Talking to children about change

I was talking to my daughter about things she's got going on. Sticky life stuff, change. So I suggested we have a little play with the 5 steps in my book, I know - give it a rest right? But my daughter was actually curious and said she'd like that and wanted to know more.

In the spirit of play, I explained what the steps were and we talked about what she was thinking and what questions could help her.

Here's what we came up with below.

There is no science or child psychology involved, this was just a thing my daughter and I thought might help. Children are trying to navigate change everyday. Friendship groups, family changes, new lessons, new school, new teachers, new body, new thoughts, new latest thing they all need! Using these steps helped us both to talk about it without the icky parent child conversation we sometimes end up having. Maybe this could help the little changes (like a new bedtime routine) as it does for big ones (like moving house or starting a new school).

I thought I'd share it, as I'm realising maybe this framework can be used to help all kinds of conversations and things to think about... (and off my ideas brain goes 🏃‍♀️‍➡️ ).

And also off my daughter's ideas brain goes. She now wants to learn how to use Canva to make a workbook and maybe 'write her own book about change' for her friends. Because it's a Sunday evening, and we should be winding down, prepping for school etc...