Tapping for Kids Under 10
WHAT’S THE ISSUE: The full 8-point clinical EFT Tapping sequence can be too difficult for many kids who are in 1st and 2nd Grade to remember, let alone preschool. That’s not to say it’s not valuable – it can certainly be applied with great effect, even in preschool settings. It’s just that some kids may find it a bit tricky to start there right away. Also, because younger kids process emotions really quickly, they may not necessarily even need to tap on the full 8-point tapping sequence in order to experience relaxation and more positive emotions.
Tapping points for kids under 10
The educational resources that follow are inspired by the work of Professor Peta Stapleton who is an award-winning Health and Clinical Psychologist. She has done and continues to do a lot of research on the effectiveness of EFT Tapping in school settings.
What she has found is that kids under 10 often only need a shortened tapping sequence in order to experience an emotional shift. Below is a diagram that she recommends we use when teaching tapping to kids under 10.
Further advice for inclusion: some students may only find tapping on one of the EFT points accessible. This is not uncommong for some students higher up on the autistic spectrum who experience tapping on all points as sensory overstimulation.
In such cases, you can just let them know that it’s perfectly OK to just notice which of the points they like the most and just tap on that one.
Tapping for kids under 10
In this video I show you one way that I’ve taught this basic tapping for kids under 10 sequence.
In this second video, I used parts of the Tapping on my Sticks song by Kathy Reid-Naiman as inspiration to create a song with movement EFT Tapping activity for kids under 10.
As with the rest of the resources on this page, you can just invite your child or your class to tap along with me and see then ask them how they feel afterwards (thumbs up if they feel better, thumbs down if they feel worse, sideways if they are not sure).
If your school celebrates Christmas, you can ask your child or class if they want to give this Christmas-themed Tap with Me activity a go. And again, remember to ask them how they feel after tapping to help them develop their self awareness.
My sister Sofia is a Preschool Teacher based in Reading, UK. She has been tapping every day with the children in her care for the 6 weeks straight to help them self-regulate and settle down ready for story time after break. Sofia works in a school in Reading, England.
Here she shares an example of one way that makes tapping accessible to her students by integrating a sense of playfulness into the tapping sequences. It’s an example of how she teaches children tapping for self-regulation after the kids come back from break time. She has been tapping with the children in her care for weeks, and they love it even more than story time!
And last but not least, here are some tips for how you can integrate the use of toys into your EFT sessions with kids in school. These are appropriate for both self-regulation activities in the classroom such as in preschools or primary schools that have a Calming Corner where kids can go to choose an activity to do that can help them calm themselves down. They are also useful for School Psychologists / School Counsellors working with children in school settings.
ABOUT Eleni Vardaki
Eleni Vardaki was one of the higher performing teachers in the schools where she used to work. When the pandemic hit, she decided to change course, resigning from her teaching job to go all in on her dream of helping bridge the gap between the fields of education and modern psychology. She now works as a Therapeutic Coach in private practice and as an Educational Consultant for schools specialized in EFT Tapping for stress, anxiety, and academic performance.
