Print and cut the cards to use during one-to-one sessions, family support work, school pastoral time, counselling, or at home when a child needs a quick anxiety coping strategy. The prompts are short enough for younger children to understand, while still being relevant for older kids, tweens and teenagers who benefit from having a visual reminder of what to do when worry, stress or nervous energy builds up.
The visible cards include clear coping skills for worry and anxiety, such as Stop & Listen, Happy Ending and Take a Breath. Stop & Listen encourages a child to pause and notice the sounds around them, which can be used as a grounding technique. Happy Ending invites them to write about a worry but change the ending into something positive, supporting gentle cognitive reframing. Take a Breath gives a simple breathing pattern of breathing in for 4 seconds, holding for 2, and breathing out for 6.
Other cards shown on the cover point to further practical anxiety management ideas, including talking about worries, getting active to release nervous energy, and imagining a favourite place. These make the pack useful for children who struggle to explain feelings verbally, as each card gives a small action rather than a long discussion. Practitioners can offer a choice of cards, ask the child to pick one that feels manageable, or build a personalised calm-down toolkit for use at school, in foster care, during family work, or before bedtime.
The format suits social workers, children’s counsellors, therapists, school wellbeing staff, family support workers and parents looking for printable worry cards, anxiety coping cards, calm down cards, emotional regulation prompts or grounding activities for children. The cards can be used as session starters, take-home reminders, display prompts, or part of a coping skills box for children who need reassurance and structure when they feel overwhelmed.
The material is presented in a simple card style with brief instructions and child-friendly language, making it easy to introduce without a lot of preparation. Edita Stiborova is named as the creator.
