Easing Children’s Fear During Summer Storms
Amy Brandon
Child Care Program
Thunderstorms can be a scary experience for many young children. The dark skies, loud cracks of thunder, and bright flashes of light can cause even the most stoic to run for the safety and comfort of parents. If storms are a cause for alarm for your child, try using this three-step plan for calming their fears and anxieties; it is provided by KidsHealth, part of the Nemours Foundation Center for Children’s Health Media.
Step 1: Understand What’s Happening
Storms show nature at its most amazing time—all loud and wet and windy and flashy. But storms aren’t magic. Underneath it all, weather and science are happening. It’s the combination of water and all that electricity passing through clouds that produces lightning. The electric boom of lightning heats up the atmosphere, causing the noise called thunder. Check your local library or look online for books and videos about storms, making sure you select items that are appropriate for your child’s age and developmental level to help familiarize and desensitize him or her. Who knows? You may even
find that your family has a budding meteorologist.
Step 2: Know How to Stay Safe
No matter how much you know about the science of storms, you still need to be inside when one is happening. Even the birds, squirrels, and other outdoor creatures pick a safe spot to wait out a storm. Talk with older children about where to seek safety and shelter when storms erupt and reassure younger children that they are safely tucked away indoors.
Step 3: Find Your Calm
Even though they are safe inside, some children may still feel worried. The most important thing parents can do is talk with children about their feelings and ask
what would make them feel better. Listening to music, snuggling up with a storybook, or playing a game can distract attention away from the storm. Or you can incorporate the
storm into an activity by drawing a picture of the lightning or making a game out of counting the thunder claps.
Visit kidshealth.org for perspective and advice about a wide range of physical, emotional, and behavioral issues that affect children and teens.
What Is Your Child Thinking During a Thunderstorm?
Here’s what children in a Buckeye Village preschool class talked with their teacher about during a storm they witnessed one day. The teacher recorded their dialogue to understand and ease their fears.
- Child A: “Oh, that sounded like a boom crack thunder!”
- Child B: “I wanna go get my baby so she can see.”
- Child C: “I’m afraid of bad thunderstorms.”
- Teacher: “Why?”
- Child C: “Cause some rain splashed onto my window and sometimes there might be a tornado.”
- Teacher: “Do you know what to do if there is a tornado?”
- Child C: “Yes, straight down to be in the basement!”
- Child A: “If there is a tornado, you have to go to the bathroom. If there are windows, you can’t, but if there are no windows, you can.”