What is ACT, and How Can It Help Children?

Michael R Kiel
Jan 19
6 min read

Updated: Mar 21

Parenting and caregiving can feel overwhelming, especially when children face big emotions or difficult situations. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT (pronounced like the word "act"), offers a gentle, practical approach to help kids manage their feelings, focus on the present, and take meaningful steps toward what matters most to them. Backed by research, ACT equips children with lifelong tools to handle tricky emotions and thoughts, helping them thrive in an ever-changing world.

"Big emotions are part of life. ACT helps kids accept, manage, and thrive through them—one playful step at a time."

"Meet Finn and Delaney as they use clouds to help float their sticky thoughts away."

In this blog, we'll explore how ACT can empower children to navigate life's challenges with confidence through playful stories, creative activities, and tools designed to make emotional growth fun and accessible for families.

Why is ACT Useful for Children?

"Empower your child to let go of sticky thoughts and focus on what truly matters with simple, engaging ACT tools."

As an invested parent, teacher, caregiver, or therapist, you may wonder, "Why is ACT useful for my child, student, or client?" Or asking, "What benefits can I hope to see?" ACT is a unique approach because it doesn't aim to eliminate difficult emotions or thoughts. Instead, it teaches children to accept those experiences, see them for what they are-just thoughts or feelings-and focus on what truly matters to them. This shift can help kids feel more confident, present, and capable of facing life's challenges with resilience.

More specifically, here are just some of the proven benefits for children:

Help them manage big emotions
Teach them how to stay focused and calm in stressful situations
Help them discover what is important to them beyond just having fun
Teach them realistic ways to take helpful steps even when they are upset

Research shows that ACT is effective in helping children regulate their emotions, develop resilience, and focus on what matters (Fang & Ding, 2020). For comprehensive ACT interventions for children, see Swain et al. (2013). Otherwise, to understand how ACT works, let's first explore its six foundational skills below.

How Does ACT Work?

While ACT, like most psychological theories, can be pretty complex, I've helped children and adults learn its core principles as a therapist. With this blog and website, I hope to reach a wider audience beyond my therapy office, making these life-changing skills accessible to families everywhere.

Since its creation by Steven C. Hayes, ACT has used metaphors to convey its core concepts engagingly and memorably. Images like floating leaves, clouds, or treasure maps help make ACT concepts engaging and relatable for children. Research highlights the importance of carefully crafted metaphors in helping younger populations understand and apply ACT skills (Foody et al., 2014). Therefore, tailor the exercises you find here—or anywhere else—to suit your child’s unique interests, abilities, and needs.

Here, I introduce the six core skills of ACT with the help of child-friendly metaphors and characters from our stories:

Defusion: Letting go of sticky thoughts during tricky moments with images like floating leaves or clouds, just like Delaney the Duck.
Present Moment: Noticing the world around us to help keep us calmer, guided by Micah the Macaw.
Acceptance: Making room for big feelings, knowing it's okay to have them, like Avery the Armadillo.
Self-as-Context: Seeing ourselves beyond our momentary thoughts and problems, as Sage the Squirrel shows us.
Values: Discovering our personal treasures and what matters most with help from Vivian the Vulture.
Committed Action: Taking small steps toward our personal goals, like Cleo the Cheetah.

These six skills provide children with tools to navigate their emotions, focus on what truly matters, and take meaningful steps toward their goals while learning that it's okay to think and feel anything along the way. For an accessible introduction to ACT concepts for parents and children, consider Harris (2021) or Black (2019). You are also welcome to return to the main menu and check out our Free Resources page for a variety of recommended books, workbooks, and other materials to learn more about ACT.

How Can Parents and Caregivers Use ACT?

If you would like a practical way to start using ACT sooner rather than later, here's a straightforward exercise I've adapted for younger or early-learning clients. This activity, "Partner Coloring with Thought Clouds," is an easy and playful way to introduce children to ACT concepts, helping them manage sticky thoughts and tricky emotions.

Partner Coloring with Thought Clouds:

Step 1: Begin by drawing together.
- Draw one arc of a puffy cloud on your paper and invite your child to copy you.
- Take turns adding arcs until you both have a large, fluffy cloud.
Step 2: Model the exercise.
- Pretend to feel sad or angry, saying a thought like, "I feel upset because I can't go outside."
- Write your thoughts in your cloud.
Step 3: Blow away your thoughts.
- Pretend to blow on your cloud while explaining, "Let's blow this sticky thought away!"
Step 4: Invite the child to try.
- Help them identify an emotion they are pretending to feel (e.g., happy, sad, frustrated, etc.).
- Assist them in naming or drawing a related thought in their cloud.
- Encourage them to blow their thought cloud away, just like you did.

This activity may feel silly for many adults. Still, these engaging activities help children practice putting a healthy distance between their thoughts and emotions. Over time, with initial practice during calm moments, this playful exercise becomes a skill a child can rely on during genuinely challenging situations. Explore more playful activities like this by navigating to our Free Resources section from the menu.

"Learning to let go of sticky thoughts, one cloud at a time."

Adapting the Exercise to Tricky Moments

These exercises are easily adaptable to include your child's specific tricky life moments and individual interests. For example, moments with tantrums, anxiety about school, disagreements with friends, and even bedtime worries can all become growth opportunities. Additionally, incorporating their varied interests - such as balls, dancing, running, or bubbles - makes the activity more engaging and personal.

"Big thoughts and emotions take many shapes-find your unique way to let them float away!"

Here are some examples of adapting "Partner Coloring with Thoughts Clouds" and phrases parents can use to help their child remember and use the adapted exercise:

During a tantrum:
- "It seems like you're having some big feelings right now. Let's imagine your big red ball. What feeling is on it?
- "Remember how we roll our thoughts away with the ball? Let's try that together now."
When anxious about school:
- I know school feels tricky right now. What's a thought that's stuck in your ballet slippers? Let's put on our slippers and flutter away so we can feel lighter."
After a disagreement with a friend:
- "It sounds like that thought about your friend is tripping you up. Let's shake that thought off your running shoes before we put them on. Now, let's run and leave those tricky thoughts in the dust."
During bedtime worries:
- "What's keeping you awake tonight? Let's grab our imaginary bubble wants. Check. Now, let's imagine that worry of yours. Got it? Check. Take a slow, big breath, so we can blow that worry away and you can get some sleep. Wands at the ready! Blow!"

If you'd like to see a full demonstration of "Partner Coloring with Thought Clouds" or use the activity "Letting Go of Sticky Thoughts" for defusion, sign up for my newsletter to receive these resources directly to your inbox. These tools are simple, fun, and easy to practice at home with your child.

Conclusion

Learning and practicing ACT with your child doesn't have to be perfect-it's about showing up, exploring together, and building habits over time. Stay tuned for informative blogs, engaging stories, fun worksheets, and creative coloring pages to bring ACT to life for your family. Subscribe today to access free resources, tools, and updates as they launch! Go to our home page and scroll to the bottom to find out how!

"Big emotions are part of life. ACT helps kids accept, manage, and thrive through them—one playful step at a time."

What is ACT, and How Can It Help Children?

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