Being a kid is tough sometimes; their little bodies are learning all the time. Growing, getting stronger and developing. However, play is such an important part of growing up, and you don’t want anything interrupting it.
Why Play Is So Important
Whilst children play, they are using all their senses, touching, tasting, hearing, smelling and seeing. You don’t think about it as an adult, you take things for granted, and you don’t realise how important play is for children. When playing with others, or us, they learn from each other and watch how we do things.
We can turn many activities into a play session, but they are learning all the time from this. I love Pinterest for collecting ideas on play sessions with my kids. Take a look at my Pinterest boards ‘Fun and Games‘ and ‘Outdoor Fun‘ and see if there is anything on there you think your kids would love to do.
We have a climbing frame installed in our garden, which has provided so much entertainment and fun for all the children. It has given them a space to call theirs, running around playing make-believe games, they have learnt to swing themselves, and strengthen their legs climbing up and down.
Although with play comes tears! Someone is bound to hurt themselves or accidentally hurt each other, but that is all about learning, too. Learning that the action they took turned out bad! Next time, they won’t make that wrong step, bring their leg up higher or slow themselves down!
Elastoplast have been looking at turning tears into smiles, and looking into everyone’s way to comfort their child when play turns into tears. They created the sweetest video and teamed up with a very talented miniature painter, Lorraine. She captured the children’s tears, listened to their stories, and produced miniature water coloured paintings of their stories from their tears.
How Do I Comfort My Child When They Are Hurt?
When the kids were young, I have always been the Mum who kneels down, lets them have a cuddle, a rub and a kiss. I make sure they’re OK, and nothing’s badly hurt. Then I quickly turn those tears into laughter and let’s go on to something else fun to do!
I was aware that I won’t always be there for them when they are hurt, so they needed to try to comfort themselves a little more as they got older. It was hard to do, but if it was a little bump and they were older, I would try to brush it off. Hard parenting choice, but I won’t always be there to do it.
Once you become a parent, you are thrown into a world of opinions, how we should parent and ways we should cope with things. You quickly learn what works for your child, but it is always nice to hear how other people do it, too.
So with that in mind, I popped out the question to some other parent bloggers to see how they comfort their child when they are hurt. Here are a few of the responses!
How Do Other Parents Comfort Their Child When They Are Hurt?
I always try to “tell off” whatever tripped them, so tell the sofa it’s a cheeky sofa. That always makes them giggle and distracts them – Twinderelmo
Mummy kisses it better! If that doesn’t work, I usually use Milky Bar buttons! – MummyGummie
I quickly scoop him up and try to distract him, all whilst trying to check he hasn’t actually hurt himself. –The Mum Diaries
We laugh and make it into a joke like, “Oh, is that the door you hit okay? You didn’t hit it so hard that it flew off, did you? Are you the Hulk in disguise?” Usually works! – Neon Rainbow Blog
I say, shall I bump the other side so it feels the same. Usually makes her laugh. – All About Mini Norris
Possibly a bit controversial if you are going to be picky about it – but when children in my Reception class (4-5 yrs old) had a ‘minor’ injury where it is obvious the shock was actually worse than what had happened to their leg/arm/finger etc, I usually said “oh no! Are we going to have to chop it off??” … this usually resulted in a giggle and a realisation that it wasn’t so bad! – Arthur Wears
Most of the time I cuddle them and am quiet. After they’re calmer, I ask what happened and say something along the lines of “that must’ve really hurt. Show me”. Kisses make the ouch go away, too – Baby Foote
We always say “shake it off!” and all do a full body shake/wiggle. Sometimes do it with tantrums, too. Works a treat and always brings a smile – Squats, Sass and Saggy Skin
Big cuddles, plus we laugh and compare him to Mr Bump. He now usually laughs himself when it happens! – The Best Version Of Kelly
If my two hurt themselves, I always try to make them laugh to forget about it. My go-to is to tell them I’m going to chop it off. My 3-year-old thinks it’s hilarious! – Emily and Indiana
I find that if you distract them quick enough, they often don’t even realise they’ve hurt themselves! It’s if you leave them to think about it for a few seconds, you might have trouble! – This Is Where I Blog
Funny voices and dancing while asking her what she’s doing down there (if fallen over) usually make her laugh and forget about it… I think with 1-year-old you have to do silly things, as they don’t really understand explaining things! – Life As Mrs D
When my two were really young, when they tumbled over, I’d give out a loud high high-pitched oooooooooooooooooh – they’d turn to look at me and totally forget the crying they were about to do! A friend taught me the trick – it worked every time if you caught them in the breathe after they fall/trip! – Pack The PJ’s
We put in a funny voice and say ‘naughty floor’ and laugh, and then get him to join in. He thinks it’s hilarious! – Emma Reed
I’ll sometimes fall over myself, just to show that it’s part and parcel of learning and enjoying yourself. When teaching my little one to ride a bike, she was so scared of falling off, so I took her onto the soft grass, and we took turns sitting on the bike and falling off intentionally. She loved it! Well… she loved seeing me throw myself off a kid’s bike! Alex @ Dad FC
If it’s bleeding, I say ‘very red blood is a sign that you have very strong blood, let’s see if yours is strong… ‘ they always stop crying and look from a positive aspect rather than a negative. – Kizmetcava
*This post is an entry for the BritMums #TearsintoSmiles Challenge, sponsored by Elastoplast. http://campaigns.elastoplast.net/plastermoments/uk
30 Comments
I can not disagree with the fact that playing is a very important part of the kids’ life. Playing different active games will help children to learn how to win and loose. And how to act in these cases.
Yes and that can be very frustrating for them!
I find icecream hels haha. We took part in this and love the hoop game
Oh perfect, and ice cream!!
Depending on what happened I just tell them it’s grand or I kiss it better. We have a lot of bruises lately. But not a hope they’d want a plaster.
Oh yes we’ve had lots of bruises here too.
My two firmly believe in the magi of a wet paper towel ha ha
haha! Brilliant!
Cuddles and distraction works for us too! x
Ah cute!
Such a lovely blog post, Emily absolutely loves those frozen plasters, we had to rush out and buy some the other day as she fell over and grazed her knee (first ever time thats happened too). She trips most days but its nothing a magic kiss can’t fix. xx
A perfect magic kiss, and frozen plasters make it all better!
Love these plasters! Any bump or graze is instantly responded to with the request for a plaster!
Haha! The nice looking the plaster the better!
We want a climbing frame in our garden. We always buy those frozen plasters. Seems to work a charm when my little one has hurt herself x
A smiley Frozen plaster does the trick hey!
Distraction works well with mine, although some times they need a bog cuddle
Yeah all depends on how much it really hurt doesn’t it.
We have accidents here most days, there is always plasters or cheer up ice creams! My kids love to play, but play does lead to bumps and scrapes!
Oh yes Ice Creams!!
I love the personal recommendations you managed to get from other parents. I shall try some of these with my niece and nephew when they’re down! Thank you!
That’s great!
oh I love these plasters – especially the star wars ones! I’m allergic to plasters, so it was always plenty of cuddles for me when i was younger x
Oh no! Cuddles are good though, and would make things all better
We’ve just invested in hello kitty plasters and smurf plasters 🙂 Everyone is happy (until they need them that is!!)
Oh good choice in the Smurf ones!
I have always relied on magic cream and kisses – the kids always seem to cheer up when there is ice cream on offer too! lol
Oh yes an ice cream!!
When my son has a minor accident I give him cuddles and then try and distract him by making him laugh. Play is so important for children as a way of learning.
Ah lovely!