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At different times of the day, some students may need to ‘wake up’ their bodies and brains, while others may need to ‘calm’ their bodies and brains. It may be helpful to have both a movement zone and quiet/calming zone in the classroom. You may want to incorporate some visuals of deep breathing and ideas for movement (yoga poses, jumping jacks, pushing hands together, wall or chair push-ups, etc.).
In order to understand how to use the movement or calming zones appropriately, it is important to teach students about self-regulation and how to recognize when they are dysregulated and what tools/ strategies might be useful.
Quiet Zone ideas
Quiet Zone ideas
Free of visual distractions
Reduced auditory (Eg. headphones, walls/bookcase to block sound)
Tools available to calm (Eg. blanket, headphones)
Zone is identified (Eg. sign, symbol, clearly defined area)
Located in low traffic area
Created rules with class on how it should be used
Discussion with class regarding purpose, rules and use
Students use the space independently and properly
Additional Ideas for Quiet Zones:
· Tent, teepee, large box (small kids)
· Couch, bean bag chairs, area on floor with cushions and blankets, rocking chair
· Table area specific for quiet work
· Cardboard tri-folds for quiet work area
· Consider an area with reduced visual stimuli (i.e., in a corner tucked away)
· Calm-down bin: noise-cancelling headphones, play dough, squishy balls, pipe cleaners, elastic theraband, cards with calming yoga poses
Movement Zone ideas
Movement Zone ideas
Located at rear of class, out of visual field of working students
Zone is identified by boundary
Students know what movement they can do in the zone (Eg. therapy ball exercises, pacing, jumping, therapy bands)
Students can perform the movement activities independently
There are 2 or more movement activities to choose from (Eg. pacing strip, trampoline, lifting weights, resistive bands)
Created rules with class on how it should be used
Discussion with class regarding purpose, rules and use
Students use the space independently and properly
Additional Ideas for Movement Zones:
· Tape off a pacing box
· Mini-trampoline
· 4L milk jugs filled with sand for lifting weights
· Therapy bands tied to a chair for resistive exercises
· Chin-up bar in door way
· Stationary bike
· Therapy ball for seated bouncing or core strength exercises
· Exercise visuals
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