Many of our calls at the Early Childhood Development Associates come from parents, grandparents, and teachers who are concerned about their children’s worries and anxiety. Children worry when things happen unexpectedly, when there are transitions or separations, and when there are scary experiences. We believe that creating stories about these events in the form of a book can be a wonderful way for children to find relief and to master their worries and anxiety. The stories and books that we create at our center can also be created by parents and caregivers at home. Creating a story about a difficult experience helps children to acknowledge the feelings about the experience and then to gain mastery over that difficult experience.

Story books can be simple or fancy. They can be typed or hand written. Books can be made using photographs, drawings, magazine cutouts, or using simple, hand drawn  stick figures. The pages can be tied together with ribbon, stapled together, or bound together at Kinkos. There is no one right way to make a book for a child and many possibilities.

The following are titles of story books we have made in our office for children who have come in for play therapy in order to deal with events or situations that have caused them worry or anxiety:

  1.  “Fixing My Boo-boo” (for a child who needed stitches in the ER)
  2.  “Daddy Goes to Work in New York”
  3.  “I’m Going to Preschool”
  4.  “Mommy Goes to the Hospital”
  5.  “A New Baby at My House”
  6.  “Bye Bye Old House, Hello New House”
  7.  “The Story of My Life”  (for  an adopted child)
  8.  “Mommy and Daddy Live in Different Houses”
  9.  “Mommy and Daddy Go to Texas for a Wedding”
  10.  “Hello and Goodbyes”  (for a child saying Good-bye to his nanny   and hello his new au pair)
  11. “My Big, Mad Feelings”
  12. “Mommy Goes to Work”
  13.  “Bye Bye Grandpa John”
  14.  “My Sleepy Time Book”

There are many other titles and topics that could be made into books.

More about books –next blog.