My dd is scared of bugs. Now she has her twin brother scared of them too! They will NOT play outside in our yard and it is driving me INSANE. I bought them each a "bug bracelet" (supposed to repel bugs) and that worked for about 2 days. Now we're back to running inside in tears....
I want them playing outside in the warmth and sunshine. Any suggestions?!?! BTW, they are almost 6...
THANKS!
Re: HELP...kids afraid of bugs!
My son became very frightened of bugs after he was stung on the foot 2 summers ago. The approaches in auntie's reply above worked well for us: I gradually got him back to a state where bugs don't immediately send him running away by reading books, remembering that there are friendly bugs, and by understanding that even bees don't usually sting unless they're feeling threatened.
I also worked hard to set an example by actually letting a few bees and wasps land on me and crawl around! When he saw that they didn't hurt me, it went a long way to helping him calm down.
My son got stung almost a year ago at age 5 1/2. It took most of the summer to calm him down. Now that it's spring and he's encountering bugs again. He's reverted to being a bit afraid, but not as bad as last summer.
You don't mention the age of your kids. If they are on the younger side (5 - 7) you should be patient, sympathetic, and expect them to have to work through this fear for a while. If they're older, you can be a bit more "no nonsense" in your approach.
we are going through this too.
My oldest was TERRIFIED but has figured out the "shoe fly!" approach and isn't so bad anymore...but my soon to be 4 year old has started and is to the point where he runs inside and won't play anymore if there are bugs.
This weekend we had a "breakthrough" of sorts...we were swimming and there was a dead bug in the pool. I scooped it on the kick board and let him look at it..at first he didn't want it near him, but when I convinced him that it wasn't moving AT ALL, he got closer. I showed him the eyes and wings and he sort of was fasinated. I also showed him JUST how little it is....sooo small compared to him...and I think it helped a little.
We went on a walk today and a bug landed on him, and he "shoe flyed!" it...it didn't go right away and I had to brush it off, but it wasn't a complete hysterical meltdown like it would have been last week.
So I think showing and explaining is very helpful...as long as its not "threatening" you know???