The purpose of creating a calm down area is to provide a space to support the child in learning to self-regulate. It is a safe place for a child to take a break away from a stimulus that is causing stress, anxiety or anger (e.g., loud noises, having to share, feeling tired, or being excited). The child learns to identify overwhelming feelings and step away to regain self-control. Through this process the child engages in calming and relaxing activities and, once calm, is able to return to the activity or routine in progress. A calm down area should never be used as a time out or as a punishment.
There are a lot of different things you can include in a calm down kit and you will want to tailor it to your child(ren) and ensure the calm down area is supervised at all times. The kit should be readily available for both indoor and outdoor and can include:
- Calm down visuals
- Bottle of bubbles
- Chewelry
- Small puzzle
- Fidget Toys
- Weighted lap cushion or stuffed animal
- Weighted vest or pressure vest
- Stretchy resistance bands
- Hearing protection ear muffs or noise canceling headphones
- Book of yoga poses or printable yoga cards
- Blank notebook and a writing utensil (crayons, pencil crayons, markers, or similar)
- Sensory bottle or calm down jar
- Skipping rope
- Visual such as a kaleidoscope or an hourglass
- Books to read
- Activity books: dot to dots, mazes, word searches, I Spy, etc.
- Stress balls
- Play dough or silly putty
- Photo album filled with photos of family and friends
- Small blanket
- Bubble wrap
- Pinwheels – To encourage deep breathing and blowing out.
- Rubik’s cube
- Small chalk board and chalk or Boogie Board for doodling and drawing
- Eye mask
- Tissue paper to rip – Fill a bag with tissue paper and let children rip it up.
- Light up toys and flashlights
- Plastic snow globe
- Pipe cleaners to twist and bend
- Colouring books
- Scarves or fabric scraps
- Spinning top
- Mini massager
- Scratch and sniff stickers
- Whistle, harmonica, party blowers, or similar small wind instruments – To encourage children to breath out. Also, making music is a great way to release a variety of emotions.
- Small mirror for making silly faces and exploring emotions
- Straws to blow pom poms or cotton balls – A great oral motor idea to encourage deep breaths.
- Body sock – Kids can retreat into a body sock for calming proprioceptive sensory input. Since they fold up relatively small, they make a great addition to a calm down kit.
- Smelling bottles – Just fill bottles with calming scents, such as lavender.
Adapted from article originally published at:
http://www.andnextcomesl.com/2016/04/what-to-put-in-a-calm-down-kit-for-kids.html
