Give it a try!

In order to improve self regulation skills, we have created activities to work on at home!

First, what are the zones of regulation? According to The Zones of Regulation website, the zones are “a concept used to help students learn how to self-regulate. The Zones of Regulation creates a system to categorize how the body feels and emotions into four colored Zones with which the students can easily identify” (Think Social Publishing, 2011). According to this concept, there are 4 zones each person goes through throughout each day. The first step in successful self regulation is being able to identify which zone you are in.

The Blue Zone: feeling sad, tired, sick or bored, slow moving

The Green Zone: feeling alert, calm, happy, focused and in control of yourself

The Yellow Zone: feeling stress, anxious, frustrated, silly, or excited, starting to lose a bit of control of yourself

The Red Zone: feeling rage, explosive behavior, terrified, or elated, loss of control of yourself

This week, we will work on your child identifying which zone they are in. Help your child to identify where they are at through leading by example. For example, telling your child “I am in the blue zone this morning because we just woke up and I am a bit sleepy” or “I am so proud to see you in the green zone, you are so focused on your schoolwork”. When your child may appear to be dis-regulated, ask them what zone they are in, have a conversation about why they are in that zone. We have provided some resources below to help give you a better understanding of these zones and also a visual aide for your child as well.

Activity

This week when your child appears to be dis-regulated, have too much energy or they are in the yellow or red zones, use these activities to get any wiggles, built up emotion or energy out. These activities are called “heavy work” and they help to regulate the body when you are starting to lose control. These activities also help to build energy when you are in the blue zone as well. If you are noticing that these activities are not helping your child, skip that movement and move to the next. Sometimes more relaxing activities may help as well. Creating a calm space in which a child can color, snuggle up or read can be very beneficial as well. Please make a note of what worked well for your child and what did not. Contact us with any questions, comments or concerns.

Heavy work activities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zre4zzYTdF5vwzCcIZlCrnIXkEIiHZ_ZP2LED57mNH4/edit?usp=sharing