Avoid screaming, running, or showing obvious fear around bugs. To help your child take productive action against harmful bugs, you might show them how to spray or eliminate them appropriately. Wait until they’re older to let them do it themselves. When they’re younger, simply model the actions they should take.
Say, “It looks like a little friend has come to visit” instead of shouting, scrunching up your face, and saying something like “that thing scared me to death!"
Over time, they will slowly become desensitized to the bugs and not panic as they did before. If you swoop the kid up every time a bug comes around, you’ll only reinforce the fear.
Teach them appropriate ways to act when they encounter harmful bugs, so that they feel empowered. For example, yelling and screaming might alarm some bugs and actually cause them to sting or bite the child. Reacting calmly and mindfully keeps everyone safe.
For example, if your preschooler is afraid because someone said bugs eat people, you can use the opportunity to correct them and give them some interesting facts about bugs.
Plus, connecting with bugs as characters may reduce the fear the child feels for real-life bugs.
Ask your librarian for help if you don’t know where to start. Help your child learn about the interesting things bugs do, such as pollinating plants or building ecosystems. This can help make bugs less frightening and much cooler.
Use the media you checked out from the library to try to identify each bug and figure out its role. Make a family activity out of catching lightening bugs and then releasing them.
They might also see other children who are excited by bugs. Seeing others act calmly around the insects may further reduce their fears.
For example, you might build a ladybug house, an insect hotel, or an ant farm.
