From the author: Thank you for your interest in the article and your comments. Moody... anxiety. Very often we can find that a child develops a state of anxiety. Anxiety in many children largely depends on the level of anxiety of the adults around them. High anxiety of a parent, loved ones, teacher or educator is transmitted to the child, because when a person is worried or anxious about something, this can also manifest itself in intonation in behavior and speed of reaction. Anxiety manifests itself in situations when the child does not have a pre-formed plan of action in a given situation. In families with a friendly atmosphere, children are less anxious than in families where conflicts or quarrels often arise. A high level of anxiety can be the result of various factors, for example, due to reduced self-esteem. Of course, it is impossible to increase a child’s self-esteem in a short time. It is necessary to do this constantly and systematically, and especially for parents. After all, they are the most important adults in a child’s life. Address your child as he likes to be called by you, praise him even for small successes, celebrate them in the presence of other children and adults. Your child must understand that he is being praised for a reason; he must know why he was praised. However, your praise must be sincere, because children react strongly to flattery and deception. If a child is upset, for example because of a bad grade, there is no need to justify these results. It will be more useful if you teach him what can be done in this situation so that the result is different. It is very useful to use role-playing games when working with anxious children. You can act out both familiar situations and those that cause particular concern to the child, through puppet characters or animal figurines. Large, strong, agile and courageous animals can be used to train interaction skills in situations that cause anxiety. Or, for example, games in which an adult doll plays the role of a child, and a child doll plays the role of an adult, this will help the child learn to express emotions and look at situations from a different perspective. Use the “Flower of Achievements”, where you will write down your child’s successes. You can paste your child’s favorite photo into the middle, and write the days of the week on the flower leaves. You can make a large daisy or sunflower with many petals, on which you will write successful actions and positive results together. You can come up with diplomas of encouragement for this or that achievement. What to do if a child tells you, “I’m bad, I can’t do anything. So, I received a bad grade and, for example, broke a glass.” This cannot be ignored or denied. “But you are brave because you admit your mistake and are not afraid to talk about it” - and that’s good. You can make a “Magic Tower”, where different experiences will be the building blocks. The tower can be built from Lego bricks or drawn on a long poster. First, what didn’t work out for the child, and the next brick, what did work out. Despite the different experiences, the “Magic Tower” will grow and with it your child’s confidence. Here it is also important to explain to the child that this happens to everyone, some things work out and some things don’t. But it’s important not to stop and do it, and then the result is obvious. If a child begins an important task, talk to him about what steps or stages he will have to complete. How can he do it in the best way. This can prevent situations of failure and will also develop your child’s imagination. As psychologist Nigel Latta notes, the task of parents is not just to control their children until the time when they need to go to bed. The main task is to teach them how to live. The day will come when they will set off on their own, and it will be up to their parents what principles they will be guided by when making independent decisions. Yulia Khramkova, psychologist