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7.6: How Can We Help Children to Self-Regulate?

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    215484
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    How Can We Help Children to Self-Regulate?

    child upside down .png

    "Child 1" by Tony Trần is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

    There are many adaptations that we can implement when working with children. When we know there is a self-regulation issue, we should ask ourselves what might be helpful to that child. (HINT: Punishment is not the answer!) Some sensory-based regulation strategies include:

    • Touch: Weighted vests/ blankets; Massage/ pressure, fidgets
    • Sound: Music, silence
    • Sight: Pictures, videos, lava lamps, fish tanks, beach
    • Smell: Candles, lotion, aromatherapy, cooking
    • Taste/ Oral: Sucking through a straw (applesauce, milkshake, other thick food); sucking on a hard candy
    • Vestibular: Swinging, rocking, pogo stick
    • Proprioception / Movement: Swimming, walking/running, jumping, crab walk, clapping patterns/speeds

    For school-age children, games such as throwing a ball to various people, kicking a bean bag in a group, jumping rope with a group, etc. may be helpful. Enhanced learning programs using balls with balance, auditory, vision and exercise may also be helpful. Through the rhythmic bouncing of balls, students improve their focus. This leads to better learning, reading and grades. This concept is currently being used by schools throughout the U.S.A. and is spreading through Europe and beyond.


    7.6: How Can We Help Children to Self-Regulate? is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.