They work a bit like psychoanalysis, where an individual talks about their worries to help to manage and process them. A family run Sensory Toy Company committed to providing good quality sensory toys, equipment and sensory play activity ideas for all ages and developmental stages, through the stimulation of senses. It’s also important for everyone to have a chance to talk about things, and for this we have Time2Talk sessions. This may work well if your child is capable of using their imagination and visualize the concept of a worry box. So, when a worrying or troubling thought comes into a child's mind, they can scribble down their thoughts, or draw a pictureand feed it to their worrymonster.

They will often be willing to tell the monster about the worry when they have been unable to voice it to an adult. Each of them has its own pros and cons, they may require certain skill sets and work in different contexts. While I have never named my anxiety, I do work on reminding myself that it is anxiety and I do not have to listen to it bully me around! Once the child is asleep or elsewhere, remove the note and the child will notice the monster has “eaten their worries”. Some students make worry monsters that look quite scary while others make worry monsters that appear friendly, and that’s okay.Children love it though…even those with small worries like being scared of the dark or riding on the school bus (rather than just who have anxiety over everything). This will help them manage their intrusive thoughts so they can enjoy their day or are able to sleep at night.

Worry Box: In this post, you will learn what a worry box is, why it works, and what the best fit could be for your child. It will allow you to talk about emotions (worries, frustrations, anger, insecurities) while you engage in a fun activity. Perfect, I know you are trying to tell me mistakes are bad but I know that it is ok to make a mistake. They could also colour the monster to represent the feeling or emotion, such as a red, angry monster or a green calm monster.Oxfordshire County Council’s children’s social care workers and Virtual School have teamed up with Headington resident Shirley Nelder and her group of volunteer knitters. I find that talking to the anxiety as something other than yourself keeps your dignity and self-worth in place…it isn’t you, it is the anxiety.

What you actually feed the worry monster can add an extra element of interest and engagement for the children. Worry Monsters are used to help children who have suffered from abuse, neglect, or other serious problems, to resolve their worries, and they're very popular with children. Externalize the anxiety – Remind the child that anxiety is causing these feelings, therefore, the child can respond to the anxiety by letting it know that the child is in charge and will make decisions without listening to anxiety.Children in care and young people with a range of vulnerabilities and disabilities, in Oxfordshire, might be confronted by a hand-crafted monster when they next go into their living rooms. Once again, when they are written down, they could post them into the monster’s mouth in a ceremonial way. Use it alongside our My Lockdown Experience worksheet to explore the experiences that your Early Level learners had during their time at home. Externalizing the anxiety by naming and referring to it as a worry monster, does not make the anxiety disappear, but it separates the anxiety from the child’s identity.

To teach cake breathing, have students close their eyes and imagine they are smelling a birthday cake as they inhale through their noses. In my worry counseling group, I help students make a worry monster to examine what their worry is telling them and how they can deal with it! For bee breathing, students will take a deep breath in and slowly release the breath while buzzing like a bee.An activity that students always seem to get a lot out of is creating their own depiction of what their worry would look like if it were alive.