There are several different breathing strategies and techniques to help kids learn to regulate using their own body warning signs and breathing. This is a fun breathing with fish exercise to have your child practice at home.

The Way I Feel - Read Aloud

Use this read aloud as a tool to talk to your kids about all different feelings. Some great questions to ask as you are reading are: when do you feel this way? What does your body feel like when you are experiencing that feeling? Is it easy to tell when someone else is feeling this way? Does your body give you any secret clues that a BIG feeling is coming? (examples: hands sweating, heart racing, fist clenching etc.)

Strategies to Relax

Cookie Monster gets worked up too sometimes! Watch this video to see what Cookie Monster does when he needs to relax.

Changing the Channel-Calm Thoughts

We all need tools in our toolbox. Some of our coping skills are what we call "external" these are the fun ones that we can see someone using like playing legos, using a fidget, or writing in a journal. As we get older and get more practice we can start using "internal" coping skills. Those are what I like to call my secret spy skills because I can use them without anybody knowing! Answer the questions on this page to start building your internal strategies.