Emotions
At Hope 4 Hurting Kids, one of our principle missions is to help young people understand, cope with and overcome the difficult emotions that they face. Whether it is dealing with family problems, parental divorce, bullying or a multitude of other issues young people face today, dealing with the underlying emotions is a vital first step in moving from hurt to hope and healing. To that end we have developed a comprehensive emotions management plan we call Jump In! Stand Strong! Rise Up! Many of the articles and resources listed on this page represent ideas on how to help kids understand (Jump In!), cope with (Stand Strong!) and overcome (Rise Up!) difficult emotions. We have also included information and resources related to grief on this page. While we realize that grief is way more than emotions, difficult emotions are a significant part of grief. If you would like to limit your search to one area, please click on one of the options below.
Grimace (There’s An App For That)
One of the best ways to help kids deal with difficult emotions when they come up is to prepare them for that time by building their emotional intelligence ahead of time. Grimace is an app designed for just that purpose. Grimace is the brain child of Oliver Spindler and Thomas Fadrus who set out to "find a non-verbal representation of emotions that can be integrated into interactive systems." From a school research project to they developed an app that allows the users to visually see and put a face to various combinations of six basic emotions: Joy Surprise Fear Sadness ...
Draw Your Emotions Workbook
We are excited to announce the release of Draw Your Emotions. Draw Your Emotions is a brand new workbook designed to help young people identify their feelings. A fundamental part of emotional regulation is being able to recognize, name and understand the emotions going on inside of us. In the tradition of our most popular resource, My Feelings Workbook, Draw Your Emotions encourages the reader to use the gingerbread man figure to draw how a variety of emotions affects their body. The reader explores where in their body they feel the particular emotion and what it feels like. The user is encouraged to explore the ...
The Difference Between Losing a Parent to Death and Divorce
Losing a parent to death or to divorce is catastrophic for any child. There are different issues in the grief process between the death of a parent and death of your parent’s marriage. When a child loses a parent due to death even young children can understand the concept that the body quit working. They all come across toys or things that break and quit working. Most have experienced the death of a pet, a goldfish or an insect they have found. While I’m not comparing the death of a goldfish to the loss and the grief involved in the ...
Teaching Kids Using Emotions Jenga
Emotions Jenga is a fun game you can play with kids to teach them about emotions. When children have a better emotional vocabulary, they are better equipped to deal with difficult emotions when life throws things at them. Here's how Emotions Jenga works: Find a colored Jenga game. We found this one from Lewo on Amazon. If you can't find a colored version, or just want to use the traditional version, you can use colored dots or write the names of the emotions directly on the blocks. For each color make a stack of notes cards with a variety of emotion ...
Using A Scream Box to Alleviate Anger, Fear and Stress
A Scream Box is a fun and effective way to vent some of those intense emotions that build up inside like anger, fear and stress. While breathing, physical activity and talking about it are great ways to help deal difficult emotions, sometimes you just need to scream! Handled correctly, this can be a therapeutic way to vent some of that frustration. Screaming however is not always socially acceptable or appropriate. That's where the Scream Box comes in handy. The pictures in this article are of a scream box my 13 year-old daughter made. You can decorate your box however you want, but here ...
The Grief Mask
The Grief Mask is a great way to get kids talking about grief and how we sometimes show the world a different face than what we are feeling on the inside. Kids often hide their grief for any number of reasons including: Fear of adding to the pain of an adult in their life. Not wanting to seem like "a child" who can't handle it. Not wanting to deal with all the "sympathy." Wanting to "feel normal" again. Unfortunately, burying their grief for outward appearances only leads to more significant suffering when they face their grief in private. The grief ...
The Invisible String by Patrice Karst (A Review)
About the Book The Invisible String is a wonderful story meant to help kids who are feeling the anxiety, loneliness and hurt of being separated from someone they love. Who Is This Book For? This book is aimed primarily at elementary aged kids, but the story is universal and I can see older kids, teens and adults finding comfort in the story presented in this book. Whether the child has been separated from their loved one for short time (if suffering separation anxiety), a long distance (as in a divorce) or permanently (as in the case of death), the message presented ...
The Jesus Comfort Quilt by Jane Van Antwerp (A Review)
About the Book Jesus Comfort Quilt is unique book designed for kids and adults grieving a loss. Part coloring book and part guide through the grieving process, this unique book will help kids and adults understand the grief process while creating a quilt from the various coloring pages. Who Is This Book For? This designed for kids ages 5-12 but will be a benefit to teens and younger children as well. The book has been used extensively by grief support groups as well as pastors and counselor supporting grieving children. Our Synopsis of the Book The book includes 19 coloring pages ...
Social Media Makes Us Lonely? (Weekend Reading)
After a brief hiatus, Weekend Reading makes its triumphant return to Hope 4 Hurting Kids with an interesting theory - Increased use of social media leaves teens and kids (and probably all of us) feeling more isolated. In this report on a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Zawn Villines explains: High levels of social media use are linked to greater feelings of social isolation, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Previous research on social media’s mental health effects is mixed. A 2015 study reported higher rates of unaddressed mental health concerns among teens who frequently use ...
My Feelings Workbook
Today we are excited to officially release the second edition of the My Feelings Workbook. Originally released a little over four years ago, the My Feelings Workbook has easily become one of the most popular resources created by the Hope 4 Hurting Kids family. The book covers 50 different emotions that children or teens will likely face at some point during their youth or adolescence. These emotions, and their associated emoticons, are presented on two index pages at the beginning of the book. Readers can use the index to identify how they're feeling at any particular moment. The emoticons provide ...
Colour Away Your Worries by Dr. Leslie Ironside (A Review)
About the Book Colour Away Your Worries is a British coloring book (hence the spelling of colour) designed to help kids deal with the worries in their lives. Who Is This Book For? The book is meant for kids and teens who are struggling with anxiety, fear and worry. Though it is meant as a coloring book, even kids who don't color can get something out of this book. Our Synopsis of the Book This book is meant to engage kids in the process of vocalizing and overcoming their worries. It follows a three step process: Get the child to ...
Empathizing From the Left Side of Your Brain
I am a Certified Public Accountant by trade. I tell people that accounting is what I do in my spare time. I don’t know that I would call myself your typical CPA, but I am very analytical – very left-brained. I am not a “touchy-feely” type person. In fact, one of the biggest adjustments I had to make when I started dating my wife is that she comes from a hugging family. That took a little getting used to. I am not a very emotional person, though I do feel things deeply. I struggle with “finding the right words” when ...
