Tips for Helping Kids Cope & Understand
State of Nevada Department of Education
Model healthy coping skills.
As a family, eat healthy, exercise together at home, play games together, drink lots of water, and find ways to practice positive behaviors. Talk on the phone with family and friends about how they are doing and make this a shared experience of everyone working together to keep their community safe.
Make yourself available.
Children may need extra attention from you and may want to talk about their concerns, fears, and questions. It is important they know they have someone who will listen to them; make time for them. Tell them you love them and give them plenty of affection.
Make a schedule and stick to it.
Setting routines and communicating daily expectations is also significant in reducing stress and anxiety for children. Changes in routine are often difficult for children.
Stay calm and communicate factual information frequently to your children.
Children will react to and follow your verbal and nonverbal reactions. What you say and do about COVID-19, current prevention efforts, and related events can either increase or decrease your children’s anxiety. Let your children talk about their feelings.
Limit television viewing or access to information on the internet and through social media. Try to avoid watching or listening to information that might be upsetting when your children are present.
Talk to your children about factual information about the disease; this can help reduce anxiety. Constantly watching updates on the status of COVID-19 can increase anxiety, so avoid this. Speak to your children about how some stories about COVID-19 on the internet may be based on rumors and inaccurate information.