SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
C҉O҉L҉O҉R҉ M҉O҉N҉S҉T҉E҉R҉ J҉A҉R҉S҉
Calling all COLOR MONSTERS!
🔴🟢🟡🔵 🔘
Have you checked out this book yet? In the rare happenstance that you haven't... you should! It's a perfect introduction to emotions and a way for your little person to visualize and describe how he or she is feeling.
After reading the book to my kiddos, I decided to make them some Color Monster Jars. I kept the jars out for a bit in our sensory table with multi-colored pompoms to sort (mainly my 4 and 2 year old). With my 4 and 6 year old, I sat with them and I would give them Color Monster Clues where they then needed to guess which monster I was referring to and place a pompom in that specific jar. For instance, "When you feel this way, you may want to jump and smile and laugh! How am I feeling?" They loved making a game out of it! This also helped them to realize that it is okay and common to feel more than one emotion at a time!
Now that we've had our sensory sorting and clue fun, the jars sit with our "calm down" bin in the playroom (a specific spot for items to help regulate emotions and calm the body). Sometimes I will simply have one of my kiddos sort the pompoms as a diversion, and sometimes if they are feeling a certain way and do not want to speak, they will place a pompom in the jar to explain a big feeling(s) they are having.
Overall, this has been an amazing resource for my little people! Click on the links below to access Color Monster Jar templates and jars!
Book: https://amzn.to/3U4Z009
Color Monster Jar Template: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Color-Monster-Jar-Templates-10847128
Jars: https://amzn.to/3tFPI03
NERVOUS SYSTEM RESETS
If you haven't realized this already, now you'll know, that half of what I've learned comes from experience as a parent of Early Intervention kiddos and the other half to a sister who is a very experienced momma in everything "nervous system".
It was becoming something that our little people clearly needed. Something to help them start fresh at the end of the school day, as we got deeper into the school year. Lack of food and hydration during the school day, along with the hustle and bustle of school made for complete dysregulation. I turned to my sister for guidance! She quickly advised what she has been doing for years with her little! We started doing a daily "Nervous System Reset" after school each day. Now our routine is as follows:
Wash your hands with soap and warm water.
Eat something.
Drink something.
Reset your nervous system.
The kids have the checklist above posted in the car on the back of the seats in front of them (another hack from sissy) and they pick from a Nervous System chart on the wall in our dining room (picture shown below). This has been a 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 and while they fought the change in routine at first, it is automatic to them now!
Nervous System Reset Chart:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nervous-System-Reset-Chart-10847103
CREATING A COMFORT BOX
I'm sure your kiddos have BIG FEELINGS, like every child! Come along on this journey with me, as we navigate BIG FEELS and how we can help our little people understand and cope through the discomfort and overwhelming emotions that childhood brings.
A few years ago, I put together a "comfort box" for each of my kiddos. It is every-changing, as they grow and their needs change, but one constant remains-- the tools inside to help them when they are feeling like they need support.
The items listed here (with links available) were and are KEY in helping them push through, regulate and process. Prior to giving them the boxes, we practiced using all of the items as tools and we role-played scenarios where they might feel like going to their "safe space" to use their comfort boxes. A "safe space" was determined for each of the kids as well; a space that is quiet, comforting, and non-restrictive (bedrooms/beds/tents/closets make great "safe spaces").
So here we have a list and descriptions of all of the items currently within the boxes or "safe spaces" and it is bound to change and grow over time.
Squeezy Stress Balls:
This is the perfect way for kiddos to squeeze out some extra big energy to avoid it becoming “angry energy”.
Magnetic Balls:
These are awesome, especially for older kiddos looking for a fidget or distraction while “cooling down”.
Liquid Sensory Tubes:
I knew we needed something water-calming in our comfort boxes (see previous posts). These water tubes are great diversions and are calming and almost mesmerizing! Super helpful and effective!
4x6 Photo Album:
What are your child’s favorite things? What makes them smile? What are funny memories for them? Whose familiar faces bring them comfort? Get to work printing out magical photos and stick them in a mini album! Some of our favorite photos include snow forts with brothers, eating gooey donuts, cozying with lovies, dressing up super heroes, etc.
Breathing Boards:
These really help kiddos to visually be able to control their breathing and be mindful. These boards are amazing and in fact, most of the products that hand2mind makes are one of a kind for helping to navigate big feelings.
Emotion Cubes:
These expression cubes are lots of fun and also help to calm and reset. Each child is so very different— some need snuggly things to feel comfort, some need puzzles or a thinking game as a diversion, etc. This is a fun way for kiddos to possibly show how they are feeling and also mix and match pieces to focus on creativity as a means to settle down before revisiting the issue. Check it out!
Magnetic Men:
Fidgets! All the fidgets! We have a big variety of fidget toys. Some are geared more toward older kiddos and some for my little people. I find that the magnetic balls are super calming for my big kids and my little people love the magnetic men! These are great ways for kids to “reset” their bodies— letting the feelings pass and regulating their emotions before coming back to reconnect and discuss big feelings. Give them a try!
Sloth Lavender Lovey & Floor Puzzle:
Each of my kiddos have special things in their comfort boxes and “safe spaces” individualized for them — a small trampoline in one’s room to jump it out, a floor puzzle for another as a calming tool, a lavender lovey in another’s as the scent calms him. Not one comfort box and safe space is the same as the next— these past few posts are just some solid staples that I started the boxes/spaces out with!! More to come in the next few days on SEL and other spaces we have set up for such learning and growing. Enjoy!
Floor Puzzle
Sloth Lovey