Helping Children Feel Safe When the World Feels Big

Some days feel louder than others. The world moves fast, routines shift, new places appear, and little bodies absorb more than we realise. For a young child, even a normal day can feel big. Big sights, big sounds, big emotions. And when things feel big, children look for one thing above all else, a sense of safety.

This is where we, as parents, make the biggest difference. Not through perfect solutions, but through small, steady moments that show our children they can trust the world around them and the world inside them.

Why the world feels big to little ones

Children don’t have the same filters we do. What we mentally file away as background noise, they experience fully. A busy school setting, new faces, a long day of stimulation, even a change in weather can make the world feel unfamiliar. Their nervous system hasn’t learned how to sort everything yet, so everything lands with the same weight.

The goal isn’t to shrink their world, but to help them grow the tools to move through it with confidence.

The power of predictable anchors

Children thrive when they know what happens next. Predictable moments give them something solid to hold on to when their day feels chaotic.

Small anchors help more than we think:

• A simple morning routine

• A familiar phrase you say before school

• Reading the same book together at night

• A tiny ritual like a “goodnight squeeze” or “morning stretch”

These cues help their nervous system settle, telling them, “You’re safe. You’re home. You know this.”

Helping children find steadiness in their bodies

When the world feels big, the quickest way to help a child feel safe is to bring them back to their body. Children experience emotions physically first, then try to make sense of them. That’s why movement matters.

A few simple tools they can use anywhere:

• Slow belly breathing

• Balancing on one leg like a tree

• Gentle stretching when emotions feel tight

• Placing a hand on their chest and feeling their breath move

When they learn how to calm their own body, they start to feel like they can handle whatever the day brings.

Using story to make sense of emotions

Stories are how children understand themselves. When they see a character face something big, unfamiliar or overwhelming, they feel less alone in their own feelings.

This is why Hanu exists. Through story and movement, children learn that feeling unsure is normal, and having big feelings doesn’t make them weak, it makes them human. They move with Hanu, breathe with Hanu, and discover that their body can bring them back to calm, even when their day has been chaotic.

Stories give parents a framework too. Instead of trying to explain complex emotions, you can point to a moment in the book, a pose, a breath, a scene where Hanu found steadiness again.

Creating connection in small, meaningful moments

Safety is built in the quiet minutes between everything else. The way you listen when they try to explain something. The way you kneel down to their level when they’re upset. The way you sit beside them at bedtime without rushing.

You don’t need to fix every worry. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is, “I’m here. You’re safe.”

Helping children grow into a world that won’t slow down

We can’t control the pace of the world, but we can teach our children how to move through it with a calm centre. With routines that ground them, stories that guide them, and movement that strengthens both body and mind, they begin to feel capable rather than overwhelmed.

And slowly, the world stops feeling quite so big.