Buzz like a bee to help calm down. This strategy is taken from GoNoodle. 
To do bee breaths, first, stick your index fingers in your ears and close your eyes.
Then, take a slow breath in.
Next, breathe out through your nose while humming/buzzing.
Repeat these steps a few times.

​If you'd like to do it with the video, you can access it on GoNoodle or here.

This is a super simple calm down strategy!

First, take a break.

Next, slowly count to 10. You can use your fingers to help your or you can just count.

When you are finished, stop to see how you are feeling. If you feel better, you can get up and return to your activities. If you do not feel better yet, you can try counting to 10 again or try a new skill. Or, if you are ready, you can talk to an adult about how you feel.

This is another fun way to calm down! Your child traces the maze with his finger and breathes in and out according to the symbols on the maze. These are very relaxing and great for adults, too!

Can be purchased here.

Another breathing strategy to help your child calm down when upset, this one is derived from the book Breathe Like a Bear by Kira Willey. 

Pretend you are holding a candle. 

Take a long, slow breath in.

Next, slowly blow the air out toward your candle, but don't blow it out! Just make the flame wiggle a little.

Keep taking long breaths in and slow breaths out for a few more times or however long you feel like.

Finally, on your last breath out, blow out your candle!

One way we can calm down when we are feeling upset is to try different breathing strategies. A simple one we use at school is called "Flower and Candle Breaths." 
Pretend you are holding a flower. Smell the flower to breathe in.
Pretend you are holding a candle. Blow the candle out when you breathe out.
​Keep going back and forth a few times or until you feel better/calm.

One of the first skills we learn at school for regulating our emotions is the STOP skill. This skill is essential because it helps lead us to use our other skills so we can get back to the Green Zone.

S - STOP 
First, if you notice you are feeling upset, STOP. Just freeze. 

T - TAKE A BREAK
Next, take a break. In our classroom, we go to the Cozy Corner to take a break. But you can also find a quiet spot at home or somewhere else to take a break if you need one.

O - OBSERVE (or LOOK/LISTEN)
Then, look and listen to what is happening around you. Pay attention to how your body feels. Put a name to how you are feeling right now.

P - PROCEED MINDFULLY (or MAKE A GOOD CHOICE)
​Finally, make a good choice. If you are ready, you can go back and join the activity. Or, you can use one of our calm down strategies to feel better.

Hello EC Families!

During our Feelings/Emotions Unit, we learn about a lot of different feelings and the zones that they fall into--green, blue, yellow, or red. Being able to identify emotions is very beneficial for all of us. Simply being able to name what you are feeling actually helps to calm your amygdala! This is one reason why it is so important for children to learn to name their feelings. Here are the feelings and zones that we learn about in class:

Green Zone - happy, calm, okay, focused, ready to learn, can do my best, show expected behaviors

Blue Zone - sad, tired, sick, bored

Yellow Zone - silly, frustrated, excited, worried

Red Zone - mad/angry, mean, terrified, hitting/yelling

We also learn that even though it is okay to experience all of these feelings, there are strategies or tools that we can use to get back to the Green Zone. We will learn more specific strategies throughout the year, but here are a few:
1) Take a break (in our classroom, we use the Cozy Corner)
2) Go for a walk (with a grown-up)
3) Drink water
4) Talk to an adult
5) Use breathing strategies (these will be learned throughout the year)
6) Use a calm down strategy (these will be learned throughout the year)

You can help your child at this at home by:

• Helping your child identify what he is feeling
• Reminding your child of things she can do to feel better and offering to do them with her
• Practicing breathing and calm down strategies when your child is in the Green Zone. This will help your child be more likely to use them when in the Blue, Yellow, or Red Zone.