Resources
What Am I Carrying – Helping Children Unpack Their Emotional Load
What Am I Carrying? is a gentle, trauma-informed resource that helps children explore and express the invisible thoughts, feelings, and worries they carry each day. Using a suitcase as a metaphor, this printable activity invites children to draw or write what’s on their mind, creating space for emotional release, self-awareness, and supportive conversation.
Member Account Includes
- Access over 800 downloadable mental health resources for children and teens
- Resource packs, activities, games, worksheets, teaching resources and more
- Seasonal themed resources
- Unlimited downloads
- Request your own resources
- Cancel anytime
Resource Info
What Am I Carrying? - A Resource To Help Children Unpack Thoughts, Worries and Emotional Trauma.
Children often carry invisible loads , worries, fears, questions, and unspoken thoughts, that go unnoticed. "What Am I Carrying?" is a printable reflection tool designed to help children identify and express the emotional weight they’re holding onto.
About This Resource
Using a large suitcase template, children are encouraged to write or draw the things they are mentally carrying, worries, responsibilities, tasks, feelings or past trauma. The suitcase serves as a metaphor for their emotional backpack, and the activity allows them to release some of the weight through expression.
Features:
- Printable suitcase outline.
- Instructions included for gentle reflection.
- Designed for KS1–KS3 students.
Benefits:
- Encourages emotional honesty and self-expression.
- Helps children identify stressors and internal dialogue.
- Can lead to positive coping strategies and adult support.
How to Use
Introduce the activity in a calm, safe space. Begin by showing the suitcase template and explaining that sometimes we all carry invisible things, thoughts, worries, responsibilities, that can feel heavy and burdensome. Invite the child to draw or write inside the suitcase anything that’s on their mind: things that make them feel sad, overwhelmed, confused, or just things they’re thinking about. For younger children, you can provide feeling word prompts or visual supports.
Once they’ve finished, you can guide a gentle discussion or simply acknowledge their reflections without pressuring them to share. Encourage them to imagine "zipping the suitcase shut" as a symbolic act of setting those worries down, even just for a little while. This helps externalise emotions and makes space for support and calm.
This gentle, visual activity helps children acknowledge what they’re carrying so they can begin to process it. It’s ideal for emotional check-ins and reflection. Download now and give your children the space to unpack what’s on their mind.
Our
Members Include
