Hopscotch & Harmony
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • What to Expect
    • How We Are Doing
  • Our Team
  • Services
    • Mental Health Services >
      • Child & Adolescent Counselling
      • Adult Counselling
      • Online Therapy
      • Study Without Stress Program: Yr 10-12
    • Assessment Clinic >
      • Autism Assessments
      • Cognitive Assessments
      • Educational Assessments
    • Dietetics & Nutrition >
      • Teen & Adult Dietetic & Nutrition Clinic
      • Paediatric Dietetics & Nutrition
      • Feeding Clinic
    • Organisational Wellness
  • Parenting Course - online
  • Join our team!
    • Psychologist
    • Intern Provisional Psychologist Program
    • Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist, Dietitian Positions
  • Blog
  • Book!
    • Contact

Anxiety and Mindfulness in Children

9/6/2022

 
Tim Walker. Mental Health Clinician
Picture
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a children’s book and is a great example of using mindfulness and flexible thinking, individually and as a family, to manage anxiety or other challenges.

A young girl, Sophie, and her mum are surprised when a tiger knocks on the door and asks to come in. Naturally this is an unexpected and difficult disruption!

Rather than avoiding or resisting the tiger, the young girl and her mother offer it some tea. In fact, the tiger eats and drinks absolutely everything in the house!

The more food the tiger needs, the more she offers him. The girl and her family make room for the tiger, and finally it leaves. The girl, her mother, and later her father when he gets home after work, and after being told about the tiger and all he did and ate and drank decide to accept the disruption the tiger has bought to their home and normal routine. 


Whilst not written about anxiety and mindfulness, this story might be a helpful way to draw similarities between a disruption in our lives and anxiety to young children.

The tiger is representative of all the changes that need to be made to accommodate anxiety and it’s challenges. Rather than pushing the tiger away, pretending like he doesn’t exist, or trying to get rid of him, Sophie and her mother invite the tiger in, sit with him, and problem solve the consequences of his visit.


In the same way, it can be important to help young children understand that all feelings come, and then go again.

Nothing remains forever, not even joy or happiness that we might wish did. Instead, sometimes we need to invite hard or challenging or unwelcome feelings in, so that we can sit with them, and problem solve how to manage.

After all, pushing our feelings away or down never really resolves them.


The book is free here in PDF format: 
https://www.kestonprimary.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/English-The-Tiger-who-Came-to-Tea.pdf
​

There is an audiobook version on YouTube, with some related activities for children: http://www.lovemybooks.co.uk/the-tiger-who-came-to-tea
​

Adults or teenagers interested in how this relates to mindfulness practice might like to read this article about inviting our emotions to tea.  https://www.tarabrach.com/inviting-mara-to-tea/

Picture
BOOK AN APPOINTMENT WITH TIM
Tim Walker. Mental Health Clinician

Tim is a mental health clinician who is passionate about working with children presenting with symptoms of anxiety and behaviour difficulties. 
"I aim to listen. I hope to provide a curious, non-judgmental space for young people and their families to gain insight, develop skills, and make changes that are meaningful."

Comments are closed.
    Request an appointment!

    Categories

    All
    Abby Elder
    Adolescence
    Alayne Cummins
    Alyce Galea
    Anger
    Anxiety
    App Recommendation
    Assertiveness
    Attachment
    Autism
    Body Image
    Body Intelligence
    Body Scan
    Book Recommendation
    Brain Development
    Breathing
    Bullying
    Burnout
    Child Development
    Children
    Child Safety
    Chronic Pain
    Cognitive Assessment
    Communication
    Cyberbullying
    Deep Pressure
    Dietetics
    Discipline
    Eating Disorders
    Education
    Emotion Regulation
    Endometriosis
    Fathers
    Food
    Gaming
    Gratitude
    Grief And Loss
    Grit
    Growth Mindset
    Healthy Attachment
    Hilary Sanders
    Home Education
    Infant Mental Health
    Inspirational Quotes
    LGBTIQA+
    Lynnette Dickinson
    Medicare
    Mental-imagery
    Mindfulness
    Motivation
    Music
    Nathan Gilbert
    Negative
    New-years-resolution
    Nighttime-fears
    Nutrition
    Obsessive-compulsive-disorder
    Occupational Therapy
    Online Counselling
    Parenting
    Play Therapy
    Relationship
    Relaxation
    Resilience
    Self-belief
    Self-care
    Self-esteem
    Self-harm
    Sensory Processing
    Separation Anxiety
    Sex Education
    Shame
    Sibling Rivalry
    Social Media
    Social Skills
    Sport
    Stress
    Suicide
    Tamsyn White
    Technology
    Telehealth
    Therapy Ideas
    Tim Walker
    Transgender
    Video Games

    RSS Feed

our services


Adult Counselling
Paediatric Counselling
Autism Assessments
​
Cognitive assessments
Parenting Support​
Dietetics & Nutrition

Our practice values


Belonging
Courage

Integrity

contact us


Hopscotch & Harmony
​Child, Teen and Adult Psychology
1/167-179 Shaws Rd
Werribee 3030
​Ph: 97415222
92 Roslyn Rd
Belmont 3216
​Ph: 52416462
Fax: 03 8669 4076
© ​2022 Hopscotch and Harmony Pty Ltd
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • What to Expect
    • How We Are Doing
  • Our Team
  • Services
    • Mental Health Services >
      • Child & Adolescent Counselling
      • Adult Counselling
      • Online Therapy
      • Study Without Stress Program: Yr 10-12
    • Assessment Clinic >
      • Autism Assessments
      • Cognitive Assessments
      • Educational Assessments
    • Dietetics & Nutrition >
      • Teen & Adult Dietetic & Nutrition Clinic
      • Paediatric Dietetics & Nutrition
      • Feeding Clinic
    • Organisational Wellness
  • Parenting Course - online
  • Join our team!
    • Psychologist
    • Intern Provisional Psychologist Program
    • Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist, Dietitian Positions
  • Blog
  • Book!
    • Contact