Skip to content

Let the kids play, free from anxiety

Richmond playwear retailer hosting parenting workshop dealing with stressed out children

Keeping her kids free from stress-laden schedules on the weekend is the first thing on Traci Costa’s list.

After all, the mom-of-two and founder of Richmond’s mission-based children’s playwear retailer, Peakaboo Beans, knows that stress equates to anxiety, making high quality, unstructured “freeplay,” as Costa calls it, difficult to achieve.

And with a fifth of Canadian children diagnosed with anxiety-based issues, Costa and her team are hosting a “Making Sense of Anxiety” workshop for parents next week, when the guest speaker will be Deborah MacNamara, PhD, RCC, educator and clinical counselor at the Vancouver-based Neufeld Institute Faculty.

“We have ‘Play-ducation’ events every month with speakers on different topics related to children and parenting,” explained Costa, who makes sure her 11- and six-year-old children’s programs, such as dance and choir, are done through the week, leaving Friday, Saturday and Sunday completely free to play.

“This one will deal with anxiety in children and how that affects their ability to play and socialize. It will provide tools and resources for parents.

“And it will hopefully help make sense of a number of situations we find ourselves in as parents.”

Traci Costa
Peakaboo Beans founder Traci Costa

MacNamara said the workshop is going to look at the roots of anxiety and seek to recognize children’s “alarms.”

“We will be coming from the perspective of relationships and human vulnerability and highlighting the importance of relationships,” she added.

“One of the most important factors of freeplay is to be free of anxiety and be ‘at rest.’

“When anxious, you are restless, stirred up. It’s not a good place to be for playing with other children.”

MacNamara said the strategies for dealing with the anxiety are “surprising in their simplicity” and are all “natural and all within the parents’ realm of influence.

“It’s all about putting parents back in the driver’s seat.”

To register for the April 1, 7 p.m. workshop, email play@peakaboobeans.com. Admission is by donation with proceeds going to the Playground Builders charity.