Pediatric Mental Health Blog
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Best Fidget Toys for Kids
Fidget toys can relieve stress, reduce anxiety, and channel excess energy to support productive habits. Fidget toys are particularly beneficial for children (or adults!) with neurodivergent brains (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorders, etc.) because they provide a physical sensory outlet for suppressed energy.
We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite fidget toys that help kids engage in therapy (also great for long commutes, waiting rooms, or quiet time)!
Children’s Books About Grief
Grief and loss are complex emotions that children (and adults) often struggle to comprehend and express. Picture books can serve as gentle and compassionate guides to help kids navigate the emotions and challenges associated with losing a loved one or going through a hardship. Read on for our recommended children’s books about grief.
Therapeutic Activities with Play-Doh
Modeling dough (like Play-Doh) can be used as a tactile sensory tool for exploring therapeutic concepts with kids. Read on for 5 of our favorite dough activities to help kids relieve stress, exercise emotional literacy, practice coping skills, and resolve conflict.
Behavior Management Tools & Tips
Every kid is different and we have to tailor behavior management plans to their individual needs and abilities. Read on for practical guidelines for a balanced approach to behavior management.
10 Hands-On Therapeutic Activities for Kids
From a therapeutic perspective, interventions that utilize hand-on learning techniques can lead to increased interest, motivation, engagement, and progress! Here we have collected 10 of our favorite hands-on therapeutic activities to help kids develop emotional literacy, build self-esteem, practice coping skills, manage behavior, and recognize values.
Alphabet Feelings
"Alphabet Feelings" provide a framework for adults to help kids to systematically explore different emotions, scenarios, and coping skills. Print this FREE resource and check out our other recommended ways to exercise social and emotional learning.
Bibliotherapy for Anxiety
One of the best ways to tame childhood anxiety is to demystify it. Explore the feelings, triggers, behaviors, and outcomes of anxiety through targeted story books and conversation, or bibliotherapy. Learn more and explore our recommended children’s books about anxiety.
Quiet Coping Skills
Quiet Coping Skills are subtle but effective ways to privately regulate emotions without attracting scrutiny from others. These techniques aim to interrupt overwhelming feelings by focusing on specific physical tasks and simple mantras.
Childhood Perfectionism
A perfectionist aims for the ideal version of a pursuit and has disproportionate feelings of disappointment if they fail to reach their goal. Perfectionism can have many roots, but it is generally tied to a person’s perception of their self-worth.
How to Raise a Resilient Kid
Resilience is a dynamic skill set that empowers kids to adapt, learn, and thrive through life’s journey. By nurturing a growth mindset, parents, educators, clinicians, and caregivers can support self-efficacy, problem-solving skills, and optimism in kids so that they can grow and persevere through setbacks.
Acupressure Tapping for Kids
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping is a gentle, evidence-based method that combines acupressure with positive affirmations to alleviate stress, anxiety, and emotional challenges. Read more about how it works, what it does, and how to do it!
6 Types of Child Therapy
Understanding what type of therapy is best for your child can be overwhelming. This comprehensible post breaks down 6 common modalities used by child therapists: play therapy, family therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Once you understand what might be the best fit for you child, you can search for an appropriate licensed child therapist near you!