Worry Stones

I don't know about you, but the first day of school is always hectic and crazy BUT I love getting to be creative with my kids when I can, and what better day to start than the very first day!

When I was a kid, I had horrible anxiety to the point where I would miss math everyday and worry myself till I got sick. ...No wonder I'm bad at mental math.... I knew when I started teaching that I wanted to teach my kids that no matter what, they were going to be safe and loved when they entered my room. I wanted them to know how to leave their worries aside.

After years of missing math and sitting in the nurse's office while they called my mom day after day, something needed to be done. I remember coming home one afternoon and my mom having a weird flat rock with an imprint in it. "This is a Worry Stone," she said, "It's going to help take all those worries you have away. When you start getting anxious, pull out your worry stone, close your eyes and rub the indent with your thumb. Think of everything that makes you happy." I did this for years and it worked! During my second year of teaching, I knew I had to incorporate this if I could!

On the first day of school we read, "Wilma Jean the Worry Machine" and made our own worry stones that we will use in the classroom. (These can also be used as Fidget Stones).

The clay is from Amazon and it is called, " Soft Molded Baking Clay"- You will need to buy "Baking clay" of some sort so that you can take them home, bake them and make them solid!

I let my kids pick 3 colors and I pinch off a small part of each color and have them squish it together and roll it into a ball. Once it's in a ball, squish it down to create a thumb print or an indent of some sort for them to rub.

To take you straight to the Amazon link for both the clay I purchased and the book, click on the pictures above!

Once they are all done, make sure you take them home to bake on an oven sheet lined with tin foil. Preheat your oven to 350 and bake for 15 minutes. When you take them out they will still feel a tad squishy, but let them sit and cure.

Now they are done! In my classroom we have rules about where you keep your worry stone, when you can take it out, and what it looks like when you use it.