Social Story for Kids

Social stories are a GREAT tool to use! We often hear of the benefits of using social stories with children who have autism, but truth be told, they are so beneficial for ALL kids!

Right now, our world is in a very foreign state. We are told to stay home and that we can't visit our friends. Schools are closed for the rest of the year. We can't go to our favorite restaurants, parks, or even the pool! When we go to the store, all we see are people wearing masks. This is so unnatural for ALL of us, adults and children alike.

In this moment, using social stories would be the PERFECT way to help explain to our children what is going on in the world and why they can't go to school or play with their friends. For many children, it can be almost a bit scary to see everyone wearing masks, especially if they have had no real explanation about why we are all wearing masks now.

Kids really do need to be told why we are staying at home, why we see people wearing masks, and why we can't visit Grammy or our friends. The tricky part... explaining all this in a way that won't scare our kiddos and in a way that they can really, truly understand.

Kids really do need to be told why we are staying at home, why we see people wearing masks, and why we can't go visit Grammy or our friends.

I teach preschool, and probably half of my students could have a deep conversation about this and the other half would have no idea what is going on. To help with this, I created a Coronavirus Social Story for them. I actually video recorded myself reading the story to share with my students on our classroom web page (since, you know... we aren't in the classroom right now). I should also note that parents had the option to share this with their child, it was not part of a normal lesson that I was teaching. Each parent has their own way of dealing with something this monumental, and I didn't feel it was my place to share this type of story with the kids without the parents approval.

I teach preschool, and probably half of my students could have a deep conversation about the pandemic and the other half would have no idea what is going on.

If you aren't quite sure how to approach this subject, feel free to use the social story I created! You can use it with your students, their families, or your own children! It's perfect for those younger kids who can begin to understand what's going on, but you're just not quite sure how to go about explaining it to them. Make sure to check it out on my Teachers Pay Teachers store to see if it's something that may help you!

Some Tips

Make sure that when you're talking with your kids (or students) about the pandemic, that you keep it simple. Let your kids ask you the questions! There's a lot of GREAT learning that can take place right now! You can talk about germs and what they are. You can discuss how to clean to get rid of germs. Just make sure to talk about how most germs won't hurt you, especially if you are healthy (we don't want to put fear into our kids' heads).

For real, have a DISCUSSION with your child. Talk about how to properly wash your hands and let your child brainstorm other ways that we can keep germs away. Then go and do those things that your child comes up with!

Talk about your emotions! We ALL have different emotions right now (and often more than one emotion)! It's great to talk about how we feel frustrated because we can't go do the things we want. It's excellent to talk about how we feel sad because we miss our friends and family. And it's beneficial to talk about how we feel a little scared because we don't want people to feel sick. Talking about feelings helps your child not only process what is going on, but it also helps them recognize their emotions... something that every early childhood educator strives to help their students accomplish!

Once you talk about these feelings, brainstorm with your child about different ways to make each other feel better! Maybe it's writing letters to the ones we can't see in person. Maybe it's putting up those rainbows or teddy bears in our windows (if you don't know what this is, google it! It's super cute!). Maybe it's video chatting with your teacher so you can see them once again. You would be surprised of the ideas your child could come up with! Make a list, then get going!