Creative Weather-Related Play Therapy Interventions
- Tasha Milligan
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 19
It's tornado season here in Oklahoma, and I've observed that anxiety levels are reaching their peak. Many of my kids are dealing with intrusive thoughts, disrupted sleep, and at times, they feel overwhelmed by their emotions. Weather events can be stressful, if not frightening, for children. Natural disasters can cause trauma and a fear of recurrence. This article provides creative strategies to help children manage significant emotions related to the weather.
by The Pinterest Parent
Children can gain a deeper understanding of how storms function and can address their worries and fears about storms through this activity. This interactive experience is both therapeutic and educational.
by A Little Pinch of Perfect
This craft activity involves using tin foil to create a storm-themed project. It complements the book "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco, which is designed to help children overcome their fear of storms. The book also includes a recipe for making thunder cake, which could enhance the session or serve as a homework activity for parents and children to do together. Additionally, this article offers some book recommendations for addressing the fear of storms.
Lightning in a Jar
This video shows how to make lightning in a jar. How cool is that!? This can help children understand lightning better, which may help reduce their fears.
Related Post: 12 Game Hacks for Effective Play Therapy Sessions
You can create a tornado in a jar as well. These small science experiments are both engaging and educational, helping children grasp the workings of these weather phenomena.
by One Little Project
This could be an enjoyable experiment to demonstrate how rain functions. The colors seep through the "clouds," creating beautiful, colorful rain in the water below. Fantastic idea!
by Sabrina De Abreu
This pin lacks a link, but the image conveys a lot. I like the idea of using stickers or drawings to represent items in the tornado. It can help children recognize specific things that were lost during the storm. This approach could also be applied to other natural disasters. This craft help them work through their trauma narrative.
by Malene Costello
Again, this pin did not have a link, but the artwork speaks for itself. I like the idea of using cotton balls to represent clouds. Children can customize their artwork to show their experience with the storm, add perspective, and better understand the trauma they experienced. This concept can apply to any natural disaster.
Related Post: Counseling Games to Process Emotions
by First Grader...at Last!
These torn paper tornadoes offer a powerful way to communicate emotions related to storms. I have found that children who have experienced trauma often find tearing paper as soothing and provides a way to let out frustration. This activity could be helpful on many levels. It could also be a way for children to communicate loss by tearing images of things they lost.
by Play to Learn Preschool
Occasionally, snowstorms and blizzards can trigger anxiety in children. This art activity involves creating a winter scene using various media.
by Mas and Pas
You could use finger painting as a way for children to show a wildfire burning. You could have the child start with a drawing of their home or other landmarks, then use the finger paint to show the fire and its damage.
by The Craft at Home Family
This tutorial shows how to mix paint with baking soda while painting, and then drip vinegar on the art to make it fizz. It comes with a free printable template for creating the volcano and detailed instructions for how to make it all work.
Creating a Model of a Flood
This creative little girl created a model of a flood. If you have the time and resources, this may offer a powerful outlet for processing loss and strong emotions related to a disaster.
Paper Flood Craft
Similar to the last video, this is a way to help children recreate the flood. This one may be more practical by simply using paper.
Related Post: Submerged: A Game about Buried Emotions
Book Recommendations:
Tornadoes
by Gail Gibbons
This book is very nicely illustrated and explains how tornadoes work, as well as what the terminology means. It will help children better understand how they are formed and how they move.
Disaster Squad: Wildfire Rescue
by Rekha Rajan and Courtney Lovett
This is a story about kids who go to Northern California to fight wildfires. This is one book in a series about a family that travels the country to help during natural disasters. Other books in this series would be helpful for different types of natural disasters.
The Magic Schoolbus: Inside a Hurricane
by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
This is a well-made, engaging book to help children understand hurricanes. The children on the Magic School Bus go for an adventure through a hurricane and learn all about how they form and what they are like.
All About Weather
by Huda Harajli
This book is best for the little ones, ages 3-5 to learn the basics about weather. It is informative and will help give young children a basic understanding of weather. While some of the other books depict the destructive nature of storms more vividly, this one keeps it mild.
Conculsion
No matter where you live, the weather can lead to distress at times. These resources are designed to help children process and manage their fears. Learning more about what you are afraid of often leads to a sense of control and understanding, reducing the emotional distress associated with the issue. As children learn about weather phenomena, they can become less fearful and more intrigued.
Don't miss the other posts in this series. We have TONS of ideas for taking your play therapy practice to the next level!
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