Our 6 Favorite Games and Books Parents Can Enjoy with Their Anxious Kids
Whether it’s reading a book together, giving a book to your independent teen, or just hanging out as a family playing a game, we’ve got some great ideas for you to help support your child at home too.
Don’t Feed the Worrybug
Molly’s pick - “One of my favorite books to use is Don't Feed the Worrybug by Andi Green. It is a book geared more towards littles and young adolescents but it can really help to start a conversation about the idea of anxiety, fears and worries and help to discuss how to not let these ruin your day. I also think there are many games and activities that you can develop from this book and the idea of a worrybug. I often have parents and kids create a worry box with worrybugs to help them share these feelings at home.”
Kelsey’s first pick - We’re so proud of Kelsey for authoring this one! A lot of times adults, parents, teachers, and even other therapists don’t realize that anger can mask anxiety disorders. Because these anxious teens and kids look so angry and aggressive, they don’t always get the help they need. “My book really gives tools to manage it going forward and how to recognize it.”
What To Do When Your Temper Flares
Kelsey’s second favorite book - Kelsey used this book all the time when she worked in schools. It’s good for anxiety driven anger and could be great to read at home together with your child. It helps walk you through turning a “hot” thought into a “cool” thought.
UNO
Kelsey’s pick - Who doesn’t love a good game of UNO! It’s important for anxious kids to build frustration tolerance, which they can do by losing games. And for us parents, it doesn’t require too much thought after a long day, but you can still use the opportunity to build rapor and have fun! And if you want to add a little extra therapeutic value into your play, check out our blog post on how to do just that!
and 6. The Kissing Hand and The Invisible String
Erin’s picks - “I think my favorite books to use with young kids struggling with anxiety are The Kissing Hand and The Invisible String. Both are wonderful books to discuss separation anxiety with kids.”
and 7. The Invisible String and The Kiss Box
Susie’s picks- “Over the years I have seen many children who are dealing with separation anxiety. This is a common struggle for very young children but this anxiety around separating from caregivers can resurface as children age and can really make it difficult for kids to be able to do all the things that they want to do independently from their parents. And it's so hard on parents too! Two of my 'go-to' books for helping with separation anxiety are "The Kiss Box" and "The Invisible String". Both share stories of the struggle to say goodbye and be apart from loved ones and offer wonderful ways to visualize the forever connection you have with someone you love even when you're not together. Both books lend themselves really nicely to creating artwork together based on the story--transitional objects--which I love as an art therapist and which helps to concretize the lessons learned from these beautiful books.”
We hope our 6 favorite books and games (but actually 7) bring you joy at home with your child. But we know that parenting an anxious kid can be stressful at times.
If you’re interested in our therapeutic parent support, you can email us at hello@compassionatecounselingstl.com
Curious to hear more about our therapy approach here at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis? You can schedule a free phone consultation right on our website, or email us at hello@compassionatecounselingstl.com.
Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is located in Clayton, MO. We specialize in anxiety and anger management therapy for kids, teens, and college students, from age 4 on up. We work with families throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood.