Helping your Child Cope with Stress

No one likes the feelings that stress can create. Your child will try to manage their negative feelings or physical symptoms by using coping skills; however, if a child does not have healthy coping skills, negative/unhealthy strategies may form. Help them develop coping skills that will last throughout their life.

Positive coping skills are long-lasting and lead to positive outcomes and may not provide instant relief, but address the problem and improve well-being. Examples include:

• Exercise
• Healthy eating
• Getting plenty of sleep
• Venting to friends or family
• Finding the cause of stress and planning solutions
• Talking to pets
• Keeping a journal
• Using art or music as an outlet
• Relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation

There are also things that you can and implement in your home to help your child avoid stress:

• Maintain a regular sleep schedule
• Keep a healthy diet and limit caffeine
• Exercise regularly
• Develop a regular routine
• Limit/refrain from negative thoughts
• Take mental/physical breaks from online learning
• Don’t over-schedule/over-commit

Stress conversation starters:

• Is there anything causing you stress in your life right now?
• How stressful do you feel your life is on a scale of 1-10?
• When you get mad, sad, frustrated, or stressed how do you make yourself feel better?
• Do you feel like my (parent/guardian) stress or reaction to stress impacts you?
• Do you ever feel upset and you don’t know why?
• Is there anything I can help you with to help relieve the stress you have?