WHAT IF.....

I had the opportunity yesterday to participate in a training to facilitate the “Kids Have Stress Too!” program.

What a great program! I was excited to hear people from Canadian Mental Health Association talk about the importance of mental health in infants, toddlers and children.

Kids Have Stress Too! -Is a program of the Psychology Foundation of Canada, with teachable stress-management strategies for children from preschool to age nine.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was:

· The “what If” Game -Sometimes children are upset by situations at home or school. The “what if?” game is a fun way to think about what to do in certain situations. Playing the game with children helps them to practice mentally what they could do in different situations. It helps them to learn to anticipate, to think ahead and to come up with ideas. Make some “What If” situations playful and fun. Also encourage children to make up “what If” situations for parents and caregivers to answer. Give children time to think about what they might do. If needed, you might prompt with a comment that includes the answer. Be patient and don’t focus too much on the answers.



This helps kids figure out problem solving skill as well as giving them options of potential solutions to problems. I think this may be adapted to work with parents as well.

Last night I decided to try it out in my own home. My 8 year old, my fiancé & I were sitting watching “Wizards of Waverly” in this episode one of the girls from school ended up being trapped in Alex’s journal. So I turned to Brook and Brad and asked; “what if you were trapped in a book what one would you want to be trapped in???” Neither of them gave a definitive answer as to what book but it did open up discussion and communication and a great family moment for us.

Some of the example questions that get our children into problem solving and hopefully less stressed when something happens were:

Under 5

1. What if someone was playing with a toy you wanted?

2. What if your little sister pushes over the tower you have been building?

6 to 9

1. What if you forgot your lunch at home?

2. What if you are shopping with your mom and you get lost?



Another Suggestion was; Make up your own “what if” questions, based on the age and interests of your children.

Also for the six to nine year olds you can try the “what else?” game (Helping children consider different ways of dealing with a problem. It builds on the What if by asking what else could you do.) The aim is to realize there is more then one way to handle a situation and to stimulate creative problem solving.

Again this is something I believe could be adaptable to our families in problem solving situations.