Six Ways to Help Kids Who Are Feeling Anxious

COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 8, 2025) – Many children naturally have fears or worries, and some may feel sad, hopeless or anxious from time to time. Stressors — such as big tests, changes in routines, scary events or conflict in the world that they see in the news or on social media — can intensify those feelings. Experts with The Kids Mental Health Foundation, founded by the behavioral health professionals at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, say it is important to understand the signs of anxiety to help children cope.

“As parents and caregivers, it’s natural to want to protect our kids from uncomfortable emotions. But if we let kids avoid the things that make them feel anxious, their anxiety can intensify,” said Ariana Hoet, PhD, executive clinical director of The Kids Mental Health Foundation. “Instead of trying to eliminate those anxious feelings, parents and caregivers can teach kids how to work through difficult situations and how to cope with their worries.”

Dr. Hoet recommends the following six strategies for parents and caregivers to help kids manage feelings of anxiety:

• Validate their feelings. It is important to listen, seek to understand and normalize their feelings.
• Move toward anxiety. Avoiding the things that make children anxious or nervous makes anxiety stronger. Safely facing fears makes anxiety weaker. The anxiety may not go away but doing a task while being afraid is the most effective way of coping with anxiety.
• Teach them to evaluate the evidence. Fears and anxiety often come from the way people think about themselves and the world. It is important to teach children to come up with the evidence for and against their anxious thoughts.
• Consider distraction. Find something to take your child’s mind off what is worrying them like playing a game or practicing relaxation methods. Try breathing or meditation exercises.
• Avoid adding to anxiety. Sometimes, well-intentioned adults ask questions or make statements such as, “Are you worried about passing that test today?” This can make a child feel anxious about something they may have not been thinking about. Instead, try asking more neutral questions like, “Are you feeling ready for your test?”
• Model healthy ways to manage anxiety. When adults provide good modeling of ways to manage anxiety, it shows kids they can do it too.

Dr. Hoet also advises if parents and caregivers notice their kids’ anxious feelings start to become more frequent and hinder them from doing things in their daily life, it could signal the need to seek guidance from a pediatrician, school staff member or a mental health professional. 

For more resources on anxiety disorders, please visit KidsMentalHealthFoundation.org.

The Kids Mental Health Foundation is the leading organization promoting mental health for children in the United States. To achieve its vision to build a world where mental health is a vital part of every child’s upbringing, more than 1,000 mental health professionals and researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in partnership with other trusted experts, provide real-world knowledge and expertise to power the Foundation’s free educational videos, guides and curriculum. Launched in 2018 as The On Our Sleeves Movement for Children’s Mental Health, the organization recently expanded its mission as The Kids Mental Health Foundation to reflect the belief that emotional and physical wellbeing should be treated the same. To date, more than 24 million people have engaged with the Foundation’s materials, empowering parents, caregivers, educators, coaches and employers as the guiding force for children’s mental health all across the United States.