Outreach for Librarians: Finals Stress Relief

Finals Stress Relief

Objective:  Students will be able to relieve stress as they prepare for and take their final exams.

Why:  Students may not have ever learned how to manage stress, so by doing some of these activities, you can teach them the skills to relieve stress while they are actually doing the activity. 

How To:

Determine how many days you want to do Finals Stress Relief (FSR) and how many events you want to have.

Things to Think About: 

• We do FSR the week before finals and not the week of finals because:
• Finals schedule is different & students can’t attend events
• Dwindling attendance as the week progresses
• Students are SO stressed that they need stress relief activities BEFORE final exams!
• Tuesday and Wednesday will probably be your busiest days.

Suggested Events for Finals Stress Relief:

• Adult Coloring
• Therapy dogs
• Stress Balls
• I got SLIMED in the Library!
• Coffee in the Library
• Cookie Decorating
• Card Making
• “Watercolor” Tiles
• May the 4^th Be With You
• Yoga
• Zendoodling

How I do FSR:

• We have our Adult Coloring Table throughout FSR week and finals, and we place that table next to our puzzle table which is another passive outreach activity.
• My students love it when the therapy dogs visit, and it’s our biggest event of the year, but to keep it special, therapy dogs only come during FSR.  Please see the Therapy Dog page.
• This is the way I schedule my week:
  • Monday – a low-key event that I can possibly do without any assistance.  Zendoodling often gets scheduled on this day or another easy Make ‘N Take.
  • Tuesday – Therapy Dogs
  • Wednesday – a Make ‘N Take – try to rotate this event semester to semester.  This is usually where making stress balls or slime gets put, although we have also done decorating cookies.  We were going to try some other Make ‘N Takes when the pandemic scuttled those plans.
  • Thursday and Friday – Coffee in the Library – This is another low key event that I can manage on my own if I have to, although students have been able to do this without my being on campus.
• FSR is where my student group is very active in helping put on events.
• Since I rely on my student group to help with some of these events, I ask them well in advance if they will be available since they are also taking finals.