Stress can take a toll on the health and effectiveness of both early childhood providers and parents. As such, it can also impact the quality of care young children receive. If caregivers are stressed, it may be difficult for them to offer the praise, nurturing, and structure that children need.
To help address this issue, the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (CECMHC) has developed a collection of resources related to stress and relaxation now available on the CECMHC website on its Taking Care of Ourselves: Stress and Relaxation page. You’ll find booklets to learn about how to identify your sources of stress and learn strategies to reduce stress, a PowerPoint presentation that can be used with staff and families to teach stress reduction techniques, poster to place in busy places that will teach staff and parents effective strategies to reduce stress, and recorded relaxation exercises (in English and Spanish) to help staff and families reduce their stress levels.
