The important thing to remember is that different children will deal with the situation in different ways.
There's no 'one size fits all' solution to supporting kids through the pandemic, so make sure you have regular chats to scope how they're coping. It's also a time when we might have to cut our children (and ourselves as parents!) a bit of extra slack.
Here are some tips for supporting children:
Supporting your kids
- All children are different based on their experiences, upbringing, age and personality. Bear this in mind when thinking about how to talk to them.
- You may both be parenting children with lots of questions and concerns. Try to be united in what you tell them. It can be a confusing time for them and this can be made worse if they are getting conflicting information from parents.
- Stick to facts and communicate them calmly, consciously and responsibly, using simple language.
- Dispel any myths to help reassure them. Depending on their age you could look up the true facts together from a reliable source such as the government website.
- Talk to them about coronavirus during the day rather than close to bedtime so they can get a good night’s sleep.
- Let them know they can come and talk to you if they are worried about things they have seen or heard from friends or on social media.
- Continue to check in on how your kids are feeling. Things are changing and so may their feelings.
- Get your kids outside in the garden or park to let off some steam but do follow government advice.
- If you feel yourself getting irritated with your children, don’t be too hard on yourself. This is a challenging time for everyone.
- Try to structure your day into manageable chunks. This will help to create a routine and reduce boredom.
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