This month we are giving away six books that help kids of all ages cope with stress, including Name and Tame Your Anxiety, brand new for spring! One lucky reader will win:
To Enter: Leave a comment below describing how you help kids manage stress and anxiety.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks you complete:
Each comment counts as a separate entry. Entries must be received by midnight, May 21, 2021.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around May 24, 2021, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Winners must be US residents, 18 years of age or older.
© 2021 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved. The views expressed in this post represent the opinion of the author and not necessarily Free Spirit Publishing.
Allowing the kids to talk is much important to understand their world
Infants have stress too. I teach parents to help their baby regulate by putting them on their chest and breathing slow and steady. The caregivers heartbeat is slower and will help baby calm, especially if contact is skin to skin. Our natural voice saying “Sssshhhhhhh” in a low tone helps if extending the length on each exhale and slowing the pace. Part of Dr. Karp’s 5 S’s along with Swaddle, Suck and Sway.
I am a school counselor and I have a Worry Monster trash can in my office where kids put worries to be ‘eaten’! I also use a variety of breathing and give me 5 (see, hear, feel, taste, smell) grounding techniques, meditation and Yoga are big helps when I visit classrooms as well :))
In my classroom we like to do music and music movement or just get SILLY. This really calms my 4 and 5 year olds.
In my classroom we do music and movement and sometimes we just get SILLY!!!!
I’m the art teacher at my school and I’m hoping to use my masters in Counseling to pair art therapy with our current counseling program. This year has been survival mode, so I’m trying to find a balance between fun projects to give my students an academic break from other class work and stress, as well as projects inspired by artists who engage conversations about race, identity, and advocacy. My goal this year was to remind my students that they are not alone.
Listen to students share about their frustrations and worries. Be a safe person to allow them to share.
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I have been helping students learn how their body is effected by stress and anxiety, to feel the signs that it’s coming on so they can start breathing exercises, take breaks, move their bodies, get ice packs to hold in their hands or on the back of their necks, etc…before it gets too bad.
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Providing language to help describe the complex feelings they have and allowing affirmation and space for those feelings
Deep breathing. Regaining control of your breathing is one way to help your heart rate slow down and begin to feel more in control.
Stress management is very important for our school. I work with early childhood classes to teach them mindfulness and other emotion recognition and management strategies as well as supporting individual students needs.
I often read books in the library to kids K-6. It helps the kids to see that they are not the only ones with stress or anxiety.
I help my students manage stress by modeling for them how I manage my own stress. We’ve practiced strategies for self-regulation and when I am faced with a stressful situation, I model this behavior!
I implement many different SEL strategies according to the individual needs of my students.
I use breathing techniques with children to help with stress and anxiety. I also find it helpful to break down the task that is causing the anxiety into smaller, manageable tasks (for example, a school project that seems overwhelming).
I have a calming corner in my office and we sit quietly and let student talk if needed or just breath, whatever the individual child needs at the time.
I go into the classrooms and speak about the stress of COVID and how it affects us to VALIDATE their discomfort/ anxieties AND offer some tools (breathing, blowing bubbles, planning fun, sticking to a schedule, laughing.)
We work on teaching children to identify their feelings and using breathing techniques to help manage their stress.
I taught stress management strategies to 4th and 5th graders for our “FSA Bootcamp” days. One thing we did was to practice deep breathing by blowing slowly and steadily through a (paper) straw with a piece of tissue taped on the end. The children knew they were doing it correctly if the tissue streamed out for at least a count of 4. note: I did throw out the straws after the exercise so they didn’t try to use spitballs as a tension reliever, lol
I help by talking with them and allowing them to share their feelings. Oftentimes they just want to be heard and feel important
Breathing
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I am a school counselor and currently work with elementary students. We talk often about what anxiety means and draw what the body can look like when we are anxious. It’s so interesting because it gives kids a visual of all the ways we can feel internally when we are anxious. We then practice different breathing exercises and do yoga to practice mindfulness and the importance of it when we feel any type of extreme emotions.
I go in and teach multiple class lessons to help reinforce the skills. Students they may need extra support, I work with them in a small group or one on one.
I help kids manage stress and anxiety by implementing positive affirmations to implant positive thinking, reassuring the youth/kids their feelings are valid , all while teaching them simple breathing excersice, i focus on the 1-2-3-4 breathing cycle bringing them back to the present moment, guiding them to manage all the stress and anxiety they may have.
My first step in helping students manage stress is affirming and validating. Once students feel seen and not judged, they are more open to exploring ideas for how to mitigate some of the stress.
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Teaching a wide variety of coping skills so they can find tools that work for them!
I have children do breathing exercises to relieve stress and anxiety.
I help my elementary students deal with stress by learning how to identify and understand their feelings from a Feelings Chart. I then help them use their words by teaching them and role playing how to use, “I feel——–, because——— and could you please———-.” I also provide them with practicing calming down skills of deep breathing, tense and relax muscles, and using a stress ball to calm themselves down.
I help the children manage stress and anxiety by providing them with materials to help them calm down. using the second step curriculum and teaching them how to use the belly breathing and stepping away from situations.
I have them do yoga.
We help preschool children manage stress by helping them name their emotions and we also teach families how to make and use calming jars.
I am following Free Spirit press on Pinterest, and as a librarian, I also regularly recommend Free Spirit titles to professionals I know who work in the youth mental health field.
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I help kids manage stress and anxiety by stopping and taking big belly breaths.
I think an important part of helping students manage stress and anxiety is to be patient when students are frustrated by all the uncertainty and crisies, and let them know that it is okay to have difficult feelings. I try to not take acting out behaviors personally so I can continue to be an ally for them during these challenging times.
Followed on Twitter! I’m a New Orleans licensed clinical psychologist providing play therapy to you g children who have exposure to traumatic events and their families!
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This year I ran a small group called stretching out stress where we focused on mindfulness activities! Last year I did a book club with Fighting invisible Tigers! I would love to add more of these resources to my library!!!
I’m a New Orleans licensed clinical psychologist providing play therapy to toddlers who have exposure to traumatic events and their families!
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As a school counselor, I work with students on a daily basis (especially this year!) on learning how to manage stress and anxiety.
my toddlers manage stress and anxiety virtually by engaging in drawing with crayons
Stress can have such a strong impact! We try to provide some normality in routines to help reduce stress, as well as times to release feelings safely and through activities.
I teach and model age-appropriate coping strategies and help children learn new language to express their feelings (ex, disappointed, energized).
These books would be great to help teach special needs students in my Leaening Centre about coping anxiety, etc…especially during this pandemic.
I work to remind them they are safe, and ask them to feel the sensations in their body and then work to bring themselves into the present and get to a place where they recognize a feeling of safety. Also working on managing negative thought processes and interrupting them.
Beathe, breathe, breathe, guided imagery
I help kids managing the anxiety by naming it as such and learning to see it not as an enemy but rather as a natural response on their bodies to somethings unusual or new.
Dear Free Spirit Publishing Co. I am a behavior specialist working in a high risk title 19 school. Our population of students with special needs has grown tremendously. I and my guidance counselor use your materials consistently throughout our school year. I was first introduced to your material by Dr. Mac. I assist students all day with emotional, traumatic, and stressful situations all day. Our budgets are frozen, so my curriculum is typically paid for by myself. However, I have not received a raise in 4 years because our contract in Iowa has been frozen. It is getting more and more difficult to purchase SEL curriculum. We love your store!
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we are practicing mindfulness during circle time
As a K-4 school counselor, I have seen a significant increase in stress and anxiety across my caseload in recent years and also resulting from the impact of the pandemic. A favorite strategy I use with students is considering a positive lens for a negative “what if” thought in order to challenge thinking patterns.
I work with students with special learning needs and emotional problems. I teach them strategies to overcome bullying, anger, and anxiety. I try to redirect them with the use of literature, games, and role-playing social situations.
The goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety, but to help a child manage it. Don’t avoid things just because they make a child anxious.Express positive—but realistic—expectations.Respect their feelings, but don’t overly empower them. Don’t ask leading questions. Don’t reinforce the child’s fears. Encourage the child to tolerate their anxiety. Think things through with the child.Try to model healthy ways of handling anxiety.
My “go to” strategy to help children with anxiety is to regulate their breath. Once that is accomplished, I teach other strategies – like helping the children to identify their triggers and grounding themselves before the anxiety becomes overwhelming.
My students talk to our social worker. She is amazing!
We practice mindfulness in our school to help students destress and relax. We also listen to soft music to help us all relieve stress.
I help kids manage stress and anxiety by teaching them mindfulness, helping them tap into what makes them feel good, and teaching them about positive self-talk.
Here at Rainbow, our children use yoga for kids, with calm music. We read books and talk about how we are feeling. Ask them what they can do to help themselves feel better.
I am a K-4 school counselor. I help kids with stress by leading small and large group sessions on stress management. I also hang posters around school with stress reduction techniques.
I use the Breathe Like a Bear dvd to do quick mindfulness breathing exercises in classrooms.
Always taking deep breathes and meditation.
I help students manage stress by providing “calm time” for some daily, others when needed. There is no academic work involved, they can talk or not talk. I provide sensory items.
I love using books and activities in addition to suggesting quiet mindful walks to help my students manage their stress and anxiety.
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I work as a therapist with children with anxiety, adhd, and various other mental health difficulties.
We practice the different breathing techniques all the time…balloon, star, flower…it helps bring the kids “down” anytime, anywhere!!
I am an extended school mental health service provider. Daily, I am working with children, on dealing with their stresses, anxieties, and many other issues that children need to cope with everyday in this “new” world they are living in.
Just try to listen when they want to talk about what is bothering them
We use “glitter jars” filled with plastic bugs. The students shake them and watch the bugs float down!
Post-it signs “take what you need” are popular.
I am a school social worker in an elementary school. Most of my day is spent supporting students with these challenges. I find that helping them name their emotions and understand how the physical body reacts to anxiety are two of the most effective ways for them to successfully live with the stress that comes with both large crises and everyday challenges.
I help students manage stress by helping them identify things in each situation they can control and then work on doing what they can to manage those parts. I also use breathing techniques and mindfulness videos to help kids manage anxiety.
Our kids do turtle when they feel out of control. They will curl into their ball (as a turtle would go in its shell) and take deep breaths. They can stay in their own space until they feel ready to come out and talk.
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I help kids manage stress and anxiety by helping them learn and practice coping strategies. I utilize books, videos, worksheets and modeling to aid them in using skills to manage emotions.
I help students relieve stress by providing a safe space that allows them to have their words heard. I also offer support groups during lunch to let the students know they are not alone in their worries.
I also help students with stress management by offering different breathing strategies (square or box breathing is a favorite).
I help students with their stress by allowing them access to my Cozy Cave in my classroom that has many resources. Books, music, fidgets, etc. 🙂
I use role play, emotional coaching in real time, social stories, books, pause movies to invite reflective capacity, respond to bottom up behavior through co regulation
I work with my students on mindfulness and naming their feelings in order to manage stress and worry. I also have some students journal with me to work their their anxiety. Deep breathing is another strategy I have them work on, and I show them how I use that to manage stress as well!
We do breathing exercises, set a time for worried thoughts and grounding exercises.
Play, movement, mindfulness and shared positive experiences are how I help kids identify and manage stress and anxiety.
We get outside and talk and play.
I smile at them when they come in and make sure to speak to them each day. Forming that bond of caring is critical in helping them. I ” people watch” to see that they are talking to friends or if they are isolated.If they are isolated I seat them and place them in groups strategically with friendly, caring kids to help them make a friend.
Teaching belly breathing – simple but effective. You can never get enough.
These books would be awesome to help children with emotions!!
My students like deep breathing and using calm classroom.
Teaching children to use their words and voice their feelings is of most importance. Sometimes its hard to find those words. Deep breathing and refocusing can also help. These books would be a great additional resource when words are hard to find.
I teach my students coping skills. This helps them to calm their anxiety or at least calm their brain so they can think a little more rationally.
I use books,stress balls,other stress I can find. We talk about stress and I try to help them find ways to handle their stress.
As a school social worker we use the zones of regulation, coping tools, mindfulness and meditation, body scan, remote controller, and many other techniques to empower students to self-regulate and manage their stress and anxiety.
As a school counselor, I work with students individually and in the classroom to help manage anxiety. We do this through books, videos, journals, and games. I want to be able to give my students the tools to manage their stress in any situation they come across.
I give her a stress ball to hold all day. We frequently take walks inside or outside. I give her color by number to do. All of these things relax her.
My job as school counselor is to help children learn the skills they need to calm and live with anxiety while still functioning at school.
We take deep belly breaths, smell the flower..blow puffs to cool hot soup, use calming corner and use coloring or listen to music, visualize going to Hawaii, tighten muscles by making tight fists, taking a walk
I say hello to them each day when they enter the classroom.
I play breathing games with children.
Marching to music is so much fun and good exercise and reduces stress for adults and children. Sometimes the most simple music making can provide a break from daily chores, using a wooden spoon to do a beat on a cardboard box, walking like various animals, stretching like your dog or pretending to be singing in the shower. One more idea is to learn the Salute to the Sun Stretch which is very popular with many children.
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I utilize yoga and breathing to help my students with stress.
By actively listening and asking them to tell me how they feel. Not judging them but just letting them know that I do care about what going on with them.
I am a student support counselor. I use many resources to help students learn coping skills. I do not currently own these books and believe they would be very helpful with my students.
I have a ‘mindful moment’ or a ‘get grounded’ activity at the start or end of each class. We also have a ‘find your focus’ guided meditation before any formal assessment.
I teach my students coping skills, both calming strategies like deep breathing and distraction skills, like coloring.
Let them know it is okay to have stress and that we can use coping stratagies to help get through.
I Ask them to smell the flower and blow out the candle.
I work with students grades 8- post-grad on the Spectrum, who are working to get into college to pursue their passions and live independently! We spend a lot of time working on “fundamental competencies”: executive functioning, emotional regulation, social cognition, and self-care
We break everything down into simpler tasks,and then we come up with a plan. We also practice positive thoughts and relaxation techniques.
I help my kids manage stress and anxiety by asking them how their nights were the previous night and to see how their day’s are going currently. This allows me to see where the students “heads” are at, and I can help them to cope with any worries or issues they might be having.
If we won this fabulous gift, our school social worker would use the materials and resources with our kids who experience anxiety! Thank you for the opportunity!!
Stress and anxiety are way too common within this Covid Era. We are seeing more and more students experiencing stress each day, many of them as young as 5 years old. My role within the school is to help build a comfortable environment and a trusting relationship with these students to help alleviate those anxieties.
Mindfulness is the word of the year!
THANKS-these resources will help to ‘push’ the open door a bit wider in my family gatherings, individual/small neighborhood tutoring sessions, children’s ministry efforts.
In our After School Programs, we try to use the districts’ behavior plans to maintain continuity across space and time. We also try to break stress up by play, transitioning from something hard to something fun.
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Rainbow breathing
I love to go into classroom and teach children about stress. I teach them the causes of stress, how it feels in the body, the impact it has on the body and methods to manage their stress.
I use a lot of mindfulness resources and the analogy that worries are like apple seeds, the more we water them the more apples we have!
I am a school based therapist and I work with both elementary and jr/ sr high in a very high needs school – Aliquippa. I love my job so much and even more I care about my clients so much. This would be a great addition to my office.
I teach children on the spectrum self-regulation techniques that they can use both at home and in the community, like how to tell if something is a “big deal” or “little deal”!
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Playing games and telling stories relieves stress and gives them an outlet for energy and creativity.
Recognizing the symptoms of anxiety before it over takes one self is important. I try to help kids recognize that it is coming on and begin well before self talk to combat the negative thinking that is likely bringing it on. Often Self doubt is the negative thinking so how can the individual re- think what they are doubting in themselves..
To help children manage stress and anxiety, I practice Calm Classroom with them. Calm Classroom is the practice of mindfulness (a type of meditation). It teaches children and grownups how to recognize when their emotions are high and helps to get emotions at a more manageable level. Calm Classroom consists of daily practices involving breathing, stretching and relaxation techniques.
Children can be taught to breathe when they are stressed.
I am a social emotional learning teacher that visits many different students in many different schools. Since I am limited in my time with the students, a big way that I aid the students in managing stress and anxiety is to listen. Active listening and validating feelings really helps the students to feel heard, wanted, and important. I think these resources would be a great support to share with all of the students (and teachers) I work with to help continued success, even when my listening ears are not readily available throughout each and every day!
I am a K-2 Special Education teacher and help students manage stress, anxiety, and disturbances all day, everyday. This would benefit my students so much. I am always looking for new resources and ideas to help my kiddos. It is my passion to teach and help my students.
Teach students in a therapeutic day school – these would be amazing resources!
I only have a lamp on in my office when I bring them in . . .We do slow tummy breathing and I have them name 5 things around them or discuss a happy moment in life.
I support my children in managing their stress by frequently discussing our emotions regarding various situations. I also ensure to discuss my personal feelings as well as model and model the techniques that I utilize when I am stressed or frustruated.
I often review feelings, ways to deal with anxiety and stress with my students.
Stress management is more important now than ever for students.