Regulación emocional

(En inglés)

Emotional Regulation

Gail: What do I do when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by this feeling? So, I brought a couple ideas. This might be exactly what that little boy was being taught. But one is this great thing called the "relaxation thermometer," and when we have the relaxation thermometer, this is something that was originally developed by Dr. Carolyn Webster-Stratton, and we've adapted it for some different use here. But really, there's a couple of important feeling words to teach young children. So, one is this feeling word of feeling "relaxed," so feeling relaxed. Sometimes I like to use the word "calm" or feeling content because children often hear "calm down." So, I like to have that feeling of feeling calm, feeling content or feeling relaxed down here. And then up at the very top, on this emotion thermometer, it's "mad." But it might be "stressed," it might be feeling "tense." Exactly, it might be feeling just "disappointed." Sometimes that's the word that people associate at the very top. What children really love is they love kind of the different colors that go with the different feeling words. It's a very visual representation of the feeling words. And so, we talk about being down in the blue is when you're feeling "calm" and "content." And for some children, we actually have to practice what that feels like. So, we have different times during the day where we take some deep breaths, maybe we do some yoga breathing or some yoga moves. And we start using those words, "Wow, you look so content. It looks like you feel really relaxed right now." And we might do some visualizations where children are – maybe it's at circle time, and we turn the lights off, and we imagine that we're turtles, and we're next to the riverbank, and the sand is warm, and our little feet are stretching out. I was going to say "toes," but I actually don't know if turtles have toes. But their feet are stretching out, and they're just feeling really relaxed. So, we can do some visualization.

And then, feeling this way is when we're feeling "tense" or "stressed," and we might talk about what that feels like, like our jaw is tight. Maybe our stomach is feeling tight. Maybe we're making fists. Maybe we're stomping feet. Our shoulders are up to our ears. It just feels really tense, stressed. No one wants to feel that way for very long, right? So, we talk about how do we get from here ... to here. And so, one of the ways that we do that with the relaxation thermometer is we help children start thinking about colors that they might kind of, you know, what are the feelings right before you got super mad? "Well, I was a little irritated." "Oh, yeah. "So, when you're irritated, that's a cue that you need to calm down. So, we want to get out of that red area. Stay out of that red area. No one wants to feel in that red area. That is no fun.

We want to be down here like this guy, man." So, taking three deep breaths is one really great way. And there's something special about the breaths. So, it's not really the number three that's such a big deal, but it's – what we're trying to do here is get children to concentrate on their breathing, to be thinking about breathing in [Inhales] and breathing out. [Exhales] And we're wanting them to start thinking about the air coming in through their nostrils. Can they feel it all the way down to their feet? And then blowing it out ... How far can they blow?

Because we want them to kind of take themselves out of their emotion and into this present moment, being mindful about their breath. So, that's really what that is, is getting them into those breaths, and then, when they're feeling calm, now they can problem solve, or they can rejoin play, something like that. So, that's the relaxation thermometer.

Dawn: That's great.

Gail: Great for adults too, right? Dawn: Yes, yes!

Kristin: So great.

Gail: Yeah, I have one of these on my refrigerator. Kristin: Right? Post it on the fridge.

Gail: That's right. Kristin: I like that.

Gail: I have one more. Can I do this? Kristin: Yes. Who's this?

Gail: OK. People maybe have seen this one. Well, he has many names – some people call him Clyde, some people call him Tucker. I like to call him Tiny. So, this is Tiny Turtle, and Tiny likes to come out and visit in the classrooms, and usually, we use Tiny to help children really learn that emotion of – or learn that skill of anger management or controlling some anger, OK? So, Tiny has a turtle secret that he shares with the kids at circle time. So, he comes out, and he tells a story. [High-pitched voice] Well, I was out on the playground, and I was just having such a good time. I was playing with all my friends, and we were playing around. It was so much fun, and then all of a sudden, someone threw a ball at me. Ah! I started to get mad. My stomach was really tight. My shoulders – my turtle shoulders were up to my ears. I was making fists. I was really mad. But then I remembered my turtle secret.

Kristin: Tiny, what is it? What did you do?

Gail: Well, I thought, "Stop," and I went in my shell. [Deep breath] Kristin: That's one.

Gail: And I took some deep breaths. [Deep breaths] Kristin: That's two.

Gail: And thought to myself, "Maybe it was an accident. It's OK, I can calm down." [Deep breaths] And then, when I was feeling calm, I came out.

Dawn: Ah, it's all better.

Gail: And I was able to play again.

Kristin: Tiny, what a good secret.

Gail: I know. It's a really good one. So, Tiny does a couple of things for kids. Kristin: That's a good one.

Gail: I know. So, Tiny does a couple things. So, one is he gives us another skill for regulating because children – another kind of visual strategy they can use, like, going into their shells, or as soon as they feel mad, thinking "stop," right? So, that's a great thing, to kind of hold themselves instead of thinking like this when they're mad. So, they stop themselves. But the other things is that we start to give Tiny a new way to think about the problem, so he doesn't just persist. He's not just mad and angry all the time.

Kristin: Right. I love how he said, "Maybe it was an accident." Gail: Exactly.

Kristin: That's a shift for kids.

Gail: That is a total shift, and it's the way they're thinking about the problem that we have to intervene, so modeling that new way of thinking about the problem. So, this is great. Children can make their own turtle vests or their own turtle shells. They can practice going in their shells. Some teachers make huge, big turtle shells that they put in the middle of circle time, and then children get time to say when they were angry, and they go under the turtle shell. And then the whole class can practice taking deep breaths, and the whole class can practice telling them a new way to think about the situation, to stop concentrating on the negative, and then they come out when they're calm. And then they can move that turtle shell another place in the classroom, and kids can go in there when they need to go in there to calm down. So, these are two great strategies: relaxation thermometer, Tiny Turtle, and then, just remembering to build, build, build those emotion words for young children.