Relax Kids!

I first put the Relax Kids: Magical Meditations for Superheroes CD on in our living room late on Saturday afternoon, after a fun-fuelled party where my 4 year old had been playing with most of her closest friends and partners in crime. She was excited and not a little boisterous. Ah, who am I kidding? She was approaching manic.

I explained that we were going to listen to some new stories and she acquiesced, up for something new and exciting. The first track on this CD, that is designed to help children to relax and de-stress while using their imagination to put themselves into the minds of some of our best known fairy story characters, is "Aladdin," a tale she’s already familiar with, mostly thanks to the CBeebies Pantomime at Christmas. Within a very short while, she had sat down, crossed-legged, just like the soothing, but not condescending, voice in the story suggested she do.

I let the whole disc run, noticing how she had completely chilled out and it’s fair to say that she stayed that way for the rest of the evening. When "Aladdin’s Magic Lamp" came on, I saw her rub the small lamp on my computer desk and then head over to the fridge. “Oh, it’s not there!” she said, disappointed. “What’s not?” I asked, half guessing. “The chocolate!” That had been her wish: she was Master of the Story and by now we were on track 11. Impressive: that’s staying power.

I must’ve drifted off into my own world at some point because when she routed through the freezer and pulled out a bag of peas to place on her toes to “get my feet cold,” it didn’t occur to me until later that she was simply playing the role of “The Snowman” (track 5).

When it was bedtime, I asked whether she wanted to listen to the CD again. She did. While she was brushing her teeth, I prepared the system for our meditative bedtime stories. “Don’t put it on until I’m ready,” she shouted, dribbling toothpaste down her pyjamas. As if I would.

Duly prostrate and comfy-cosy, I put Superheroes on again from the start. She closed her eyes to listen, wanting to get the full benefit of the experience. Two minutes into the CD, she asked, “How long can we have it on for?” Until it’s finished or you’re asleep, of course.

She never heard the end.

We have a copy of Relax Kids: Meditations for Superheroes to give away on the Weston-super-Mum Website .

The Relax Kids website has a range of CDs, books, Keyskills packs and many other products, as well as offering training, classes and publishing a magazine.