Talking to Children About the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has been a challenging time for people all over the world, but it has been a far more distressful period for children. There has been much uncertainty and anxiety regarding the current events, and we believe it is important to address the issues and facts in an informative and reassuring manner to children so they feel safe and are aware of ways to protect themselves.

This message from Bright Bubble (a character from the Orange and Ginger Soapy Shampoo: A Bubble’s Journey series) explains the situation best to all children:

Hello, it’s me Helios aka The Sun!

I hope all of you are doing well and having fun playing in my glimmering summer sunshine. I know many of you may not be allowed t outside recently, there have been a lot of scary events happening all over the world. The scariest of them all is the: Coronavirus or COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a disease that spreads when a sick person sneezes or coughs or talks and droplets of the virus float in the air. When these germs are breathed in by another person, it makes them sick too. COVID-19 doesn’t have a cure right now which is why it is extremely important to protect ourselves against it by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, wiping down doors or surfaces, covering your mouth when you cough, and washing your hands frequently.

You might often feel upset because, right now, you can’t go to school and play with your friends outside. After all, it’s not safe. But don’t worry, this won’t always be the case!  Doctors and scientists are working around the clock for a cure and even a vaccine.  For right now, please be safe and do all those things I spoke about above.  Also, you can pray as well and talk to your parents.

If… we make sure to follow all the steps to protecting ourselves, we will get through this together!

The best way to defeat COVID-19 right now is through Social Distancing. Social Distancing means that you have to stay at home and only go out when you need to.

When you go outside, you must remember to wear a mask and stay at least 6- 12 feet  away from other people (keep a long imaginary sunshine beam between you and others). When you meet people outside, remember to wave hello and smile instead of shaking their hand.

Although you can’t talk to your friends physically due to social distancing, you still  can have great fun video-calling your friends and playing games online with them.

Online school classes can be difficult to concentrate on and sometimes you might not understand the teacher through a video call. But you must ask questions when you are confused and try your best to finish your homework on time.

Just like you are taking classes online from home, your Mommy and Daddy are working from home. They might ask you to not come into a room while they are working but it doesn’t mean they don’t want to play with you. When your parents are working or are on an important phone call, you must be quiet and wait for them to finish. This way, they can wrap up work quickly and all of you can play hide & seek, build forts, color on some of the coloring pages on the website or dance to M.E.’s song!

Always remember “there’s always sunlight at end of the tunnel”! (it means that things always get better after a tricky situation and you just have to keep moving forward to reach it)

BEST WISHES____

 Bright Bubble