KANSAS CITY, Mo. — COVID-19 and the accompanying stay-at-home orders are causing a lot of stress for a lot of people, including parents who now have to make sure their school-age children continue to learn while classes are canceled.
The new learning environment also can be stressful for the students, like for Melanie Hutchinson's son, Braxton.
"He's not seeing his teacher every day, (so) he was very worried, like how is she going to see all my work and how is she going to know I am learning?" Hutchinson said.
That's when she turned to her son's counselor, Stacy Scalfaro, for advice. She is a counselor in the Blue Springs School District and shared some crafts kids can make to help relieve stress while at home on Facebook.
The first one she recommends is a glitter jar, which she said will help children talk about their feelings while focusing on the jar or bottle.
Scalfaro also said it helps calm a child's anxiety.
Another recommendation involves bubbles.
Scalfaro said the bubbles are a form of a thought release. Have a child think about what is on their mind, have them save those thoughts around the bubbles and, in a way, "release those thoughts."
If your child is unsure about what is going on with the virus or is overwhelmed with school work, she recommends having a "calm down kit."
It should include things that the child enjoys as well as things that may help them calm down, like a stress ball or putty.
Another trick she recommends is the "worry monster" as she calls it.
Have your child write down what is bothering them or causing stress then put it under their pillow or inside a stuffed animal with a zipper on it.
Hutchinson's son uses his stuffed dog as his "worry monster" and loves it.
"The worry dog has consumed things like 'I am not going to be good at math anymore because I don't have her there teaching me,'" Hutchinson said. "There was 'I don't know if I am going to be able to' sharing."
The idea is for the worry monster to take away things that cause anxiety.
"I would write my worry down, so I would write it down on a piece of paper and then I am going to take that piece of paper and put it in my worry monster," Scalfaro said. "I am going to have my worry monster hold onto it."
For more tips on relieving stress in your kids, Scalfaro shared additional strategies on another video:
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