The age of five to seven years is the beginning of the formation of self-esteem and awareness of the finiteness of life. And many of the fears of this period are associated with these two points.
At the age of five to seven years, the child learns to think in abstract concepts, learns to generalize, classify and draw their own conclusions based on this. Often asked questions from the category of space and time: "where did everything come from?", "What happens next?", "Why do people live?" He already consciously learns the rules of communication, games, interaction of people with each other. Friendship with peers becomes very important here, the ability to cooperate and develop a healthy sense of competition. Children at this age begin to think in terms of good-bad, right-wrong, honest-deceitful. And over time, and think about your future.
Hence the main fear of this period is taken - the fear of death (of one's own or of those close to them). And also derivatives from it: fears of attack, disease, animals, war, elements, heights - everything that can lead to a threat to life. In addition, there is also a category of fears that a child may have, whether he / she will be beautiful, whether he will cope with difficulties, whether he will be able to get married.
PRACTICAL TIPS:
1. Parents need to remember two very important things: you cannot lie to children that death does not exist or that it is not scary (the so-called denial), but also you cannot whip up additional experiences around this topic yourself. This is undoubtedly something that is difficult for adults themselves - to maintain balance so as not to slip into any of these sides. Tell the truth that death is a phenomenon that is not fully understood by anyone, that you yourself do not know much about it, but do not show your excitement and horror in front of it. You should not lie to the children that you will never die, you will always be with them, but emphasize that this will not happen soon. That most often people live to old age, and you may not become when he himself is already an adult.
2. In cases of fear of attack, illness and other things, you can analyze each case separately with your children. That diseases can be cured, even dangerous ones. To avoid being attacked, you need to be careful. You can tell what is the sequence of actions in the face of natural disasters and other unforeseen situations. The most important thing is to give the child confidence that there is always a way out of most terrible situations, there is always a solution to the problem.
3. When fear touches the child's doubts about their strengths, beauty, intelligence, in no case should you ridicule and laugh it off. Respect the child's nascent self-esteem and sense of self.
4. If the family has warm and trusting relationships, then you should not focus on such experiences of this age - as a rule, this is a passing stage. It is worth paying special attention only if the fears become obsessive and pronounced.
