Talking With Your Children About Covid-19!

A Message from Ms. Erica, Art Therapist:

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!Hola Amigos!

Hello Friends!

 It’s Ms. Erica, the Art Therapist!  Yo soy Ms. Erica, therapeuta de arte!

I hope you and your family are staying well!

We are starting a new series of posts, called “Art Adventures with Ms. Erica”, around strengthening children and family’s social-emotional health. At Children’s Day, Social Emotional Learning is at the core of our programming- and is evident in all of our classrooms, therapy spaces and parent groups. At this critical time in our history- with the COVID-19 virus causing life as we know it to be put on hold- taking care of our social-emotional health is more important than ever.

Often in difficult times, we have a hard time finding the words to explain challenging topics to our children. There are several things you can do to help your child understand what is happening. Here’s a few tips that we gathered from Resources for Educators:

  1. Try to Stay Calm and Stick to Your Normal Routines as much as possible. Children will follow your lead- by being calm you can limit the amount of stress your children feel during these uncertain times.

  2. Ask Your Children What They Have Heard about the Coronavirus. This will give you the chance to clear up any misconceptions they may have. For preschool age children, try to explain what is happening in the simplest terms possible. Take this time to reassure them about the things you can do to keep yourself healthy- such as washing hands frequently, staying home to limit exposure, and eating healthy foods and snacks.

  3. Empathize with Your Children. It’s natural for children to feel disappointed when plans are cancelled and they are not able to go to school and play with their friends. Letting your child know that you understand that they are sad, disappointed or angry, goes a long way to helping them cope with their feelings.

Here are some additional resources to help you talk to your child about Coronavirus. The first two sites have a lot of great information for parents/families, and the Sesame Street site has many fun videos for the children to watch. We hope you enjoy these resources- and that they help you during this challenging time.

Art AdventuresSusan DannemillerArt Adventures with Ms Erica