We have found these Self-Calming Cards to be useful in coaching Cal and Abbott, and ourselves, how to recover from emotional upset more quickly.Click to enlarge:
The back side of the above cards. These describe ways to teach the strategies (click to enlarge)
These are just a few of the dozens of self-calming techniques explained in this card deck. Each of the cards describes how one can self soothe with a different method—physical, auditory/verbal, visual, creative, self-nurturing and humor. The materials also discuss how adults can model the use of such self-soothing techniques as taking a warm bath, making a joke to defuse a situation or singing a silly song. Each method includes suggested activities for a range of ages, from toddler to adult.
These helpful cards are available for purchase here. The author, Elizabeth Crary, is a parent educator and author based in Seattle. We loved her talk at our local cooperative preschool, and highly recommend her as a speaker.