Description

Using Worry Boxes as a Therapeutic Intervention to Help Manage Anxiety

Help kids and teens manage anxiety with our worry boxes kit. This therapeutic activity is an effective and engaging craft project that empowers young people to name their worries and then put them away and let them rest for a while. The poem that’s included in this counseling intervention says:

Worries are like visitors that sometimes come your way.
Draw or write about what’s bothering you and then tuck those worries away.
Inside this box, your worry visitors can rest and stay.
Take a few deep breaths, saying goodbye for now, and move forward to create a great day.

Indeed, we all experience worry from time to time. Sometimes, though, worries can feel so big and overwhelming that it makes it hard to be present, learn and/or get along with others.

Worry boxes are a wonderful therapeutic tool that can help young (and older) people name and externalize their fears and put them away in a safe place that can always be returned to in the future if needed. Worry boxes can help someone lighten their anxiety load, helping them to let go and move on.

On top of that, the actual act of making these easy-to-assemble origami boxes is a coping tool in and of itself; the process of creating a box will help your students, clients, or children feel calmer and more present, with an enhanced sense of internal locus of control. Plus, making the boxes is pretty fun, too!

If you enjoy paper crafts, such as this one, be sure to check out our social emotional learning fortune tellers.  Themes include positive affirmations, self-esteem, growth mindset, and the things I can control, to name a few.