[Alexis]

One way to help children regulate their emotions is by asking them how they are feeling. You can talk to them about the emotions they are feeling and work with them to figure out strategies to help them. Many kids may not know or won’t want to talk about their emotions in which case you can observe them and approach them that way. If you notice a child who seems angry or sad you can something like I noticed that you are yelling do you want to talk? We can also offer activities that they enjoy. After figuring out their emotion you can help them go to an appropriate area and do an activity. Many of my children like to be comforted and sit in a lap or hug and then we do an activity that helps them. Many of my kids have different things that comfort them like drawing or reading. With older kids I teach them deep breathing. Sometimes they don’t understand so I do it with them. We sit together and I tell them to hug themselves when breathing in and let go when releasing their breath. This provides a visual example of what this looks like.