Personifying worry is a powerful way to help kids deal with anxious feelings. An activity that students always seem to get a lot out of is creating their own depiction of what their worry would look like if it were alive. Students come up with things like monsters, dragons, annoying mosquitos, and so much more. In my worry counseling group, I help students make a worry monster to examine what their worry is telling them and how they can deal with it!
Make A Worry Monster
Introducing the Activity
To start, I ask students to imagine what their worry would look like if it were a real-life monster. We talk about how imagining what the worry looks like is a starting point for talking to the worry. This might sound silly to some students, but I explain that when we can talk to our worries, we can tell them they’re wrong or that we want them to leave! I teach students to say, “I don’t have to listen to you, Worry Wilbert (or whatever name they’ve chosen),” or “You’re not welcome here, Worry Wilma.” A great book to review this process is Worry Says What? by Allison Edwards.
Constructing the Worry Monster
In this particular small group activity, students each create their own unique worry monsters, choosing from different bodies, eyes, mouths, arms, and even legs. Some students make worry monsters that look quite scary while others make worry monsters that appear friendly, and that’s okay.
But this monster isn’t just a monster; it’s a reflection book for students to examine these things:
- how they feel when their worry monsters come around
- times when their worry monsters leave them alone (worries aren’t present)
- things their worry monsters tell them
- what they can say to their monsters to tame their worries
This activity helps students to develop self talk for dealing with their worries and recognize times and places that tend to bring out the worry monster. From here, we practice talking to their worry monsters and paying attention to time when he or she might come out. This activity really helps students to recognize worry triggers and employ that self talk that helps them to combat their worries!
Find more activities for your worry group here:
Worry Warriors Group Counseling Program
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