You can also help your children to relieve anxiety and stress with this Homemade Stress Ball activity.

One of the activities I like to do after reading the book is to give a child a bag and using potatoes add them to the bag one at a time so they get a real feel of how worries can weigh you down. After putting a few potatoes in then take one out at a time as you offload those worries to to someone. The bag feels lighter and you can feel lighter and happier. Sometimes, there is nothing we can do about the situations or events that trigger our emotions. In those cases, it may be better to accept those feelings and let them go. Art supplies like googly eyes and pipe cleaners if your child would like to make the box into a character. Some kids may find it difficult to use visualization techniques and will benefit from using an actual box. The children can even decide to tear it up and use it alongside this Throw Your Worries Away activity. How can I help my child to talk about their emotions?

Worry Monster Box Tutorial

Thesymbolic nature of a worry box teaches children that their thoughts are just thoughts, enabling them to understand their emotions and gain control over them. The next step is to schedule “Worry Time”. Worry time is a set time of day when your child has permission and is encouraged to worry as much as he or she wants. This specific time serves as another way to contain the worries. The key is to remember that when worry time is over, you and your child know that the worrying must end for the day. Decorate the exterior:Your child will use the craft supplies to decorate the exterior of the box in any way they like. They can paint it, draw on it with markers, or even add decorative tape for a unique and personalised touch. Let their creativity shine through in this step. give them a physical way of getting rid of their worries, so they don’t need to carry them around anymore A worry box can be a great way to help children cope with their worries and big feelings. It provides a tangible place for them to deposit their concerns, which can be particularly beneficial for younger children who may struggle with abstract concepts.

To help your child open up and discuss their emotions, you can start by asking your children how they are feeling; are they angry, sad, happy, scared or worried? You can then identify what might be making them feel this way. Reinforce the idea that it’s okay for your child to feel like this and that we all experience different emotions. By validating their feelings, it helps to build trust between you and your child. Better understanding of our thoughts and feelings is part of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence and positive mental health are closely linked. Emotional intelligence is a protective factor for depression, anxiety and stress. Worry Boxes as a Sleep Aid Using the box and writing down your problems on paper also helps to turn something intangible into something they can actually touch, work with, and control. Knowledge is power. Understanding our worries means we can decide on an appropriate course of action, or simply share it with others and know that we are not alone. This is one of the key principles of cognitive behavioral therapy. Should you look at what your child writes? Technically, no. The box is meant to be a safe place where the child can write down anything and not have it “discovered.” Instead, you could set up a worry time when your child can discuss her worries with you. Worry time is also a form of containment because it restricts the time the child can dwell on her worries with an adult. You can set up the time specially for the child, say from 4:00 to 4:20 every afternoon. If at 4:20 your child is not through discussing her worries, ask her to write down the worries and put them into the worry box. Tell her that she can take them out to discuss tomorrow at the same time.Park feelings or emotions that they may not be able to cope with at the present moment until they are ready to deal with them.