Make a Worry Chain to Help Kids Cope
Hats off to teachers…it’s time for Mid-Week Focus to feature fun and functional ACTIVITIES TO HELP KIDS COPE.
See if my experience mirrors yours…
…Long before I overheard a recent conversation between a third grade teacher and the school’s psychologist about the increasing anxiety that children were showing in school, I’ve continually felt K – 5 kids’ anxiety myself in classrooms everywhere I’ve taught, especially since 2001.
I’ve noticed that when I’ve asked children to name some of the feelings that writing allows us to express, the first feeling that someone calls out in class is sad! The word sad is often followed by the words angry, frustrated and worried, all before someone finally mentions happy!
Hang a Worry Chain in a corner. Invite students to add links that express personal concerns.
Teachers may be able to help kids cope by inviting them to ADD A LINK TO A WORRY CHAIN, like the one shown in my blog pic here. As you can see, a Worry Chain is simply a continuous chain made of strips of colored paper loops on which students have written personal feelings and concerns.
Hang the Worry Chain in a relatively private corner of your classroom so that kids feel free to tape a new link to it when they want to unburden a negative feeling.
When you introduce your class to the Worry Chain corner, show them that you’ve started the chain by writing a few common concerns that all children share in elementary school (you know because you’re “the teacher!”) Write one concern per link to begin the Worry Chain. Leave pre-cut strips of paper, pencils and tape nearby.
Tell students that they are welcome to add links with their writing, and they may also feel free to read the writing on the other links. Worry Chains are symbols of classrooms as communities. Point this out to reinforce the sense of care for kids that you want to convey.
Making a Worry Chain to help kids cope is an attention-getting way to open a discussion about managing doubts and fears in a sometimes uncertain world.
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Barbara Cleary has been serving as a resource to hundreds of educators for more than 25 years.
An award-winning writer, producer, teacher, and trainer, Barbara’s focus is on offering easy, fun tools and tricks that support K-5 curricula and assist teachers with classroom management.
