Our thoughts and feelings work together inside our brains to change our behavior.  In order to learn how to *calm down* we need to understand what is happening in our brains and bodies!

For Grownups:

For Kids:

Calming Read-Alouds with Our Elementary Social Emotional Learning Team!

Check out our District Occupational Therapist's Sensory Strategies!

Click HERE to access more ideas

Feeling  nervous, worried, or anxious? Try these activities:

Feeling dysregulated?  Try a GROUNDING TECHNIQUE

Tips to calm a child’s body and mind (May need to do with an adult-coregulation):

1. Breathing (always slowly, quietly, in through nose and out through mouth)

   1. Belly breathing

   2. Unicorn Breathing

   3. Bumble Bee

   4. Birthday Candle

   5. Bubble Breathing

   6. Flower Breathing

   7. Rain Storm

   8. Sloth

   9. Lion

   10. Snake

   11. Gorilla

   12. Hot air balloon

   13. Hot cocoa

   14. Soup

   15. Horse

   16. Crocodile

   17. Dragon

   18. Make one up 

2. Notice sensations

   1. Take a lotion and squeeze a few drops in each child hand’s for 90 seconds guide them through rubbing it in and noticing the sensations (to fingers, palms, and any other sensations they may experience)

   2. Bring in an oil/natural plant to smell

   3. Finger pressure points (squeeze each portion of the finger)

   4. Drink cool water (notice the feeling as we drink– taking a drink is like a cooling break for our insides, helps us calm down)

3. Grounding (may need to do guided grounding with class or one to one)

   1. 5 things you see

   2. 4 things you can touch

   3. 3 things you hear

   4. 2 things you smell

   5. 1 you taste (kids often say their spit)

4. Chanting

   1. Guided chanting (start really low and get loud then go back to low— “We can do it!”

   2. Add a movement and make movements smaller/slower towards end

   3. Positive phrase, “We can try hard things” or “mistakes are how we learn and grow”

5. Body Scan

   1. Students sit with legs straight out and start with wiggling toes and ankles, shaking knees/thighs, rotating shoulders, arms, heads and then go back down (reverse process..can add in squeezing and releasing hands too)

6. Music

   1. Put on music and give kids old scarves/ribbon and dance around feeling the sensations

   2. Freeze dance (stop and notice how everyone is feeling)

7. Talking/Processing 

   1. Validate, “I notice you are feeling______, how can I help?” allow time and space to process what they are feeling **do not rush the process

   2. 90 second strategy (SEE next page)

   3. Scripts such as:

      1. “What do you need?”

      2. “Let’s take a break together”

      3. “I notice your body is tense, what can we do to calm your body?”

      4. “What does your body need to feel better”

      5. “I am here for you. You are safe”

      6. “Tell me about____”

      7. “It seems like you are having a difficult time______, how can I help”

Emotion-Coaching Brief:  Validate and support 90 second strategy

• Step 1:  Validate – convey understanding of their emotional experience and prove that “it makes sense” from their perspective. It has nothing to do with you agreeing. “Hang out on their island”

• What it’s not:

• Invalidate negative

• Invalidate positive

I can understand why you might feel ________ (emotion, experience, or pain word)match their emotionality (e.g., tone/volume of voice)

BECAUSE______________

BECAUSE______________

BECAUSE______________

• Step 2:  Support – emotional need and practical need. 60-90 seconds.

• Emotional Need:  Offer comfort, reassurance, or space.

  • Protect the fear (presence of actual danger), soothe/comfort the sadness, assert boundaries for anger, reassure shame, help to challenge anxiety

• Practical Need:  Redirect/help problem-solve

  • Set limits, redirect, problem-solve, take over