Skip to main content

 Coping Skills for ELC

This month we are working on expanding our coping skill toolbox in ELC. Through classroom guidance we are learning about belly breathing and muscle tension relaxation. Both are wonderful skills that kids and humans of all ages can use! 

How to Belly Breathe

1. Lay on your back and you can put your hands or a toy on your belly. 

2. Breathe in deep for 4 seconds and watch the toy or your hands go up. 

3. Hold the breath for 4 seconds.

4. Breathe out for 4 seconds and watch the toy or your hands fall. 

5. Hold the exhaled breath for 4 seconds

6. Repeat until the body feels relaxed. 

You can also sing along with Elmo and watch him go from monster to Elmo! Belly Breathing

How to do Muscle Tension Relaxation

1. Find a squishy toy and hold in your hands (one hand or two, doesn’t matter).

2. Squeeze toy as hard as you can for 10 seconds. Let all your muscles tense up.

3. Release the tension and let your hands and arms feel like they are floating. 

4. Repeat this until the tension has lessened in the body. 

Childrens Health Care of Atlanta's StrongForLife created a great Progressive Muscle Relation video to walk through muscle tension relation.  Progressive Muscle Relaxation


Last, but not least, the video Calm Down and Release the Amygdala is one of my FAVORITE coping skill videos!! Take a look at the caveman's feelings, reactions and the coping skills that he can use to calm down!  Calm Down and Release the Amygdala  I personally like to be cooked spaghetti.😁


Your doing a great job calming down


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Social Media

 Social Media Check In  Since January, I have tried to take a step back from social media. I get it, its only March, but the reality of it is that our students are ingrained in social media everyday, nearly every moment. From Instagram, TikTok to snapchat and iMessage’s- our students are always connected. Although these things are wonderful because they do connect, they also have their own social emotional implications. One thing I recommend is periodically do social media check in. This will help you see what your kids are seeing/being influenced by/reading. This will also help your student to see what they are experiencing. Its easy to take a second, check in and to recalibrate the brain.  Also - since I stopped posting, nothing has happened. No major social implications, no minor issues. You will notice when you stop positing, connections thrive because the communication is more personal and intentional. Really take time to see what type of relationships you are cravin...
Post a Comment
Read more
Holiday Stress The holidays are such a strange time, when you think about it. It is the most joyful and exciting time but it is also the most stressful and overwhelming time. Having to split your time, having to balancing families, having to stretch financially to give gifts, having to be everywhere when you don't want to be anywhere. So what happens to our joy?   The holidays should be a time to slow down, reflect on the year we had, take time with the ones you love and to just breathe. So what makes us do all of the holiday crazies? My hypothesis is we tend to take the last two months of the year to "catch up" on everything. As the end of the calendar year closes we want to make up for any "lost" time that we had at our jobs, with our families or with our friends. We want to make sure that we can close out the year on a high note. We also strive for showing others that we love them. During the holiday season two big love languages are being used: quality t...
Post a Comment
Read more
  How to be Purple? Recently, I have got the pleasure to read the book "The World Needs More Purple People" by Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart.  This is a great story told by Penny who is going through steps on how to be purple. It breaks down what a purple person is and what you get to do to be purple!  Being purple is a choice followed by actions. Being purple is easy, fun and its something that we can all work towards! Use this language with your child to remind them of what they are capable of and how we can all be purple by making the choices to ask good questions, laughing a lot, using our voice, working hard and being ourselves!
Post a Comment
Read more