How to make a worry box: a guide for parents

If your child often feels worried or anxious, and it’s upsetting them or making it difficult for them to think about or do other things, you can try making a worry box together.

Worry boxes are containers into which children can post their anxious thoughts. Children can find them soothing because they:

  • give them a physical way of getting rid of their worries, so they don’t need to carry them around anymore
  • make them feel safer by holding their anxious thoughts for them
  • help them to understand that thoughts are just thoughts, not real things that happen in the world, and that it’s possible to let them go
  • create a routine for sorting out their worries and sharing them with you

This guide is written for parents of primary-aged children. Teenagers may also find a worry box helpful, and they can make and use the box using these instructions – but they might prefer to do this by themselves. Teenagers may also find it helpful to look at our instructions for how to make a self-soothe box, which is similar and can also help in times of anxiety.