Helping Your Child Develop Coping Skills: Tips for Parents and Caregivers

As parents, we want our children to be successful and happy. But life can be hard and sometimes children need help dealing with difficult feelings and challenges.Teaching children coping skills can help them manage their emotions and challenges in a healthier, more productive way. Here are eight coping skills to help children deal with life’s challenges.

1. Problem Solving: Teach your children how to break down a problem into smaller parts to help them come up with solutions to the challenges they face.

Example: If your child is overwhelmed with homework, help them break it down into smaller tasks and tackle each one step-by-step: What is the homework for each subject? How many tasks do they have to complete for
each, and how much time do they think they would need to complete each task?

2. Stress Management: Teach your children relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, journaling or guided imagery to help them manage their
stress.

Example: Show your child how to take deep breaths when they feel anxious or overwhelmed: breathe in for a count of four and breathe out for a count of four; or encourage them to write about their feelings in a journal.

3. Self-Care: Teach your children how to take care of themselves by getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and exercising to help them stay emotionally and physically healthy.

Example: Encourage your child to limit buying and eating junk food at the tuck shop. Encourage them to get regular physical activity, and keep a consistent bedtime routine (the weekend could be a treat to stay up later).

4. Positive Self-Talk: Encourage your children to think positively, to stay motivated and have a more optimistic outlook on life. Help them create an affirmation chart with positive adjectives about themselves.

Example: Have your child write down ten positive things about themselves and repeat these affirmations daily. One affirmation could be: I am going to try my best and because I am my best.

5. Reframing: Help your children to look at situations from different perspectives to gain insight, gain perspective, and find solutions. Encourage your children to think about another person’s feelings.  This technique also builds empathy.

Example: Encourage your child to consider how someone else might feel in a similar situation, fostering understanding and empathy. At the same time, if they are upset about something someone may have said to them, encourage them to think about it in a different way—they can even ask the person to explain what they meant when they said what they said.

6. Cognitive Restructuring: Teach your children techniques to challenge and replace negative thought patterns with more positive thoughts to help them manage difficult emotions.

Example: If your child says, “I can’t do this,” guide them to reframe it as, “This is hard, but I can try my best.”

7. Coping Planning: Help your children to plan ahead for difficult situations so they are prepared and have a plan of action when faced with a challenge.

Example: If your child is nervous about a school presentation, help them practice and plan how they will handle their nerves. Encourage them to name what they are nervous about, and come up with ways to deal with it.

8. Seeking Support: Encourage children to reach out to supportive friends and family members when faced with a challenge to help them to feel less alone and more capable of dealing with the issue.

Example: Remind your child that it’s okay to talk to you or another trusted adult if they are feeling upset or overwhelmed.

Start incorporating these coping skills into your child’s daily routine and observe the positive changes in their ability to handle challenges. Share your experiences and any additional tips you use with your children in the  comments. Together, we can help our children build a strong foundation for emotional well-being and resilience.