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Home › Articles › Activities › In the Dark

In the Dark

Helping Children Cope With Fears Through Story and Crafts

By Mike Anderson

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changed it!"

"How did you change it?" asked Dad.

Tommy looked down at his feet. He lifted his left foot. The shadow changed. He put his left foot down and lifted his right. The shadow changed again. Tommy laughed. He began to jump from foot to foot watching the shadow dance on the wall.

"OK," said Dad. "Back to bed."

Tommy got quiet. "Daddy, I'm still afraid of the dark."

"How about if I leave the door open about halfway," said Dad. "Like this." His father pulled the door open, but stayed in the room. "See anything spooky?"

Tommy looked around. There were still shadows on the wall.

Tommy pointed. "Can I find out what those are?" His dad nodded.

Tommy jumped out of bed and headed for the door. Standing in front of it, he made the shadows change. One particularly tall shadow with arms still bothered him. "I can't make that one change enough," said Tommy.

"I think it's this bear; try moving it."

Tommy did and the shadow went away. "So that's what it was! Silly bear." He climbed back under the covers.

"What are some things you like about nighttime, Tommy?"

"I like the stars and the crickets chirping in our backyard. I like the sound of the frogs at Grandma's house."

"Me, too. Goodnight, Tommy." He bent and kissed him on the head.

Tommy looked around the room. He knew about the shadows now and knew he could make them dance if he wanted to. "Goodnight, Daddy."

The next day they went to the store and bought a recording of the night sounds Tommy liked. Tommy helped his dad cut out stars and planets from some cardboard andpaint them with glow-in-the-dark paint. They changed the ceiling of his room into a beautiful nighttime sky. As they worked, they listened to the frogs and the crickets and the wind and the rain coming out of the CD player in Tommy's room.

That night, after changing all the shadows and moving his bear, Tommy looked at the stars, listened to the crickets and slept. He woke up once, but the stars smiled down at him and the frogs told him to go back to sleep.

Dad finished his newspaper.


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