are feeling stressed and anxious? Try the Noodle Caboodle! The Noodle Caboodle is a child-friendly progressive muscle relaxation technique that helps relax the physical tightness of your muscles whenever you feel tense and anxious. Progressive muscle relaxation, or PMR, is beneficial when practiced regularly because it targets different parts of our bodies and it helps us relax after experiencing a stressful event. In the worksheet that is provided in the link below, there is a script that parents and caregivers can follow to help teach their kids about muscle relaxation. To do the Noodle Caboodle, start by explaining that when we feel anxious or stressed, the muscles in our bodies become tense. Here is a sneak peak of the first step to the Noodle Caboodle:
Step 1: “Have you ever felt like your body is too stiff? Or tight? It happens to everyone, especially when we feel nervous, scared, or angry. Doing the Noodle Caboodle will make you feel better when you’re body feels stiff. Because you are in control of your body, you can do the Noodle Caboodle to make your muscles feel loose and good again.”
At the end of practicing the Noodle Caboodle, we can then encourage our kids to practice the technique on their own so that they can use it whenever they feel anxious.
Noodle Caboodle Worksheet – https://positivepsychology.com/wp-content/uploads/Noodle-Caboodle.pdf
For a more mature version of Noodle Caboodle – https://positivepsychology.com/wp-content/uploads/Progressive-Muscle-Relaxation-Easy-Basics.pdf
OKPTA Cultivate 