How Sensory Strategies Support Emotional Regulation

The ability to regulate emotions and cope during times of stress or failure are important skills for children to develop. Emotional regulation promotes self-reflection and resiliency, and the right tools and strategies can help your child recover from disappointment or irritation faster, solve problems under stress, and adapt to other environments. This blog will cover a variety of strategies you can use to help your child develop the ability to regulate their emotions.  

Mindfulness for Emotional Regulation  

Mindfulness refers to our ability to be present in time and aware of our surroundings. By practicing mindfulness, we can learn not to overreact or be overwhelmed by what is going on around us. Mindfulness can help a child stay away from their fight or flight response and solve problems in a calm manner. Incorporating mindfulness into your everyday activities will benefit your child’s social emotional health, decreasing meltdowns and tantrums. Below are examples of mindfulness activities to try at home. Remember, practice these activities when your child is in a calm and ready to learn state, so they can better recall and use these strategies in times of stress. 

• Emotion Recognition: Everyone feels emotions, and emotions can come in a wide range. Start by identifying your own emotions out loud, and your child’s, if they need that assistance.  

• 5 Senses Exercise: Ask your child to identify 5 different things – 1 they hear, 1 they see, 1 thing smell, 1 they can feel, and 1 they can taste.  

• Positive Affirmations: Model positive affirmations for your child, such as: I am brave, I can do hard things, and I am loved. Work up to saying these affirmations to yourself in the mirror. 

• 5 Finger Breathing: Hold up your hand and have your child trace your fingers while breathing in through their nose on the way up, and out through their mouth on the way down. 

• Practice Gratitude: Practice gratitude by journaling at the end of each day to reflect on the great things that happened. Your kids may notice some things you didn’t!  

Using Sensory Strategies  

Our sensory systems play a key role in regulating our body and mind. All children’s sensory systems are different, and learning what calms your child down can help in times of distress. Listed below are activities for each sensory system you can use when your child needs to get “back to neutral”.  

• Tactile (touch): Using our skin to touch different materials and textures is a fantastic way to help children focus. Use Play-Doh, fidgets, and stuffed animals to help unwind after a busy day.  

• Proprioception (body awareness): Input through our muscles and joints can help us know where our body is in space and relax the muscles. Give deep pressure through blanket burritos, arm and leg squeezes, and jumping when your child feels overwhelmed.  

• Vestibular (movement and gravity): Movement is a great way to distract the mind and calm the body. Through yoga, swinging, and sliding, our bodies can alleviate the tension it is feeling. 

• Gustatory (taste): Smelling essential oils such as lavender, rose, and eucalyptus can activate our sense of smell. Try putting some on your child’s wrist or behind their ear for longer use. 

• Auditory (sound): Listening to calm or classical music can increase focus, attention, and participation during challenging or new activities. 

• Visual (sight): Try making a glitter jar with your child to shake and look at during times of distress. Fill an empty bottle with glitter, food coloring, and baby oil for a fun visual activity! 

Using Co-Regulation with Your Child

Co-regulation is the interactive process of promoting self-regulation by modeling, coaching, and providing feedback. Co-regulation not only helps to keep children calm but calms us as well. Here are some reminders to use when promoting co-regulation for emotional regulation: 

• Get down physically to your child’s level to aid attention and provide encouragement for difficult tasks or transitions. 

• Consider your speed and pace of movement, voice volume, and amount of language you use. Use a soft, quieter voice and allow time for your child to respond to your words. 

• Use environmental modifications such as dimming the lights and calming background music. 

• Lessen the demands placed on your child by finding the ‘just right challenge’ for that moment. The child may only be able to complete one step at a time. 

• Be responsive and acknowledge ALL communication. 

• Validating emotions, such as “I know, it’s sad when it’s time to go” or “I feel” statements. 

• Model coping and mindfulness strategies.  

• Keep things in context by avoiding talking about the future or past – consider right now in the present. 

• When a child knows what to expect, it can help them feel at ease and lessen anxiety. Add daily elements of predictability – what routines might benefit your child?  

Creating Your Child’s Emotional Regulation Toolbox 

Creating a toolbox that is regularly available for your child can decrease the demands of choosing a strategy to calm down in times of need. When creating your child’s toolbox, remember to include mindfulness strategies and target every sensory system. An example of a completed toolbox could look like: 

A fidget, a weighted stuffed animal, yoga poses, emotion recognition cards, noise-cancelling headphones, coloring pages, and essential oils. 

Being able to navigate our emotions and work through them is a lifelong process, and these are just a few strategies that can help along the way! 

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