Simple strategies to help our kids settle down before they become overwhelmed
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Something I often see, and I’m sure we can all relate to that, is that many kids have a really tough time settling down. There are different reasons for that and many different things that we can do to support them, but let’s stick to 3 in this post, and we can cover more in future.
We may not always be aware of it, but whether our kids are at home on their iPad (which, let's face it, for many of us, happens more often than we would like), sitting in a classroom at school, or out on the playground, they are bombarded with information - sounds, words, instructions, interactions, and movements to name just a few.
Now, when we think about that, those environments, it kind of rubs off on our children. Test it out and see if it’s the same with your child: what does our child do if they are in the company of others who are loud, out of control and run around in a confined space?
They start speaking louder
They speak faster
They move faster
The volume increases and increases and everything just escalates until the whole thing explodes, either when one of the kids start to have a meltdown or when we cannot take it anymore, and we lose it.
Okay, so I’m certain that we have all been in this scenario and it’s not really a pleasant experience.
Here are 3 ways in which we can support our kids in slowing down
1. Give them enough time to be loud and energetic
Most children have loads of energy, and they really need to use it to be able to slow down again. Give your child enough time to run around, jump, swim and climb.
2. Model model model!
Our first reaction when our kids start to be out of control, is to raise our voice and to speak in a higher pitch 🙂. What we need to try and do is to stop, take a deep breath ( to get ourselves settled), and speak to our child personally, on their level.
3. Help them out
When you see your child starting to raise their voice, shriek, shout, or move faster, speak to them quietly and help them to reset their focus. The secret here is to not use any unnecessary language - keep it short and sweet so that they can focus on the important bits and they don’t have to filter out all the useless bits of information.
Watch the full video guide to learn how to implement these three strategies.
emotional regulation | ADHD | autism | behavior | self-regulation | movement | sensory
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