**75 Science-Based Calming Techniques for Kids**
These techniques are simple, engaging, and vital for helping children develop strong emotional regulation skills. Keep reading, and be sure to download your free printable guide featuring all 75 strategies to have at the ready when your child feels overwhelmed by anger or anxiety.
**Contents Overview**
Emotional regulation is one of the most critical skills for children’s development, significantly impacting their future success. Given that children’s nervous systems and frontal cortices are still developing, it’s no surprise they often struggle with managing their emotions. As adults, many of us continue to work on this skill too!
Supporting your child in exploring various calming strategies is one of the best things you can do to nurture their emotional intelligence. While you might have thought these skills would develop naturally, they truly require patience, teaching, and practice.
You might wonder why these specific calming strategies stand out. They are proven effective through research because they:
1. Are based on the neuroscience of emotional regulation, helping children process stress and emotions effectively.
2. Involve activities that encourage co-regulation, where the child relies on a caregiver’s support to achieve a calm state.
3. Focus on physical movements that offer soothing sensory input to the brain and nervous system.
Don’t forget to bookmark or pin this: Anger Management for Kids: A Therapist’s Proven Secrets to Calming.
We start with breathing exercises because they are incredibly effective. They quickly deactivate the stress response and are a go-to method for calming kids.
Other useful techniques include writing letters to express feelings, using kid-friendly essential oils for their calming scents, and using squeeze balls or putty for stress relief through tactile stimulation.
Engaging with nature or watching animals helps children practice mindfulness. Inversion exercises, like hanging upside down, can rapidly calm the autonomic nervous system.
A fun sensory activity involves identifying 5 things you can see, 4 you can hear, 3 you can touch, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste. This grounds children in their senses and brings focus away from intense emotions.
Additionally, nature-related activities, gratitude exercises, and specific cognitive tasks can shift the mind from the emotion center to the thinking center of the brain.
Remember, there isn’t a universal solution for every child. Their needs vary based on development stages, individual preferences, and even the seasons. Helping them learn how to care for their brain and body during emotional moments is a key part of raising an emotionally intelligent child. This list will give you a great start!
Make sure to download the free printable list of strategies—it’s much easier than trying to recall all 75 techniques on the fly!
**Further Reading You’ll Enjoy:**
This article was originally shared on January 30th, 2020, and has since been updated.
**About Angela Pruess, LMFT**
Hello! I’m Angela, a Licensed Children’s Mental Health Professional, Positive Parenting coach, and mom to spirited kids who teach me new things every day. I believe every child deserves to live their best life, and emotional health is the key to lifelong happiness and success. Read more about me and the Parents with Confidence philosophy.
