Dealing with a Sulking Child? Use the Power of Art

Get up. Eat breakfast. Have fun at school. Do your homework. Take a bike ride. Read a book. Kids may not have the most difficult to-do lists, but not every day is pleasant. Even my most easy-going seven-year-old child feels low sometimes, whether it is changing friendship dynamics, irritation when teased by a bully, or nervousness before playing a game. My daughter experienced pressure to perform well in a running competition at school a few weeks ago. She was worried she wouldn’t win the race. She was worried. She was missing out on activities like playing at the park, reading, riding a bike, and watching her favourite show on television. The evening before the event, she kept asking me what if she didn’t win the race, what if she couldn’t complete the course, and what if we weren’t happy with her performance. I reassured her that everything would work out and advised her to put her best effort forward rather than focusing on what could go wrong. But she was unable to divert her attention from her fears. Then, to distract our daughter’s mind from the next day’s event, my wife asked her to draw anything she wanted. My daughter spent the next 15 minutes creating her artwork. She drew a flower and a bee. I asked her why she chose to draw this? ‘I was thinking about spring’, she said in response. We commended her for her creativity and effort. She felt happy and started playing with her toys. It felt like she had stopped thinking about the big event. <a href="https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/dealing-with-a-sulking-child-use-the-power-of-art-4675085000ec">Visit Now</a>