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Anxiety Triggers: Coping Without Avoidance
The post helps children and caregivers recognize anxiety triggers , like specific thoughts, environments, or emotions , and introduces healthy coping strategies that support approach rather than avoid. It covers grounding, relaxation, and exposure-based skills that teach kids to move toward triggers safely instead of retreating.
16 Fun Movement Activities for Counseling and Classrooms
This post features sixteen fun movement activities for counseling sessions and classrooms. You’ll discover games like emotion yoga freeze dance movement bingo animal walks and breathing stretches. Each idea includes set up tips and ways to adapt for different ages and settings. These activities support movement breaks, help regulate energy, boost focus, and promote emotional awareness and self regulation in groups.
Coping Skills Craft Activities
This post offers craft based coping skills activities for kids. You will find hands on projects like worry stones emotion jars calm down kits and breathing bracelets. Each activity helps children learn tools to manage feelings and stress in a creative way. The guide includes clear instructions materials lists and ideas for integrating crafts into home, school, or counseling routines to promote self regulation and emotional growth.
CBT with Children: Helping Kids Change Unhelpful Thoughts with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This post introduces CBT strategies to help children recognize and shift unhelpful thinking. It walks through steps like identifying automatic thoughts, labeling common distortions, challenging negative beliefs, and practicing reframed, realistic self-talk to support emotional regulation and positive behavior.
DIY Holiday Gift Giving for Educators and Counselors Plus Social-Emotional Learning Toys
Spark creativity and connection with DIY holiday gifts for educators and counselors , like handmade gratitude jars, custom affirmation cards, and self-care kits , paired with thoughtful SEL toys. These ideas honor meaningful teaching and counseling work, support emotional wellness, and bring joy to colleagues and students alike.
How to Help Kids with Self-Control and Executive Functioning Skills
This post explores how to support children’s self‑control and executive function using clear visuals, organizing systems, routines, calming tools, and guided problem‑solving. Backed by occupational therapy insights, it offers practical ideas like planners, checklists, clutter‑free study zones, books, and emotional regulation strategies to help kids feel more capable and focused.
How to Explain Alzheimer's Disease to Children
Dr. Laurie Zelinger’s book and parent handbook explain Alzheimer’s in ways kids can understand. The post highlights the brain changes, shifts in memory and behavior, and how children can keep caring. It offers age‑appropriate approaches, sample scripts, and practical tips for open, honest conversations and emotional connection even when memories start fading.
Top 3 Favorite Grief and Loss Books
Here are three grief books that offer deep comfort and insight: one for adults, one for children, and one for professionals working with kids. From Megan Devine’s wise and validating voice, to a child‑friendly narrative, to a clinical guide for counselors or school social workers, each book helps meet grief with understanding, compassion, and practical clarity.
How to Teach Self-Awareness Skills to Children
Teaching children self‑awareness gives them tools to understand and express their feelings, strengths, and values. This post outlines simple activities, like emotions journaling, identifying body signals, journaling, vision boards, and guided conversations, that support metacognition, emotional identification, and self‑reflection in age‑appropriate ways.
7 Tips for Getting a School Counseling Job
You’re ready to land a school counseling job. This post offers seven practical strategies, from tailoring your resume and cover letter, choosing the right title and structure, to preparing concrete interview stories. Learn how to speak the language of school counseling and let your strengths shine so hiring teams can see the real you.
Practical Tips and Books for Helping Children Cope with Anxiety
Help children manage anxiety with real‑life tools and bibliotherapy. This post shares simple practical tips, expressive activities, and carefully chosen children’s books that open conversations about worry and build coping skills, with strategies families and educators can use right away.
Everything You Need to Know About Tension, Stress, and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®)
Feeling stuck in tension or anxiety? TRE® (Tension, Stress & Trauma Releasing Exercises) offers a gentle way to release stress and trauma from your body. Developed by Dr. David Berceli, the practice uses simple exercises to activate neurogenic tremors and help your nervous system shift into a calmer state. It’s accessible for kids and adults alike, and can become a powerful tool for self-care and emotional regulation.
Helping Children Sleep Well and Cope with Nightmares
This post shares expert strategies to help children sleep well and cope with nightmares. You will learn how to ease bedtime anxiety, manage fears of the dark, and use creative tools like pareidolia art, dream reframing, memory boxes, and calming books. It explains how to respond gently after a bad dream and build routines that support peaceful sleep and emotional safety.
SMART Social-Emotional Counseling IEP Goals and Treatment Plan Objectives
This post guides educators, counselors and parents in writing S M A R T social emotional IEP goals and treatment plan objectives. You’ll find clear definitions of specific measurable achievable relevant and time limited, plus examples like rating feelings independently or increasing use of coping tools. The post explains setting goals, planning objectives and tracking progress to make goal writing and monitoring easier.
Anxiety in Children: Symptoms, Signs, and How to Help
This post explains anxiety in children by highlighting signs like somatic complaints, avoidance, perfectionism, emotional rigidity, oppositional behavior, and racing thoughts. You will learn strategies such as body-based calming skills, breathing exercises, routines, positive self-talk, parent modeling, CBT techniques, and when to seek further support. It equips caregivers and educators to support anxious kids with understanding and tools.
Helping Children Cope with Anticipatory Grief
This post offers guidance to help children work through anticipatory grief when a loved one is seriously ill or facing loss. You will find suggestions like open age appropriate conversations, memory activities, art, journaling and emotional support tools. It includes ideas for memory boxes and shared rituals to support emotional expression. These resources equip parents counselors and educators to build connection, safety and hope.
Kid's Nutrition Tips from Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Shawna Hughes
This post features expert kids nutrition tips from Registered Holistic Nutritionist Shawna Hughes. You will learn how diet impacts focus, behavior, digestion, and mental health. Highlights include balancing protein fat and carbs, addressing picky eating, managing blood sugar swings, and when supplements like omega‑3s and probiotics can help. These strategies support wellness and emotional regulation in children.
How to Create a Grief Box or Comfort Kit for Kids & A Building Block Grief Intervention
Discover the power of a grief or bereavement box for kids. Learn how to create a comforting, coping kit for children in times of loss.
Perspective Taking: The Social Skill You Want to be Teaching Kids
This post explores perspective taking as a key social skill for kids. You will find activities, discussion prompts, stories and role play ideas to help children see others viewpoints. The guide explains how to teach empathy through daily moments and structured exercises. These tools support social awareness, kindness, conflict resolution and stronger relationships in school and home settings.
The Creative Kindness Project: a Compassionate, Caring Way to Spread Kindness to Others
The Creative Kindness Project introduces simple crafts and gestures to spread compassion and caring. You’ll find ideas like handmade notes, art donations, kindness cards, and memory gifts that connect people. The post explains how to involve children, use materials easily found, and build positive community routines. These activities aim to foster empathy, gratitude, and meaningful connections.
Does Drawing While Listening Help Focus and Memory?
Can drawing while listening help memory and attention? Explore the benefits and techniques on the blog.
Kindness Sprinkles with Edgar the Egg Kindness Lesson
Teach kids kindness with Edgar the Egg! Discover a kindness character trait lesson sprinkled with empathy.
Using a Green Screen in Telehealth: the Creative Therapy Intervention You Don't Want to Miss!
This post shares how using a green screen in teletherapy can completely transform engagement with kids. Through an interview with Amy Nelson, LCSW, it outlines creative, theme-based backgrounds and interactive visuals , like virtual cakes with removable candles or treasure chest pockets , that bring play and emotional learning into virtual sessions.
More Fun, Games, and Telehealth Activities for Children and Teens!
This post shares more fun games and activities for engaging kids in telehealth sessions. You’ll find ideas like virtual scavenger hunts, feelings charades, emotion matching, quiz boards and creative check ins. Step by step tips explain how to adapt each game to online sessions. These tools support engagement, emotion identification, coping skills and therapist client connection even from a distance.
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