3 Ways Play Helps Anxiety, Anger, and Esteem

Play is an amazing tool to support your child through life’s emotional highs and lows. Whether they’re dealing with anxiety, building self-esteem, or managing anger, playful activities can provide a healthy way to process and express feelings. Here are three practical ways to use play to support your child’s emotional development:

1. Manage Anxiety with Anticipatory Games

When children feel anxious, anticipatory games can be a powerful way to help them work through their feelings. These are games that build excitement and anticipation, like Jenga, Kerplunk, or Crocodile Dentist. The playful tension in these games helps children experience the “what-if” feeling in a safe, controlled setting.

As the game progresses and the tension builds (like when the Jenga tower wobbles), narrate what’s happening: “Oh, it’s getting so shaky! My heart’s racing, do you think it’ll fall?” This helps your child recognise their feelings of anxiety and learn to manage them in a lighthearted way. Through these shared moments, you’re helping them co-regulate those emotions while having fun.

2. Build Self-Esteem with Risky Play

Confidence comes from trusting your body and its abilities. As children grow, they naturally want to test their limits and show you what they’re capable of, whether it’s climbing trees, jumping off playground equipment, or balancing on a wall.

Risky play is important for building self-esteem. Next time your child is about to take on a physical challenge, ask them, “What’s your plan? It looks tricky.” This helps them think ahead and prepare. Once they’ve completed the task, reflect on what they did: “I noticed how you carefully placed your foot before you jumped. Great job!” These small affirmations show that you trust their abilities and encourage them to keep exploring and building confidence.

3. Release Anger Through Role Play

Anger and frustration are natural emotions, but they can be difficult for children to express. Role play allows kids to explore these feelings in a safe way, giving them a healthy outlet.

Encourage your child to act out anger through toys, whether it’s smashing dinosaurs together or staging a battle between action figures. It’s tempting to say, “Play nicely,” but letting the story unfold helps them work through their emotions. Role-playing allows your child to safely explore anger, understand it, and learn how to express it in a way that feels natural to them.

I didn’t always find play easy or enjoyable. In fact, during my time as a teacher, I often found myself using free playtime to do admin work or zone out. Even when I began training as a play therapist, I struggled to connect with the idea of playful engagement. It wasn’t until I truly understood the transformative power of play that I felt a real spark. Once I did, I never looked back.

Now, I love helping parents like you discover that spark too, because play has the potential to bring so much joy and connection into your parenting journey.

I hope these tips inspire you to explore more playful ways to connect with your child. Let me know if you try them out, I’d love to hear how it goes!

P.S. Need more support? Here are three ways I can help:

1. Join our membership community for expert advice, resources for every parenting challenge, and a supportive group of parents who just “get it.” Members also get access to the Playful Parenting Workshop for FREE!

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