Anger Management

I work in a children's home. This means that most of my clients have a history of abuse, neglect, and trauma and have been separated from their family, home, and what they considered "normal" life. 

Children and teens who have been exposed to these life experiences often struggle with anger management amidst many other things. When I meet with my clients, it is my job to provide activities that allow children and teenagers to learn and practice anger management strategies. While doing some research and gathering ideas, I stumbled upon this awesome website with lots of anger management activities! It's called School Counseling Files. 

The first activity (and free download might I add) I used was the Miner 5 Point Scale. It prompted the 12 year old boy I was working with to label characteristics of the five point scale in categories of "Feels like," Looks like," and "I can." I used this activity for anger but it could also be easily adapted to anxiety, sadness, or fear. 

The second activity I used with an 11 year old boy was the "Don't be an Angry Bird" booklet. It works through all the different possibilities that can happen when you are angry and allows the child to provide alternative behaviors or thoughts to the situations. At the end, it prompts the child to draw their favorite coping strategy for dealing with anger. 

My boys are very dynamic and I am still working to figure out what works for them. But I thought I would share this website with you because I really liked it! 

What activities have you found successful in working with anger in kiddos and teenagers?? Leave a comment! 

-Caroline