How to Help Anxious Children Regain Control of Their Emotions

Anxiety is a natural and common human emotion, characterized by increased heart rate difficulty breathing and chest and stomach. Anxiety in children, however, can by characterized by a number of symptoms which can try the patience of the most saintly of parents: tempers tantrums, self mutilation, refusal to complete school tasks, or leave the parents' side. There are things that you can do, of course, to help children be less reactive and more in command of how they feel.

Things You'll Need

• Large pieces of felt
• Scissors
• Watch with timer or alarm

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Instructions

• 1

  Create flannel-graphs of the events of they day yet to come with your child. Cut out small pictures out of different-colored felt of the day's activities. For example, "mom picking me up at school" or "me answering a question correctly in class." The child can mentally anticipate the event and discuss it with you, and then place it on a piece of larger felt and then tackle the next day's event. In this manner, when their mom does pick them up from school, they see these events as planned activities coming to fruition.

• 2

  Distract your child when a meltdown is imminent by making the child use a different area of their brain. During a temper tantrum a child is centered in a very emotional part of the mind. Shift the child's focus by asking if they are dehydrated and need a glass of water, feeling their forehead and declaring that they are too thirsty. Or ask if they can hear a cat meowing in the background, or if they can help you find your keys. Once the child has had time to separate themselves from such a emotional place, they should be able to discuss the causes later with you.

• 3

  Breathe deeply and show children how to do this, as well. Demonstrate how short, shallow breaths can provoke anxiety and jitters. Demonstrate how to fill your stomach up with air and how you exhale all the fear and the nervous feelings out. Encourage children to do this several times a day. A watch with an alarm that goes off hourly might be good for older kids as a clear reminder that several times each day they need to stop everything and breathe.