The small people in our lives often carry a lot on their small shoulders. I know my daughter does. She worries so much about everything; about school, about her friends, about us, about her brother, about what might happen in the future. I often find that at bedtime, everything that is buzzing around in her head, all comes out and tiredness often turns those worries into something far bigger and well even more worrying.
I’m glad that she does talk to me, I know from experience that some children find it really hard to talk about what’s worrying them and that can be a real problem as it is far worse to bottle these things up. There are lots of strategies to help children cope with stress and worry, one of them is to encourage them to write a journal, either as a way of capturing the positives or even a place to write down worries and help to get them out of your system. But for younger children that can seem quite daunting. The Unworry Book from Usborne is the perfect alternative and as soon as I saw this book, I knew I would love it.
The Unworry Book takes kids on a journey, starting from trying to identify what the emotions are that they are feeling to working out how to come up with simple solutions to those ‘what ifs..?”. They can learn about the science behind stress and also learn how to breathe properly to make yourself feel better. There are pages that encourage them to get moving and why exercise is a good way to combat stress.
There are also pages and pages of interesting and fun activities which focus on staying calm, feeling more positive and a range of practical activities. There are spaces to scribble and doodle, places to colour, mazes, pages to make you smile and lots of opportunities to make you feel better about yourself.
I would quite happily use a book like this if there was an adult version. You can work from the front to back or just pick and choose an activity to suit your mood. The book is colourful and appealing with every double page spread offering something different to see and do. I particularly love the mix of activities, tips and interesting bits of information. It is the perfect book for someone like my daughter as she keeps it on her desk and dips into it when she feels like it. She loves flicking through it and finding something different to do. She has also been reading out some of the facts about worrying and stress to me and it is lovely that it is helping her to understand what is happening to her when she gets stressed as well as giving her some strategies to overcome it.
We absolutely love this book. It is an amazing book, well worth the RRP of £8.95. It is 96 pages of inspiration and positivity and anything that helps kids feel better about life and gives them a chance to offload is essential for all kids.
Find out more about The Unworry Book and buy your own copy here.
