Teaching Your Kids to Control Anger! -Written by Elissa Bowes, Owner of Higher Art, LLC and Art Therapy Consultant

Most kids get angry right? Some more than others. Anger is not a bad thing, it is an emotion that signals an important message to us that maybe someone has crossed our limits or boundaries. Sometimes we feel upset and hurt in the inside and it comes out as anger on the outside so we feel more protected and less vulnerable. For kids it is important to learn how to better respond to their anger and to help them see that they have more control over their anger than they think.

1. Use model magic to create a character that represents what our inside anger looks
like. Ask the child to think about the anger they sometimes feel inside their body.
What might this anger look like if we put a face to it? Does it have a name? This is step one in actually pulling our anger out.

2. Play with this angry monster character. What does it get SOOOO angry about? What makes him SO upset? What does he do when he gets SO angry? (Try to stay away from asking why and use what instead).

3. Now, use the model magic to create a character that represents what our cool, calm feelings look like? Ask the child to think about how their body feels when it is calm. What does calm look like if we were to create a character for it? How does this look different than the angry monster character?

4. How can the cool calm tamer help the angry monster when he is angry?

Have fun with this one. Kids love it!

Elissa Bowes

http://higherartnj.com/