With everything going on in today’s world, it’s natural for children to feel anxious and overwhelmed. As parents, it’s up to us to help them navigate during uncertain times.
By helping children understand that while some things are beyond their control, there are still many areas where they can take positive action. This understanding not only empowers them but also aids in their emotional well-being.
Understanding Control
Explaining the concept of control to children in an age-appropriate manner is crucial. Help them recognize the difference between what they can and cannot control. For instance, they cannot control external events or other people’s actions, but they can control their own reactions, how they spend their time, and how they express their feelings. Depending on their age, you could have them draw on paper what they do or do not have control over, whether it be creating a list, some circles or other creative ways to depict it.
Focus on Well-being and Self-Care
During uncertain times, it is especially important to encourage our children to focus on their own well-being. Self-care can take many forms even for children, such as maintaining a consistent daily routine, getting adequate sleep, eating nutritious foods, staying hydrated, and engaging in physical activities. Since emotions are the language of the body, exercise, even something as simple as going for a walk, can be a great way to release pent-up emotions and improve mood.
Positive Actions
We can guide our children to take positive actions in areas within their control. This could include setting small, achievable goals, practicing a new hobby, or simply keeping their room clean. Engaging in creative activities such as drawing, writing, or playing music can also be very therapeutic.
Encourage them to practice emotional release writing. Give them prompts like “Why am I so angry…” and let them write freely without concern for grammar or spelling. Once they feel complete, they can crumple, shred, or safely burn their writing, symbolizing letting go of their worries.
Promoting Optimism
To navigate during uncertain times, we can teach our children to focus on the positives. Every day, ask them to share something good that happened. This simple practice can shift their focus from what’s going wrong to what’s going right, fostering a more optimistic outlook.
Starting and ending the day with one to three things your child is grateful for can also shift the energy and lead to optimism. Gratitude can even be a great family ritual to have everyone share one thing they are grateful for at dinner or any other time your family is together.
A fun activity to do is create a gratitude jar. Each day every family member writes on a piece of paper one thing they are grateful for and put it in the jar. At the end of the year, you could have pizza and gratitude or make your favorite meal and go through the jar reading what your family was grateful for.
By helping our children understand and focus on what they can control during uncertain times and encouraging them to engage in self-care and positive actions, we can provide them with the tools to navigate uncertain times with confidence and resilience.
