Create Coping Skills Champions at Home

A Course for Parents and Family Members

A central aim of any society should be that its children enjoy their lives and acquire the skills necessary to become happy, functioning adults. For this, they need to develop emotional buoyancy, coping skills, resilience and the ability to form constructive social relationships.

-World Happiness Report, 2015

When you have children, your goal is to help them learn and grow into productive members of society. Recently, you’ve started to notice that your child is getting....

  • frustrated
  • anxious
  • worried
  • angry
  • overwhelmed

And they don’t know what to do! Many kids are finding it hard to cope with feelings and expressing those feelings in healthy ways. And you are trying to figure out different ways to help them.

So what can you do?

You can teach kids coping skills. You can create champions who can identify and manage their big feelings.

But how do you do this?

In the middle of a melt down is no time to figure out coping skills.

In this course you’ll learn how to teach kids coping skills. The course presents ideas for exploring what coping skills kids already have and ways to figure out ones they can try. You’ll also learn ways to encourage kids to use these skills when they are needed.

To make learning about feelings and teaching coping skills to kids easy to start at home, there's an e-book of family activities with the necessary printables that you need to get started. This would be perfect for elementary school aged kids.

Please note: this course does not qualify for NBCC Hours.


Your Instructor


Janine Halloran
Janine Halloran

Janine Halloran is the Founder of Coping Skills for Kids (part of Encourage Play, LLC) where she provides products for parents to help their kids cope with stressful situations in healthy ways. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and has been working with children, adolescents and their families for 20 years.

Janine is the author of the #1 Best Seller Coping Skills for Kids Workbook and the Coping Skills for Teens Workbook. She is an international speaker, sharing coping skills kids and teens can use at home, at school, or wherever they may be. Her work has been featured on the Huffington Post, Psych Central, The Skimm® Newsletter, and the Boston Globe. She has been a guest on several podcasts, including Tilt Parenting and AT Parenting Survival Podcast. She has also participated in several online conferences, including PESI Publishing and Media's Child and Adolescent Mental Health in an Uncertain Time, and the Parenting in Place Masterclass.

Janine lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their two children. When Janine isn’t working, you can find her in her garden, doing an arts and crafts project, or playing Animal Crossing. She has a weakness for a good glass of wine, Nutella and British mysteries.


While there are some resources in this course that you can find in the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, there are others that are only available here. Resources available only in this course will be indicated by an *

In Lesson 1, we take a look at the research about how kids are feeling these days. We talk about the importance of teaching kids about feelings. If we can be proactive and preventative, that’s so helpful for all kids!

Lesson 1 Resources:

Family Activities e-book

In Lesson 2, we review what coping skills are, how to identify what coping skills kids already have, and how to build upon those coping skills.

Lesson 2 Resources:

Feelings Questions*

Coping Skills Checklist

Skills to Try

My Coping Skills

When do challenging behaviors occur?*

In Lesson 3, we focus on different types of coping skills. First, we focus on skills designed to help kids calm down. We look at how much breathing matters, and several ways to have kids try those skills. We also look at several other tried and true ways to help kids relax.

Lesson 3 Resources:

Make a calming jar printable*

Deep breathing printables

Deep Breathing Craft*

54321 Grounding Technique

In Lesson 4, we focus on physical coping skills - skills designed to get out all that extra energy that comes with big feelings. We talk about small body movements (like squeezing dough) and big body movements (like wall push ups or jumping jacks)

Lesson 4 Resources:

DIY Recipes for play dough, oobleck, moon sand and cloud clay*

Make a homemade stress ball

Lesson 5 focuses on distraction coping skills. There are times when kids experience stressful situations that are out of their control; or they have been perseverating on a worry or fear. They need skills that can distract them so they can focus on what they need to do.

Lesson 5 Resources:

Social Stages of Play infographic*

Play Types infographic*

What’s your play personality infographic*

Lessons 6 & 7 are all about processing feelings. We look at helping kids understand and identify their feelings, then expressing those feelings through healthy channels.

Lesson 6 & 7 Resources:

Web of Feelings printable*

Family feelings check in printable*

Track my feelings*

Feelings Thermometer

Where do I feel things in my body

Worry scale 1 - 10 with blank notes* (blank notes not included in workbook)

Lesson 8 focuses on implementation at home, starting with setting up a calm down spot and creating a coping skills toolkit for home and on the go. There’s a ton of ideas for books, fidgets, and games you can keep on hand to help teach coping skills to kids. There's also a section to help you manage when your child is in a crisis.

Lesson 8 Resources:

Family Schedule Template*

Blank Cue Cards

We can’t forget about taking care of ourselves! Lesson 9 is focused on self-care. We are role models for the kids in our lives, and we need to show that we use coping skills too!

Lesson 9 Resources:

To Do List*

"full of professional wisdom and practical advice that I can use straight away, and it means a lot that it comes from a professional in the field of children's emotional health. "

- Lucy, UK

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.
I already have the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, should I get the course too?
Yes! Think of the e-course is an extension of the workbook. There is some overlap in some of the resources between the course and the workbook. In this course, I don’t go over every single coping skill in the workbook. In addition, there are coping skills I discuss in the course that aren't in the workbook. For more details, look at the explanation of the course lessons above.
What are the benefits of taking this course?
One of the biggest benefits of the course is that I go into more detail about how to start conversations with kids about coping skills, and specifics on how to teach and practice coping skills. I’ve also created a sample 11 week small group lesson plan for teaching kids coping skills which you can download in Lesson 1 in the course. I also share ideas for ways to set up calm down spots and make a coping skills toolkit for your office. I want to help you help kids learn coping skills!
Does this course have NBCC Hours?
No, this course does not have NBCC Hours. If you are interested in getting 1.25 NBCC Hours, please enroll in Create Coping Skills Champions.

Are you ready to create coping skills champions?

Click below to enroll today!

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