Sadness Eater

The Sadness Eater is a decorated box that “swallows” or “devours” problems and worries. Children write down their troubles (whether real or perceived grievances) on a piece of paper and anonymously place it into the mouth of the Sadness Eater, thereby helping to reduce emotional burdens. The box is emptied regularly, and the class attempts to find solutions to the written problems. It is recommended to do this either at the end of each school day or on the last day of the week. This activity is not subject-specific and is designed to support group cohesion.

Skill focus

Primary Skill Focus

  • Resilience

Complementary/Secondary Skill Focus

  • Emotional awareness (emotional regulation and communication)
  • Empathy 
  • Flexibility
  • Connectedness
Age groupStudent numberDuration
9 + years oldclass sizevariable

Proposed step by step implementation of the learning activity

  1. A non-decorated box (the Sadness Eater) is introduced to the group before its first use, with an explanation of its purpose and function. It is then decorated together with the children.
  2. In the case of regular use:
  3. Children are invited to write down their worries, concerns, or perceived problems on a piece of paper.
  4. The written notes are placed into the Sadness Eater through its opening, symbolically representing the act of releasing emotional burdens.
  5. At predetermined intervals, the Sadness Eater is opened, and the collected notes are read aloud to the group.
  6. The teacher reads the notes anonymously and asks the children to try to imagine how the owner of each worry might feel (emotion cards can be used to support this process).
  7. A few children are invited to share what they thought or felt during this activity.
  8. After empathizing with the anonymous owner of the worries, the children discuss the identified problems and, where appropriate, jointly explore possible solutions or coping strategies.
  9. The activity is repeated regularly, either at the end of each school day or on a weekly basis, depending on the needs of the group.
  10. If the teacher considers a worry to be serious, an individual meeting with the concerned student can take place at the end of the activity.
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