There are many stressors that may trigger anxiety in children. For the most part, anxiety is a normal human emotion that we all experience at times. Anxiety becomes a problem if your child is experiencing so much anxiety that it is interfering with their ability to function in school and home. While speaking with your doctor is the first step to helping you child, here are some ideas that you can do at home or offer to your child’s school setting.

The most important activity that you can do is teach them how to calm themselves, what we call as self- regulating.  Breathing exercises are very important in maintaining a state of calmness. It could be as simple as having the child interlocking their hands and squeezing them. From there they take deep breaths in and out slowly. You may want to start by having the child blow bubbles. You can then show the children different types of breaths as well. You can have them breathe in slowly and out like a snake; making a hissing sound. You can also do a flower breath. The child can pretend to stop and smell the roses and breathe in through their nose like there smelling a flower and slowly out of their mouth.  For a great book to use with your child, please look to When My Worries Get Too Big! A Relaxation Book for Children Who Live with Anxiety by Kari Dunn Buron. This book has been wonderful for my students and parents in the past.

Many children can also display anxiety when answering a question in class. When this happens, it’s best that the teacher give the child a question that will be asked in the lesson ahead of time. This way they know what question is coming. I also allow them to either raise their hand to answer or write down the answer. They also get to choose out of two questions which one they would like to answer for the lesson.
You can find this file for free HERE. Cut out and laminate and use dry-erase marker to rewrite questions throughout the day.


Anxiety can also be displayed in class when answering a question out loud. In order to reduce anxiety I give that student cards on their desk and they must display the card that best describes how they are feeling about the question being asked. One card may say “I really don’t know,” or “I know the answer, but I want to write it down.” Or “I need more time to think.” It gives them a discrete way of letting the teacher know how they are doing without feeling anxiety about giving a wrong answer, or not participating at all in class.