How to Respond to a Frustrated Child

Children can become easily frustrated. Frustration can be a result of difficulties with schoolwork, a game they are playing or even their performance with music or sports. Children under the age of seven or eight years old may not have developed the language skills to effectively articulate why they are frustrated. Older children or teens, although they can articulate their feelings, they may not know what to do to overcome that frustration. By working with your children to help them understand, articulate, and overcome their frustrations, they will be better prepared to manage their frustrations when you are not around and when they are adults.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Help your child articulate the cause of their frustrations and tell them that everything will be okay. For younger children who only recognize being mad, sad, or happy you might want to purchase a poster that illustrates different emotions with facial expressions.
2. Have your child try some relaxation techniques; e.g. taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, counting to ten, or even listening to some soothing music for a while. Anything to take your child's mind off of the cause of their frustration for a few minutes and give them a chance to relax.
3. Explain to your child that frustration can make it harder to complete a task because they cannot think clearly. Offer to help your child, no matter what their age is, with their schoolwork, etc. If they do not want your help, let your child know that if they cannot figure out an assignment, or they begin feeling frustrated again, that you are available to help out and that all they need to do is to approach you with a request for help.
4. Depending on the task that is causing your child's frustration you may want to have them get up and walk away from the activity until they have time to calm down and relax as you cannot offer much assistance for tasks such as practising a musical instrument and playing a video game or board game.
5. Always remember to make your child part of the soloution. This helps them learn how to deal with frustration and pressure on their own. It also helps them learn about making good choices. Be their guide, their nurturer, and their teacher so they will learn how to deal with stressors when you cannot be there, whether that is at school, on the playground, or at home.

Tips & Warnings

• Let your children know that you, also, become frustrated at times. Give them some examples and tell them how you dealt with the situation.
• Always have a child remove themselves from the situation, whether homework, a game, a video game, etc. in order to calm themselves down before the situation escalates and gets out of control.