The stressors as a child no way compare to the stressors that we experience as adults. But, there is something to be said to going back to our childhood and remembering the stress relief tips we were so accustom to but never considered to be actual stress relief tips. You know, these stress relievers are the same things you did just for fun, or to be alone, or to just pretend like there was nothing else around you.

These stress relief tips will not only bring you back to a place where you were safe and comfortable, but they will give you sometime to escape the stress of everyday life and allow your mind an hour or so to relax and calm down.

Remember back to your childhood. What were some of your favorite things to do. What were the things you could do for hours by yourself. These are going to be the keys to developing your own stress relief techniques.

Grab a piece of paper and write everything you can remember that you enjoyed in your childhood. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Coloring in a coloring book
• Writing outside with sidewalk chalk
• Building with Legos, Lincoln Logs, Or Knex
• Dressing up your dolls
• Playing with your older sisters make-up
  
• Finger painting
• Playing video games
• Writing short stories and poems
• Watching cartoons
  

Now that you have a list of the things you used to love to do as a child, incorporate them in to your life today and make them your stress relief techniques to use today.

• Building: If your favorite thing was to build with legos or other building toys, try that again today. Buy a lego set, or do something bigger. Find a project you can build like a chest, a bookshelf, etc. Ikea, or a home improvement store is a great place to start.
• Art: If art has always been your thing, borrow your childs coloring books and crayons, buy your own, or have fun and find something new at any office or craft store. Markers, paints, crayons, colored pencils. Finger paint on a large piece of poster board, try sketching in a art sketch book, or find yourself some oil painting supplies and make a masterpiece. Or, get outside with some sidewalk chalk and have a little fun.
  
• Dress Up: if dress up or putting on make-up was always a special time spend an hour and get all dressed up and play with the make-up you usually don't use. Or if you have a sewing machine take some of your old clothes and try to create something new. A patchwork quilt for example.
• Cartoons or Video Games: You could download or buy some of your favorite cartoons from your past, or try some new ones. Family Guy and Futurama are adult oriented but not quites as offensive as South Park and trust me, if you use to be a Simpson's fan, on some channel, it's still on. For the video game enthusiatist, Playing on my Nintendo Wii or my Nintendo DS does it for me.
  

If you choose to implement these stress relief techniques, have fun with it. They are a chance to forget about what your doing today, and to zone out and just focus on doing something you once loved as a child. You could do them excatly as you did as a child, or change up your stress relief techniques into something a little more adult. Instead of building a lincoln log shed, build a real one.

Use your imagination, yes you still have it. Find something that will take an hour, or something that will take weeks. But enjoy it, and make it a habit.