Helping Your Anxious Preteen Navigate Holiday Stress with Creativity

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and connection, but for preteens with anxiety, they can feel overwhelming. From packed schedules to unfamiliar social settings and heightened expectations, the season often amplifies their worries. Your preteen might struggle with a loud inner critic, feelings of self-doubt, or an inability to fully relax and enjoy the season.

As a parent, you want to help your preteen feel safe, understood, and confident during this busy time. One way to achieve this is through creativity. Art therapy offers a unique outlet for anxious preteens to express their thoughts and emotions, quiet their inner critic, and discover tools for resilience.

Here’s a creative activity designed to help your preteen process holiday stress and find calm amid the chaos.

Therapeutic Art Activity: My Holiday Journey Map

Therapeutic Art Activity: My Holiday Journey Map

Why You NEED to try this…

Why This Activity Helps

Anxiety can feel like a tangle of thoughts and emotions, especially during the holidays. The Holiday Journey Map provides preteens with a way to untangle and organize their feelings while visually mapping out the season. This activity encourages mindfulness, self-awareness, and self-expression—all key tools for managing anxiety.

What You’ll Need:

• A large sheet of paper or poster board

• Markers, oil pastels, crayons, or colored pencils

• Magazines for cutting out images (optional)

• Scissors, glue, and stickers

How to Create the Map:

1. Draw the Journey:

Ask your preteen to draw a winding road across the paper, representing their journey through the holiday season. Along the road, they’ll mark stops for key events, like a holiday party, family dinner, family traditions, or even downtime at home.

2. Add Emotion Stops:

At each stop, have them draw a symbol or picture to represent how they feel about that moment. For example:

• A question mark for moments of uncertainty.

• A heart for events they’re excited about.

• A storm cloud for situations that feel overwhelming.

They can use colors to reflect their emotions—blue for calm, red for stress, yellow for happiness.

3. Add Empowerment Imagery:

Encourage them to add to the road with comforting images or words that remind them of their strengths and the support they have. They can include encouraging messages, symbols of resilience, or reminders of things they enjoy about the holidays.

4. Reflect Together:

Once their map is complete, sit down and explore it with them. Use open-ended questions like:

• “What part of this journey feels the hardest for you?”

• “What are you most looking forward to?”

• “How can we make the tough moments feel easier?”

5. Empower with Coping Tools:

Discuss simple coping strategies they can use when anxiety shows up, such as deep breathing, taking a break, or using positive affirmations.

Supporting Your Preteen Through Holiday Stress

The Holiday Journey Map is more than an art project—it’s a tool for emotional empowerment. It helps your preteen process their thoughts and feelings while creating a visual reminder of their ability to face challenges.

This activity also opens the door for meaningful conversations, giving you insight into what they need to feel supported during the season.

If you’re looking for more strategies to help your preteen manage anxiety, build confidence, and quiet their inner critic, explore my Emotionally Empowered Family System or Creatively You Club.

Rooting for you!

Kayla