The Art of Coping: Crafts for The Little Coping Books

CREATE is a great healthy coping skill. Empower your child with a toolbox of healthy coping skills and a fun, easy craft to go along with the Little Coping Books. Books can be purchased off Amazon (search Angie Jowers), or they are available as Video Reads on the Cope2Hope YouTube Channel. www.YouTube.com/@cope2Hope Crafts are geared for children ages 3+. Younger children should have adult supervision.

The Little Fish: Coping with Being Bored

Read the story and use the prompts at the end of the book to have your child share what emotions were talked about and when those emotions happened.Look at a Cope2Hope Healthy Coping Skills poster and have them find which healthy coping skills were talked about in the book. See if they can name any others not on the poster that were mentioned in the book.

Make a Paper Plate Fish

Supplies needed: Paper plate, pencil, scissors, glue stick, 1 inch round circles cut out of different colors of construction paper, 1 googly eye (1 inch but smaller will also work)
Put a dot in the middle of the paper plate. Have your child draw a triangle by drawing 2 lines from the dot in the center of the plate to the edge to make the fish's mouth.

Have them cut out the triangle or you can cut for younger children. They will glue this triangle piece onto the back of the rounded side of the plate to make the fish tail. Have them choose and fold a colored circle in half and put glue on only half of it and stick it to the plate. This will make the fish scales look 3D. You can review colors as they choose and glue the fish scales on. Have them circles on their fish to make the scales. Have them glue the googly eye on so their fish can see.
Praise your child for their creativity. Try to not make them do it a certain way. "Create" is a great coping skill because it gives the child a sense of control and creativity. If they are told exactly where to put things or specifically how to do it so it looks "perfect", children can feel big emotions of disappointment or sadness. Have them tell you why they chose to create it how they did and listen attentively.

The Little Crab: Coping with Anger

Make a Plastic Cup Crab

Supplies needed: Red plastic cup (16 oz), glue stick, scissors, red cardstock, red crayon if you do not have red cardstock, 2 small googly eyes, and the Crab template below
Print Crab Template on Red cardstock (you can also print it on white paper and have your child color the pieces. (Rainbow colored crabs and always fun)

Have your child cut out the crab pieces or help them if they are younger. They will fold the feet and claws on the dotted line.
Have them glue the googly eyes onto the round part of the crab paper eyes
They can glue the pieces onto the cup standing upright or turning the cup upside-down.
The can glue 3 leg legs and a claw (putting glue on the folded tab) to each side of the cup
Have them glue the eyes (by the stem) onto the cup so the eyes are above the top of the cup. A sharpie can be used to draw a mouth under the eyes if wanted.
Praise your child for their creativity. Try to not make them do it a certain way. "Create" is a great coping skill because it gives the child a sense of control and creativity. If they are told exactly where to put things or specifically how to do it so it looks "perfect", children can feel big emotions of disappointment or sadness. Have them tell you why they chose to create it how they did and listen attentively.

The Little Clock: Coping with Death and Grief

Make a clock with hands that move

Supplies needed: White cardstock, Clock Template (below), white cardstock, 1 inch brad, Scissors, Handheld paper hole punch, Crayons

Print Clock Template on white cardstock.
Have them first cut off the bottom with the clock hands on the black line. For children too young for scissors, an adult should cut out the clock hands and clock.
Then have them cut out around the clock.
Then they need to cut out the clock hands.
Have them color the clock however they would like.
When done coloring their clock, have them come to you to punch the holes in the clock hands. They will place the brad through holes and poke through the center dot on the clock. And adult may need to help poke the hole. They will open the brad on the back of the clock.
For 1st graders and older, teach them how to read a clock by teaching them the little hand tells the hour and the big hand tells the minute. The little hand tells the hour and is said first. The big hand straight up is said o’ and straight down is 30. Play a game by giving them a time (only use o'clock and times using 30 for young children; challenge older children with any time) and see if they can find it.

The Little Snowflake: Coping Stress and Anxiety

Make a paper snowflake
Supplies needed: White copy paper, Scissors, Pencils, 8 Clothespins, Glue gun and glue sticks, White 1 inch felt or craft foam pieces (2 for each clothespin snowflake)
Plug in a glue gun to heat up.
Have your child place the paper tall ways in front of them.
Have them fold the top edge to meet the side edge to make a triangle. See example.

While it is folded, have them take a pair of scissors and cut off the rectangle piece at the bottom along the bottom edge of the triangle.
Have them put scissors down and fold the triangle piece in half matching the 2 opposite pointed corners.
Repeat and fold the smaller triangle in half one more time.
Have them start cutting small pieces out of either of the edges of their paper snowflake. They can cut off the pointed tip if they want a hole in the middle of their snowflake.
When finished cutting, have them open up their snowflakes. Have them make another one if they want and discuss differences and how each snowflake is unique.

Make a clothespin snowflake
Have your child take a clothespin and pop off the spring in the middle of the clothespins by twisting the 2 sticks. These metal springs will be discarded. Have them do that for all 8 clothespins.
Have them place the clothespin wood pieces back to back and glue them together.
Once they have all 8 clothespins glued together, they will need help from a grown up gluing them together with the glue gun.
Have them place 4 clothespins to make a plus sign on a 1 inch white felt or craft foam circle. Have them place the other 4 on another felt circle. The adult will glue the 4 of the wood pieces to each of the pieces of felt. Your child can choose if they want the pointy end in the middle or the rounded edge. The picture shows the rounded edge in the middle. Once the hot glue dries, your child will place one set of clothespins on top of the other so all 8 clothespins show to make the snowflake. The white felt circles should be on the outside on both sides. Apply hot glue to glue them together. The felt circles (not shown in picture below) are to help secure the clothespins better and keep the clothespins from getting glued to the table.

You can attach a piece of ribbon looped if you would to make it into an ornament.

The Little Acorn: Coping with Physical Limitations & Medical Diagnosis

Make a bean acorn
Supplies needed: Brown cardstock, Acorn Template copied on brown cardstock,

Give child copy of the brown cardstock acorn with liquid glue and a handful of beans.
Students will put a dot of glue on or inside the acorn shape and place a bean on it. They will continue to place beans until all their acorn is filled. If students would like a different color bean for the acorn cap, you can provide a different kind of dried bean. Let them create it however they like. Remember CREATE is a healthy coping skill because they get to express themselves and control how they make it.

Let the child choose a set of eyes and a mouth to place for the face on the acorn.

The Little Music Note: Coping with Self-Doubt and Embarrassment

Make a rain maker (beans are a chocking hazard for young children)
Supplies Needed: Toilet paper roll, scissors, crayons, Dried Pinto beans, 2 Rubber bands (medium), 2-3inch Fabric squares or 3inch tissue paper squares, Rain maker template (below)

Make copy of rain catcher template and have your child decorate the template with crayons any way they choose, then have them cut the rectangle out.
Place a handful of dried pinto bean, a piece of fabric (or 3 layers of 3 inch square tissue paper), 2 medium rubber bands, and an empty toilet paper tube in front of your child. Help child place fabric or tissue paper on one end of toilet paper roll by covering end and wrapping elastic on to hold it tight.
Child will fill the tube with how many beans they choose, but half way works the best. It should not be completely full, or it will not make a sound.
Have them stand it up with the opening facing up and take their fabric/tissue paper and set it on the top.
Help them secure the fabric/tissue paper with the elastic on the opening. You will need to help them wind the elastic to make sure it is tight enough
Once the end is covered and secure, have them take the rectangle they colored and wrap it around the tube, covering the ends of the fabric/tissue paper.
Tape it onto the tube first, then wrap it around and tape the end down.
They can now turn it up and down and hear the beans make rain noise as the beans go back and forth.

The Little Strawberry: Coping with Struggle and Loss

Read the story and use the prompts at the end of the book to have your child share what emotions were talked about and when those emotions happened. Look at a Cope2Hope Healthy Coping Skills poster and have them find which healthy coping skills were talked about in the book. See if they can name any others not on the poster that were mentioned in the book.

Make a 3D Strawberry
Supplies needed: 3D Strawberry Template copy for each student, White cardstock (½ sheet), Scissors, crayons, Glue stick, Small googly eyes, Black sharpie

Your child will color the hearts red, pink or green and the stem.
Have them add black spots to the hearts for the strawberry seeds.
Then have them cut out the 3 hearts and the leaf. Adult may have to help younger children.
Help your child fold the hearts in half with the color inside. Then have them glue ½ of one heart to ½ of the other heart. The 3rd heart will glue to one of the other ½ hearts. They should be gluing the white sides of the paper together.
Have them glue the last 2 half sides of the hearts down onto the white cardstock piece and press to attach.
Glue the stem at the top.
Have them glue 2 googly eyes on the inside of the middle heart to give the strawberry eyes.

They can use a sharpie or crayon to draw a mouth.

The Little Light Bulb: Coping with Failings and Disappointments

Read the story and use the prompts at the end of the book to have your child share what emotions were talked about and when those emotions happened. Look at a Cope2Hope Healthy Coping Skills poster and have them find which healthy coping skills were talked about in the book. See if they can name any others not on the poster that were mentioned in the book.

Make a craft foam light bulb
Supplies Needed: Light Bulb Stencil Template copied on cardstock for stencil, Colored craft foam (4”x 6” squares), Scissors, Pens, Black and Silver sharpie (or gray crayon may work too), Eyes and mouth stickers same as for acorn craft (Scribble Stickers- https://www.amazon.com/Scribble-Splatter-Stickers-Pack-600/dp/B078SGPNQ6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=mouth+and+eyes+stickers&qid=1692738190&sr=8-2

Cut out the stencil and have your child trace the stencil onto 3 pieces of colored craft foam with a black sharpie.
They will cut out the 3 light bulbs or an adult can cut them out.
After they have cut out the lightbulbs, have them choose eyes and mouth stickers and use a silver sharpie to color the bottom square part of the light bulb. Have them use the silver sharpie over a piece of paper so it doesn’t get on the table.

The Little Turtle: Coping with Conflict

Read the story and use the prompts at the end of the book to have your child share what emotions were talked about and when those emotions happened. Look at a Cope2Hope Healthy Coping Skills poster and have them find which healthy coping skills were talked about in the book. See if they can name any others not on the poster that were mentioned in the book.

Make Mosaic Turtles
Supplies needed: liquid glue, 1/4 inch squares of green and brown construction paper, turtle template (below)

Glue the little brown and green colored squares onto the turtle to make a mosaic turtle.

The Art of Coping: Crafts for The Little Coping Books

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