Fear of Spiders for Children Script

I wonder if you would like to play a game of let’s pretend?

What I want you to do is to make some pictures in your mind of the things I am talking about and as you do, see if you can make them as real as can be.

When you do this, you can feel as though you are actually there and what I am describing is actually happening to you.

Do you think you can do that?

Good.  You will also find that imagining these things will relax you even more; your body will either feel very heavy or really light, as though it’s floating away all by itself.

And every breath that you take and each word that I say will make you feel really good. 

You will find yourself drifting deeper and deeper into a calm and sleepy sort of feeling.

So when you’re ready, I want you to imagine that you are sitting in your favorite chair at home.

See what it looks like, where it is in the room and how it feels to sit here.

And notice how you’re feeling very comfortable and very relaxed.

Feel your arm as it rests on the chair and if you look around you will see the things in the room.

There should be a door, and the window.  You might have a fireplace or radiator and there could be ornaments or a clock.

I bet there’s also television in your room.  Maybe you have a coffee table as well?

See all the things that are in the room with your favorite chair.

And you can see these things that I have mentioned very clearly, and your imagining makes you relax even more deeply.

It’s a comfortable sensation to feel that you are surrounded by familiar things; your own very special, familiar things.

And I bet you’re remembering now, other things that I’ve not mentioned yet. 

And you can see these other things, even as you’re remembering them.

You don’t need to tell me what they are; just see them and notice their color and shape and perhaps how they feel if you touch them.

And now I want you to imagine that you can hear a soft knock on the door.

Listen carefully.  Can you hear it?  It’s a sort of tap, tap, tap; a very quiet tap, tap, tap.

And you are feeling too comfortable to get up out of your chair.

Your legs are now heavy and your body is relaxed.

Your mind is calm and it feels really good here so you just shout “come in” and look toward the door to see who is there.

The door opens but you can’t see anyone there, so you shout out.

“Who is it?”

And you hear a soft little sob and a tiny, squeaky little voice whispers:

”it’s only little old me.”

You look around the room but can’t see anyone but then when you look down at the floor you can see a sweet little spider sitting there, crying its eyes out.

One of his legs is wrapped around a red spotted handkerchief and the other seven are slipping about all over the place.

You look to see why the spider is slipping and notice that its tears are forming a little pool all around those seven little legs.

You ask the spider why it is crying and the spider tells you his furry feet are wet and he’s lost his best yellow wellies.

Then a big, wide smile spreads over his furry face and he jumps up and down in the salty puddle and exclaims:

“Oh, there they are.”

The salty puddle tears splash onto his face and he dabs at them with his red spotted handkerchief.

The next minute he has seven little yellow Wellington boots on his feet and looks rather like Paddington Bear but without the duffle coat.

And he has made a hat with the red spotted handkerchief by tying the four corners into knots and putting it on his head.

But the hat is so big that it keeps falling down over his face.

The spider looks so ridiculous that you start to laugh.

But then the spider slips on the puddle tears again and this time, does a somersault up in the air and lands on its back.

Its legs are splayed everywhere and the hat has fallen over his nose.

Do you think spiders have a nose?  I don’t know, but this one does.

So he takes off the hat and mops up the puddle of tears before putting it back on his head.  But this time, the handkerchief is so heavy from the watery tears that it won’t stay on so the spider wraps it around its little body like a coat.

He then jumps up and with a huge grin on his face, takes a bow and says thank you for helping before waving goodbye and disappearing out of the open door.

In a way, you would have liked the spider to stay but you know it probably wants to go to its own favorite chair and get out of its heavy wet coat.

But, from this moment forwards, whenever you should see, or even think about a spider, you will immediately think about a furry spider with seven yellow wellies on his furry feet and a red spotted handkerchief on his head.

And this thought makes you smile. Let me see you smile now.  That’s good.

You are going to find that you feel much more and more comfortable about spiders from now on.

You begin to think of spiders as your friends; they don’t bother you, and you don’t bother them.

Whenever you see, or think about a spider, you immediately think about a furry spider with seven yellow wellies on his furry feet and a red spotted handkerchief on his furry head.

And this thought makes you smile.

You begin to think of spiders as your friends, knowing that they do an amazing and important job in creating beautiful webs to catch those dirty flies that buzz around, spreading germs.

You also realize that spiders are far more afraid of you than you could ever be of them; after all most spiders are tiny compared to you.

You must look like a giant to them and they usually freeze or scuttle away to a corner if they can; scared for their little lives.

From now on you feel so more comfortable when you’re in the presence of spiders.

And you feel comfortable because you always think of that furry spider with seven yellow wellies on his furry feet and a red spotted handkerchief on his head.

And this thought makes you smile.

And these suggestions are firmly embedded in your mind and grow stronger and stronger, day by day.

In a moment I’m going to count the numbers from one to five and at the count of five you will be wide awake, feeling happy and refreshed with a big smile on your face.

One – two – three – coming slowly back – four – eyelids beginning to flutter and five – eyes open – wide awake – mind and body returning to normality.