Anxiety can show up as clinginess, stomach aches, irritability, or even “shutting down.” These feelings are real for your child, even if the threat seems small to you. Our goal is to give them comfort in the moment and build lasting tools for resilience.
Anxiousness
What You Can Do in the Moment
1. Five Senses Grounding
Ask your child to name:
5 things they see
4 things they can touch
3 things they hear
2 things they smell
1 thing they taste
Why it helps: It pulls their brain out of the “what ifs” and back into the present moment.
2. Belly Breathing Together
Place a stuffed animal on their tummy.
Inhale slowly, making the toy rise; exhale, letting it fall.
Why it helps: Slow breathing calms the nervous system and gives kids a visual for success.
3. Safe Touch or Object
Offer a hug, a weighted blanket, or a small calming object (smooth stone, fidget).
Why it helps: Physical comfort reassures the body when the mind is racing.
4. “Worry Jar” Ritual
Have your child write or draw their worry, fold it, and place it in a jar.
Close the jar together and set it aside.
Why it helps: This gives their brain permission to “set down” the worry and feel some control.
Long-Term Tools for Resilience
1. The Worry Time Trick
Why it helps: Kids need to know worries don’t control the whole day.
How to try it:
Pick a 10–15 minute daily “worry time.”
Let your child bring up all their concerns during that window.
Outside that time, gently remind: “That’s a worry for later.”
2. Calm-Down Toolkit
Why it helps: A go-to bag or basket reduces decision-making when anxiety hits.
How to try it:
Include: noise-canceling headphones, coloring tools, calming essential oil, stress ball.
Practice using the toolkit when calm, so it feels like comfort, not punishment.
3. Strengthening Body-Mind Awareness
Why it helps: Anxiety often shows up in the body first. Learning cues = earlier intervention.
How to try it:
Ask: “Where does worry live in your body today?”
Draw outlines of bodies together and mark “worry zones.”
Teach coping linked to each cue: tummy ache = slow breaths, clenched jaw = jaw stretch.
4. Courage Practices
Why it helps: Exposure in small steps builds bravery and rewires the anxious brain.
How to try it:
Create a “courage ladder”: break a big fear into tiny steps.
Example: If your child fears sleeping alone → Step 1: you sit in their room, Step 2: sit in hallway, Step 3: short check-ins.
Celebrate progress, not perfection.
5. The Power of Storytelling
Why it helps: Externalizing anxiety makes it less overwhelming.
How to try it:
Invite your child to give their worry a name (e.g., “Mr. What-If” or “The Worry Monster”).
Role-play or draw the character, making it silly or small.
Teach your child to “talk back” kindly but firmly: “Thanks, Mr. What-If, I’ve got this one.”
6. Building Predictable Routines
Why it helps: Predictability = safety for anxious brains.
How to try it:
Set consistent morning and bedtime routines.
Add calming rituals (evening tea, gentle music).
Use visual schedules or charts for younger kids so they see what comes next.
7. Parent Modeling
Why it helps: Kids mirror adult behavior. If they see you regulate, they’ll learn too.
How to try it:
Narrate your coping: “I’m feeling nervous, so I’m taking deep breaths.”
Normalize that everyone feels anxious sometimes.
Model self-care — kids learn more from what you do than what you say.