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Regulating emotions isn’t a natural skill for many kids. It takes learned strategies and guided support for both mainstream students and students with special needs to get themselves out of a heightened emotional state. Teach your students how to self-regulate with a selection of self-regulation strategies for kids of all ages and skill levels. From five-finger breathing to calm-down corners, you’ll find something that works for everyone. We’ve also included tips for using the strategies in class, along with ways to stop emotional dysregulation before it escalates to a larger issue in the classroom.
1. Bring in breathing exercises
During a dysregulated episode, taking deep and purposeful breaths can be the first step in helping students connect with their bodies. Breathing exercises stop the “fight or flight” instinct, allowing kids (and adults) to reduce their heart rate and begin to think rationally.
Common breathing exercises for students include:
- Blow out the Candle, Smell the Flower: Visualize blowing out a candle when breathing out, then think of smelling a flower when breathing in.
- Five-finger Breathing: Trace your fingers while slowly inhaling and exhaling on each finger.
- Balloon Breathing: Place your hand on your belly when taking deep breaths to feel it inflating and deflating like a balloon.
- Box Breathing: Trace a square in the air or on a surface with an inhale on the first line, exhale on the next line, and so on.
Incorporate breathing exercises into your daily routine or morning meeting for all students, and model them during noisy or stressful times during the day.
Teach breathing exercises as part of your classroom culture
Students who struggle with self-regulation need a quick reminder to perform their breathing exercises when they feel upset. Keep posters and visuals in the classroom to remind kids to breathe deeply to self-regulate during stressful moments.
Mindfulness Dog Breaths: 24 Breathing Techniques
By: Mental Fills Counseling Tools
Grades: K-3rd
Subjects: School Counseling, Social Emotional Learning
A dog-themed collection of breathing exercises gives students a place to start when learning about self-regulation. The resource includes 24 printable dog bones with breathing exercises for students to select, and for older students, to read descriptions of each calming step.
2. Identify and find the feelings
Telling students to “calm down” isn’t effective if they don’t understand their emotions, or even where their emotions are manifesting in their bodies. Many SEL activities for elementary students focus on identifying feelings with emotional vocabulary and identification. But adding a step where students find that physical connection with their emotions is a good option for students whose dysregulation tends to be more outward than inward.
Draw or project a picture of a person’s body on the board, and ask students to identify where they often feel their emotions. Some kids may offer “head” or “heart,” but try to get them to be more specific. Do they feel stress in their stomach, chest, or shoulders? Do their cheeks get hot? Do they feel like they’re going to throw up, or do they feel a sudden headache when they’re upset? You can then reference these conversations when students are faced with a stressful situation where they need to self-regulate.
Have older students incorporate this strategy into an emotions journal, so they can track their feelings over a longer period.
Help students find out exactly how they’re feeling
Do your students know if they’re feeling sad, frustrated, angry, or stressed? Help them identify their feelings with worksheets and activities that identify different emotions and how students can cope with each one.
Identifying Feelings Emotions Worksheets | Emotional Self Regulation Activities
By: Fairy Poppins
Grades: PreK-1st
Subjects: Health, Social Emotional Learning
Sometimes, feelings can be more complex than young kids can handle. Help them understand their emotions with a resource that includes social-emotional worksheets for students to connect their emotions to situations and identify the ways their emotions affect their physical feelings.
3. Create a calm-down corner
Many kids just need a little separation from the group to be able to self-regulate. A calm-down corner in the classroom can provide that separation, and it can feature many additional self-regulation strategies for kids to calm themselves down before rejoining the class.
Popular calm-down corner ideas include:
- Posters with positive affirmations or breathing exercises
- Bean bag chairs, pillows, and other comfortable seating options
- Sound-blocking headphones to reduce sensory input
- Fidget tools to help with anxiety
- Stuffed animals for kids to hug or talk to
- Sensory bottles that let kids focus on glitter falling (which is also a good class craft!)
- Visual timers for students to monitor their own self-regulation
Include trips to the calm-down corner on students’ 504 behavior intervention plans, or have a pass that gives them 5-10 minutes in the corner at a time.
Create a student reference tool to use in a calm-down corner
Sometimes a student’s best reminder is their own work. Have them create their own self-regulation tool to use in a calm-down corner, so they can reference their own words and tips. This allows them to break out of their dysregulated state without intervention from others.
Self regulation & emotion feelings behavior control calm down corner kit visuals
By: Miss Dee’s Homeroom
Grades: 2nd-5th
Subjects: School Counseling, School Psychology, Social Emotional Learning
Everything students need for a self-regulation session is at their fingertips! Use an all-in-one resource to create a lapbook for students to reference when they’re feeling emotional. Printables with emotion charts, coping skills, and reminders on what behaviors aren’t okay during dysregulated moments all guide students toward feeling more in control of their feelings.
4. Introduce strategies for impulse control
When students feel dysregulated, it’s difficult for them to control the first impulses that come to their minds. But impulse control is an important part of learning how to self-regulate emotions, and if kids can take a few seconds to consider their actions, they may be able to stop dysregulation before it begins.
Keeping a predictable classroom structure with few changes is key to managing impulse control, as it provides a safe environment that doesn’t feel threatening. Next, bring in a small “Stop” sign (or have students make their own with paper and popsicle sticks), and hold it up in non-stressful moments for students to identify how they’re feeling. Bring in the sign when students do feel heightened emotions and try to get them to pause before following their first physical or emotional impulses.
When reading picture books or chapter books to students, stop periodically and ask what decision the character should make next. Modeling the decision-making process helps with students’ critical thinking and assists them with impulse control down the line.
Guide students through the steps of controlling their impulses
Impulse control can be a tricky self-regulation strategy for kids to learn, especially if they have ADHD or other conditions that make the connection between action and consequence more difficult to see in the moment. Bring in activities that focus on impulse control to teach students that their impulses have impacts on the environment and people around them.
IMPULSE CONTROL WORKSHEETS ACTIVITIES Self Control Self Regulation Worksheet
By: All Therapy Resources
Grades: 3rd-6th
Subjects: Classroom Community, School Counseling, Social Emotional Learning
Take a pause and work on impulse control with a collection of SEL worksheets and activities. With a focus on executive functioning skills and self-awareness, the resource uses metaphors and analogies to help students understand that their actions have impacts that they may not want.
5. Make growth-focused goals
When your classroom has a growth mindset, understanding emotions is key to reaching students’ goals. Self-regulation is a vital part of meeting those goals, as difficulty with anxiety-provoking or stressful situations may prevent students from making progress as they desire. On the other hand, self-regulated students can use their understanding of their feelings to find success in the classroom.
Consider these growth-focused goals for students working on self-regulation:
- I can find a self-regulation strategy that works for me when I’m emotional.
- I can find my emotional responses in my body and take steps to calm down.
- I can talk to my teacher or peers about my emotions without raising my voice.
- I can identify when I’m about to become dysregulated and find a way to calm down.
If emotional regulation goals are in a student’s IEP or 504 plan, discuss them with the student and regularly check in to monitor how they feel their progress is going.
Let students know when they’re making positive progress
Have your students been making incredible progress this year? Give them the feedback they deserve with resources that let students know you’ve seen their hard work and growth throughout the school year.
Growth Mindset Positive Notes
By: Cara’s Creative Playground
Grades: K-3rd
Subjects: Any
Students love getting positive notes from their teacher! Print a set of cheery notes with positive feedback to give to students when they’re working toward their goals. You can also add your own text to make the note feel more personalized for each student.
6. Draw your happy place
For some students, imagining themselves in a less stressful environment than school or their classroom may help with self-regulation. Designate this location as their “Happy Place,” and encourage students to focus their attention there in emotionally charged moments during the school day.
Have kids name and describe their Happy Place, which could include their room, a museum, the library, the playground, or another place where they feel very little stress or anxiety. They can then draw their place for reference during dysregulated moments, either displayed on the wall, tucked into a Calm Down Corner, or in a convenient place such as their desk or backpack.
For younger students or kids with fine motor delays, use photographs of their Happy Place for them to see. You can also include photos of their loved ones or favorite toys in a collage.
7. Take a dance break
Dancing makes your whole body happy! Encourage students to self-regulate and make connections between their emotional feelings and their physical feelings with dance breaks in the classroom.
Great for both whole-class regulation and individual stressful moments, a dance break adds levity to the situation while letting students work out their stress. Encourage students to try out dance moves that work out the stress points in their bodies, such as tense arms, kicking legs, or an upset stomach.
Let students come up with a playlist of upbeat “self-regulation songs” that help them feel happy, no matter the situation, and keep those songs in reserve during emotional moments.
8. Step outside for a moment
Sometimes fresh air is the missing ingredient in self-regulation strategies for kids. Encourage kids who need an extra self-regulating moment to take a few steps outside, get a drink of water, or even take a short walk around the building.
If students are likely to elope, have an aide or paraeducator take them outside for a walk. Students who become dysregulated with too much sensory input may also want to shut the door behind them if the classroom is noisy.
Pair an outside moment with breathing exercises to maximize the impact of fresh air.
9. Practice positive self-talk
Being kind to yourself is a key part of self-regulation skills. Students who often become dysregulated may be used to hearing negative things about themselves, which can become internalized and lead to even more emotional dysregulation. Positive self-talk can replace negative thoughts or unmanageable emotions with calming mantras, reframing thoughts, or compassionate quotes that they’ve practiced beforehand.
Introduce these phrases to students in need of positive self-talk:
- I am in control.
- My thoughts are not in control.
- I am doing a good job.
- I can manage my feelings.
- Feelings aren’t forever.
- I am safe and loved.
What is self-regulation?
Self-regulation is a person’s ability to calm themselves during a heightened or stressful emotional situation. Beginning self-regulation skills include coping mechanisms and in-the-moment solutions for controlling responses to emotions, while more advanced self-regulation strategies allow kids and adults to manage their emotions before they become heightened in the first place.
Self-regulation in the classroom has a number of benefits for autistic students, students with ADHD, students with special needs, and mainstream students alike. Studies show that self-regulation can improve class engagement, allowing more students to access instruction and improve their academic performance. Students who know how to self-regulate emotions also have better relationships with peers and show improved self-esteem and self-regard.
Tips for Stopping Dysregulation Before it Starts
Veteran teachers know that the best way to handle dysregulation in the classroom is to stop it before it begins. Maintaining a calm classroom is beneficial for students with high emotional needs, mainstream students, and teachers, too. Once you know the signs of dysregulation, your classroom will be a happy place for everyone.
Use these strategies to stay aware of student emotions before they need to self-regulate:
- Monitor student behavior. If a student is acting more irritable or sensitive than usual, be aware that an emotional episode may be coming.
- Understand student triggers. Students who are triggered by sensory input, peer interactions, control dynamics, or stressful classwork require early intervention in these situations.
- Check in with students frequently. For students who struggle with self-regulation, knowing that an adult cares about their emotional well-being can be very effective.
- Limit conflicts. Keep students who have regular conflicts separate or, ideally, on different schedules.
- Give lots of daily choices. Choices prevent students from feeling like the teacher has all the control, and lashing out to get the control back.
Use self-regulation strategies to help kids feel safe
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when students struggle with stress, anxiety, and strong emotions. Teachers can support their students through these moments with self-regulation strategies for kids, which empower students to grow into their own skills and create a safer and success-minded classroom for everyone to enjoy. Find additional self-regulation resources for students in special education classes or mainstream classrooms, and discover how calm life can be when everyone feels understood and valued.
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