Anxiety in kids is not an anomaly. A 2022 JAMA report shows that as of 2020, 5.6 million kids had been diagnosed with anxiety. At one point, I posted this question to a Facebook group.
If you could solve one major problem with your child, what would it be?
The answers revealed that childhood anxiety is a primary issue parents navigate. Most importantly, parents are searching for effective ways to help their children. So, here are 7 resources you can use at home to help your anxious child.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a nominal fee from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. See my disclosure policy for more info.
Anxiety Is Pervasive
Whether your child has a formal anxiety diagnosis, it’s normal for children to struggle with nervous system dysregulation at times. This is especially true for kids with ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodiversity.
Kids and parents are stressed out. Coping with anxiety is hard enough on adults. For children who lack maturity, experience, and an emotional vocabulary, anxiety can be debilitating.
Anxiety in Kids in My Own Life
Years ago, I led a group of 9th-grade girls in a Bible study. Many of these girls shared about the stresses at home and school. As I looked around the table, it hit me.
Every single one of them struggled regularly with anxiety (and this was before 2020). Friend, we are not the only ones parenting a child with anxiety.
Anger or Anxiety?
You may be thinking,
“I am not parenting an anxious child. My child is just disobedient and angry.”
Here is the reality. Anxiety in children does not necessarily present the way we often think.
What are the Signs of Anxiety in A Child?
When children are anxious, it can show in many ways. If we‘re not careful, we can exacerbate anxiety, which means we need to learn to recognize it. The following are some symptoms of anxiety in kids.
- A child who is throwing a “temper tantrum“
- The student who appears “checked out” in class,
- Tween girl who is struggling to keep up with schoolwork,
- Student who bombs a spelling test that they were confident about the night before,
- The child who complains of headaches and stomach aches,
- A kid who struggles with sleep problems
- The PDA child who avoids any demands placed on them
Unfortunately, these types of behaviors are often seen as willful. And this is a problem.
Anxious Kids Need Parents to Be Intentional
Often, adults demand that a child’s difficult behavior stop without finding the root of it.
“Stop biting your nails. It is a disgusting habit.”
“Keep your hands to yourself or you will lose recess.”
“You are so irresponsible. You forgot to turn in your homework again!”
“Snap out of it! I told you to pay attention!”
These “difficult” behaviors are most often symptoms of fear, shame, embarrassment, and anxiety. Adults must be intentional to see these painful times as opportunities.
It’s essential to use anxiety-driven moments to equip kids with the tools they need to work through stress.
Anxiety Needs to Be Processed, Not Ignored
Because most children do not have the vocabulary to identify their feelings, they often act out negatively. These outward symptoms are simply a reflection of those emotions.
As parents, when we notice these behaviors in our kids, we need to pause. Like us, our children experience thoughts and big feelings daily.
We need to take a moment to breathe and seek the root causes of hard behaviors. When we do so, we’re able to equip kids with what they need to move forward.
7 Resources to Help Anxiety in Kids
Here are 7 tools to help you help your child overcome anxiety. These support children in their understanding of their thoughts and feelings.
When we educate children to understand the physical sensations, thoughts, and feelings associated with anxiety, we give them an incredible advantage.
1. Turn Around: Turning Fear into Freedom
Turnaround: Turning Fear into Freedom is a phenomenal program. When my oldest was 12, she developed sudden separation anxiety.
Overnight, she became paralyzed with fear and could not leave my side for more than two months. Because her fear was so intense, we immediately began counseling. It was then that her therapist recommended Turn Around.
Story-Based Support for Kids
Turn Around is a 10-day program. Each day includes an audio and workbook component. The story follows a group of children as they attend camp. Each of the characters struggles with some area of anxiety.
Following the audio session, there are workbook exercises for your child to complete. It includes written and drawing exercises that help kids label and illustrate fears in various ways.
Success With Turn-Around Anxiety
My daughter was 12 years old when she used this. While she was apprehensive when she started, she felt relief after the first day. By the end of the ten-day program, she was better able to combat her anxiety.
Turnaround: Turning Fear into Freedom is recommended for children ages 6-13. I highly recommend it to anyone parenting an anxious child. (*Please note, there is a Christian faith component to this program.)
My daughter was quickly diagnosed with PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome), was treated, and made a full recovery.
2. Emotional Regulation Tools
Emotional regulation worksheets can be very helpful for kids struggling with anxiety and other big emotions.
Visuals with pictures and vocabulary describe various emotional and physical states. Emotional Regulation printable worksheets can help children develop a concrete understanding of their emotional states.
By doing so, kids with anxiety are better able to process their emotions with a safe adult.
3. The Anger Iceberg
The Anger Iceberg is another visual tool that helps children understand the multitude of ways that anger displays itself.
For example, understanding that an autistic child’s anger is a symptom of anxiety, things change for the better. Anxiety and fear are at the root of anger and rage. By discussing different terms for “Anger,” both kids and adults grow.
Simple Ways to Use the Anger Iceberg with Anxious Kids
- Choose to discuss a few “anger” terms at a time.
- If your child does not know what a term means, explain it.
- Share a story from your life that applies to the specific anger word.
- Engage in conversations to process how the chosen term could look in your child’s life
This, My Friend, is often the best medicine for anxiety. There is power in knowledge and relationships. This Mental Health Lesson for Kids is a great complement to use with your anger iceberg.
4. Feelings Books for Kids
Another way to support your anxious child is to read them books about emotions. These feelings books for kids are incredibly well-illustrated books that help kids understand their emotions.
I Know What to Do When I’m Feeling is a unique flip chart with ideas to support your child when they’re feeling anxiety or other emotions.
5. Homeschooling the Unregulated (Anxious) Child
If you’re homeschooling an anxious child, check out this parent training. I presented Homeschooling the Dysregulated Child at the NCHE Summit for Teaching Exceptional Students, and it’s available for you.
In Homeschooling the Dysregulated Child, learn about:
- Brain,
- Sensory systems,
- How behaviors expose underlying anxiety,
- Healthy self-regulation strategies for your child
I then share how to equip your child to thrive.
6. Devotional Series for The Mom of An Anxious Child
Friend, let me encourage you. God has chosen each of us on purpose to raise our kids during this delicate time.
You are exactly the right mom for your child, even when you don’t do it perfectly. Try the 5-day Parenting Mini-Course for Relief and Tools that Work. This training will help support the anxious child in your life.
7. Use Sensory Toys & Tools
As discussed previously, anxiety in kids can “look” like a lot more than a nervous child. It’s not uncommon for anxious children to display challenging behavior. The following behaviors are symptoms of anxiety in kids.
- Meltdowns,
- Difficulty sleeping,
- Nail-biting,
- Sensory processing issues,
- Stomach aches and headaches,
- Eloping
- (escaping the situation, home, classroom, etc.),
When you see this in your child, finding the root issue is essential. Often, the key to supporting your child is helping them learn emotional regulation strategies.
Understanding the sensory needs of your child is critical. Using appropriate sensory toys can make all the difference to help calm anxiety.
Parenting An Anxious Child- In This with You
Friend, give yourself grace to do the best you can. When it’s overwhelming and you don’t know what to do. Remember this.
Love Them. Be present. And give your child space to process the hard feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Perhaps the one silver lining of raising an anxious child is knowing our children are not alone.
Related:
31 Sensory Toys for Autism and Why They Work (2025)
Zones of Regulation Review & Emotional Regulation Printables
How to Deal With Temper Tantrums in My 7-Year-Old
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a nominal fee from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. See my disclosure policy for more info.
Lindsay thank you so much for this post! It’s packed with so many great resources and helpful tips to recognize anxiety. I just had the “bite your nails” conversation with our son a couple weeks ago. 🙂
Sonya, Thank you. So happy to hear this was helpful. 🙂 Yay!
Thank you for compiling all of this helpful information! Lots to glean as a mom parenting my own children with anxiety.
Oh, Joanna, It is so hard navigating this with our kids. They are so young and we know how painful anxiety can be as adults. Praying for you and your sweet kiddos in this.
Thank you for this- what a wonderful resource! So much to think on here. Will continue referring back to this!
I am so glad that this was helpful. We are all in this momma journey together! 🙂
Lindsay, this post is another answer to prayer. Today has been a revolving door of reactions. I’m left feeling weary and a little raw. There were a few times I felt grounded and non reactive. Where co-regulating happened and conversation followed. There were too many other times I failed to rise above the behavior, failed to stay present and struggled to regulate myself. I’m so grateful for the reminder anxious behavior is not willful disobedience. I’m thankful for the validation that this is a tricky and difficult season. Most of all I’m grateful for the reminder we are all children of God who has a plan and knows our potential. Love is always the answer. I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to give it another try tomorrow. For now, thank you for your commitment to exposing this lonely stretch of road and filling it with fellow travelers.💖
Of course, Sweet Heidi! Yes. We are so in this together. I fail daily and I know this stuff inside and out. But the reality is that we are all just human beings. Broken and fallable. We have limited capacity. We cannot do it all perfectly which is why God, in His inifite mercy, sent His Son to live the perfect life FOR us because we cannot and never will. There is such grace for us all. When we fail and own it to our kids, we give them a gift that will serve them forever. It’s a journey, Friend. Love and love and when you mess up (I always do), just own it and point them to His grace. He is never surprised by anything we say or do. Never. Grateful for you.
Thanks for the post! Remember that it’s okay not to be okay sometimes.
Exactly, Dr. Dawn. It’s often the masking of our brokenness and struggles that perpetuates the pain. Totally agree. 🙂
So much great information and amazing tips here! Thank you for sharing this wonderful resource.
Thanks