The simple game that helped 10yo with school jitters

My 10yo stepdaughter was feeling too nervous to eat breakfast before school.

School-related anxiety is a thing we’ve been navigating for about two years now, and it ebbs and flows.

Reasoning with her and telling her she had to eat was only making her cry and resist more.

So I said how about we play a game to help your mind move through this?

And if you can, eat some while we play?

I was grateful she instantly agreed… we’ve done this before and she knows it helps.

She chose “word ball” - a simple word association game where:

- one person says a random word

- the next person repeats that word, then says whatever word pops into their mind based off the word that was just said

- And passes it back to the first person who does the same thing

Example:

- Beans…

- Beans… fart

- Fart… stink

- Stink… trash

- Trash… can

- Can… can of worms…

No right or wrong answers.

The goal is to not anticipate your next word, but to truly base it off whatever word is said in the moment.

This helped her almost instantly, and even got her laughing. She was able to eat some breakfast and leave for school in a good mood.

Playfulness does not have to be overtly silly or wildly energetic to be impactful and help us be present with each other.

And presence is the enemy of anxiety.

Did I just make that up?! Please tell me yes.

My invitation for you this week:

Try the word association game! It’s such a simple tool for coming into the present moment.

(I literally play this game in my own head to fall asleep at night when my mind is racing and it works like a charm!)

And if you want more improv games for presence and connection with your family, here’s your reminder that I have a whoooole video library and guide full of my favorites (FAMPROV: family improv games for connection).

Cheering you on always,

Mia 💞

P.S. Last reminder! If you are an Activate Play Mode member, we just moved our community onto the Circle app and it's AWESOME! This is included with your APM purchase, no matter when you grabbed it, so if you haven't seen an invite from me, reply here and I'll make sure to get you in there. 🥰

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