7 Simple Ways to Help Students with Anxiety in the Classroom
Thanks to A Dash of PDA- Ramblings’ of an Autism Mum for allowing me to guest post about student anxiety in the classroom!
Anxiety, along with different learning styles, can lead to the inability to focus, excessive fidgeting, heightened agitation, or feelings of inadequacy in students. A few simple classroom tweaks can assist in all of these areas.
7 Simple Ways to Help Students with Anxiety in the Classroom are:
- Overhead Lighting
- Essential Oils Diffuser
- Weighted Lap Pads
- Fidgets
- Music
- Flexible Seating
- Movement Breaks
Click here to learn how to implement these simple strategies and why they are so effective.
Related: 5 Helpful Phrases to Say to An Anxious Child and 2 Phrases You Should Never Say.
Great list. I never thought about dimining lights. We switched all our light bulbs from soft white to natural light. I wonder if that has any effect.
I also love diffusing essential oils for my kids and see have definitely seen difference
I tried dimming lights a few years ago and it made such a difference. I know use dimmer lights whenever kids need to focus more. I use essential oils ALL of the time. I find them so relaxing.
As the mom of a child with ADD and Anxiety these are amazing suggestions! Thank you for writing this!
You are welcome. I hope they offer some suggestions if applicable to your son’s needs.
I love all these ideas. Last year my son had so much difficulty in class. He loved the option of being able to move seats (he always wanted to be in school early to get “his” seat). This year is SO MUCH BETTER. This is the first year that he gets to change classes during the day. It’s been key to keeping him focused and all his grades have come back up. Figit toys, low lights, music and the oil diffuser were all used by his teacher last year. It was such a blessing to have her care so much. Great post, great list!
Great teachers make all of the difference. I am glad to hear that he is having a good year.
Yes! Yes! and Yes! These are such a simple and effective ways to that teachers can really make a difference. I think the lighting one is especially important and once that any classroom teacher can easily incorporate, at least for some portion of the day. I really enjoy all your posts and I think you are providing such great information for parents and caregivers of anxious children.
Thank you for the support. I agree, that they can be used in any classroom setting and will benefit all students.
I love this post. I think they’re super relevant even out of the classroom. My 17 son has ADHD and with that comes quite a lot of anxiety. We recently invested in a weighted blanket and it’s working wonders. I’m defintiely going to have a look at weighted lap pads too.
Thank you. The weighted lap pads are great. If you are able to sew you can make them yourself as well. (I cannot sew!)