Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS) Worksheet: Understanding Unwanted Thinking Patterns in Children

Do you ever catch yourself or your child thinking negative thoughts that just won't go away? These pesky thought patterns are known as Automatic Negative Thoughts, or ANTs for short. They can be really bothersome and often lead to feelings of sadness, anger, or even hopelessness.

Fortunately, there's a fun way to help children recognize these unwanted thinkers and learn how to kick them out! Meet Lawrence the Labeler, Felicity the Fortune Teller, Mavis Mind Reader, Nancy Negative, Barry Blamer, and Edna Emotional – six lovable but problematic characters that personify common types of ANTs.

Here's a quick introduction to each:

1. Lawrence has an habit of calling himself and others names.

2. Felicity can see into the future (but her predictions are usually wrong).

3. Mavis claims she knows what you're thinking at any given moment.

4. Nancy always sees only the negative, even when there's plenty good stuff around!

5. Barry shifts all blame onto someone else – never takes responsibility for his actions!

6. Emotional Edna lets feelings rule her decisions without ever stopping to think things through.

Now that we've met our six unwelcome guests, let's talk about how they work:

Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS) are like tiny little critters in your head that just won't quit bugging you! They always seem negative and can be super hard to get rid of. The more attention you give them, the stronger they become – which means these pesky thoughts start feeling really true!

Here's a simple example:

Scenario: You forgot to do your homework.

Normal thinking:

'Aw shucks, I'm such an idiot! Now my grades are going down!'

ANT thinking (via Lawrence):

'You numbskull! You're so clueless and irresponsible. No wonder you always mess up!'

See how different they sound? That's because ANTs love to magnify problems while ignoring all the good stuff happening around us!

So what can we do about these pesky thought intruders?

1. Recognize them: Next time those negative thoughts pop into your head, take a deep breath and say out loud, 'Ah-ha! It's Lawrence being mean again!'

2. Challenge them: Ask yourself if there might be another way to look at this situation.

3. Replace with something better:

Instead of:

'I'll never find anyone who likes me!'

Try saying:

'There are plenty of awesome people in the world – I just haven't met 'em yet!

Automatic negative thoughts ants worksheet