Subscribe to our newsletter by emailNew Stress Relief Activities for Students
Midterms and finals can be a stressful time, especially at UCI where we use the quarter system and the term flies by so quickly. This is a trend that many academic libraries and their staff have observed and are trying to address by including activities and events that can be fun and relaxing. The UCI Libraries already have a well-attended Paws b4 Finals event, where the library partners with the UCI chapter of Active Minds, to bring stress relief animals to the Langson and Ayala Science Libraries. We also started exploring additional activities like coloring, puzzles, and Legos.
These activities can go beyond simple relaxation by allowing participants to exercise fine motor skills and to train their brains to focus. Many of the activities labeled as "stress relief" can be done as a solo activity or people can band together and work as a group. These activities provide an opportunity for participants to take a break from studying while doing something that is creative and interactive. Also, it is just fun to color or make a new structure out of building blocks!
These new activities were piloted at both at Langson and the Ayala Science Libraries during Fall Quarter 2015:
• Shared puzzle: A puzzle is placed on the table and students work on it in a participatory fashion. Once the puzzle is completed it is removed and another puzzle is provided.
• Legos: Three buckets of Legos, two sizes of building base plates, and an idea handout.
• Coloring Station: Coloring sheets with coloring pencils and crayons.
The UCI Libraries had a lot of great feedback during the pilot period with comments such as "Love the idea! Thank you!," "This saved my sanity!," and "I enjoyed my coloring break!"
Since the new stress relief activities have been so well received, we have extended the shared puzzle to being available year round. The Lego bricks and coloring stations will be available during mid-terms, 10th week, and finals during the Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters.
All of the puzzles were donated by library staff, retired staff, and students. In the future, to highlight the UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives, images were chosen that represented each of our collections and were then turned into coloring sheets which will soon appear at our coloring stations. Additional images from the Planet of the Apes, our Shakespeare first folio, and of Nobel Laureates Professor Sherwood Rowland and Dr. Mario Molina were printed as puzzles that will become part of the shared puzzle collection.
For more information, please contact Danielle Kane, Research Librarian for Emerging Technologies and Service Innovation at danielle.kane@uci.edu or 949-824-2024.