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March 19, 2020
Hi families!
My heart aches not being with you all. I miss seeing you every day, greeting you, reminding you of your TIGER PRIDE, and watching you learn and grow! I know we will be back together but until then, I wanted to send along some helpful exercises since I don't get to see you every day!
I encourage adults to engage in these activities with your children, once or twice a day. While these strategies are helpful in a reactive sense (i.e. in response to a stressor or to de-escalate a situation), they are great to use at the beginning of the day, after waking from a nap, or any time of existing calm. All that to say, there is no wrong time to use these exercises! That said, if possible, introduce them when your child is already calm.
Also, do these exercises WITH your kids! It's a fantastic way to model resilience over panic, and that we have a choice in how we respond to stressors. Children watch everything and at every moment. They take in what we say, do, and feel. Modeling these exercises and/or doing them alongside your children is a great way to connect with them. They will feel safer knowing that you are side-by-side in helping them experience, cope with, and maintain their emotional state. Below, I included my own descriptions for each graphic.
Families of Bache-Martin, I hope you find these to be helpful. Please notice that these graphics all have a copyright of "The Responsive Counselor". She is a Counselor I follow on Teachers Pay Teachers and she gave me permission to share these exercises with our families. I ask that you do not post these to social media or anywhere on the internet.
Please
email me with any social/emotional questions or needs you may have. Please let me know any topics/resources that would be helpful and I'll do the best I can to compile resources to send our to our school community.
Thinking of you all and wishing you health!
Ms Cocca
Ashley Cocca, MEd, MPhil
Elementary School Counselor
Bache-Martin Elementary School
2201 Brown Street
Philadelphia PA 19130
215-400-7550
http://bachemartinschoolc.wixsite.com/mysite
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Communicating Feelings
"I feel/I need" Card
This card can be used to help your child communicate their emotional experience and give them "voice and a choice" for how to cope. I
f you notice your child having a difficult time expressing themselves, offer this as a visual and guide. I'd suggest showing it to them, reading aloud the feelings side, explain that they are allowed to feel however they feel - no feeling is wrong. Regardless of whatever feeling they are experiencing, they do need to make a safe choice in how to respond - then read the "I need" side.
Give your child an example of a feeling you've experienced and a choice that's helped you. Don't force your child to pick a feeling or a response. Explain it and leave it as a communication tool for them to use 1) when they are ready, 2) if they want to. You are giving them another avenue to communicate - it is okay if they take time in using it (even days) or don't use it at all. You can model using it - even if they aren't responding or using it, the model of how to safely cope with a big feeling is effective. You could encourage them to make their own "I feel/I need" card with feelings they regularly experience and coping strategies they feel are most effective or have worked for them in the past.
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Breathing Exercises
Below you'll find descriptions on how to engage in Figure 8 and Rainbow Breathing. You may have other techniques you already use at home. The most important component of any breathing exercise is to breathe in and out sloooowly. I've recently learning about nasal breathing (breathing both in and out through your nose). It's supposed to strengthen the connection between your "emotional" brain and your "thinking" brain. While these graphics have visuals of breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth (which is still fine!), I also encourage you to breathe in and out through your nose. It feels odd at first (especially if you have allergies!) :)
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Figure 8 Breathing Card
This is a great exercise for taking deep breaths, calming your heart rate, and being mindful of your breath. Start with your finger on the "hold" button. Begin to take a deep breath through your nose as you trace the "breathe in" arrow. Breathe in the entire time you trace the "breathe in arrow". This breath should be gradual, not too fast! When you get back to the "hold" button, hold your breath for 2-3 seconds and then follow the "breath out" arrow, breathing out (either through your nose or mouth) for the entire time your finger traces the "breathe out" arrow until it arrives back at the "hold" button. Continue this exercise 5 times.
If you are doing this exercise to help a child calm down, have them put their hand on their heart before engaging in the exercise. After 5 breaths, have them feel their heart beat again. This feedback is a great way for children to learn their mind/body connection.
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Breathing Rainbow/Rollercoaster Card
This exercise is very similar to the Figure 8 Breathing Card. Rather than tracing a figure 8, you are tracing the lines of a rainbow or rollercoaster. Start at the line labeled "1". As you trace up, breathe in slowly through your nose. When you get to the top of the arch, hold breath for 2-3 seconds. As you trace down the other side, let your deep breath out slowly (either through your nose or your mouth). Continue until you've traced every line. Start again if you need to.
If you are doing this exercise to help a child calm down, have them put their hand on their heart before engaging in the exercise. After 5 breaths, have them feel their heart beat again. This feedback is a great way for students to learn their mind/body connection.
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Check out Go Noodle for Breathing Prompts Exercises
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Mindfulness Exercises
Mindfulness is all about being in the present moment and focusing on the here and now. These are helpful to use if your child is prone to worry, asks a lot of questions, has "sticky" thoughts (thoughts or worries that they can't seem to get out of their head because they are too sticky). These exercises encourage being grounded on what's happening around you right now (not in the past, not in the future, not in the "what-ifs"). Super helpful for this season of uncertainty.
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My Happy Place
Start this exercise by asking your child to sit comfortably or get in any comfortable position they want. As them to close their eyes and imagine themselves in the happiest place they can imagine. This can be a real place or something they make up. Tell them to take a few minutes to really look around their happy place and then ask them to start describing it to you using each sense on the "My Happy Place" card.
1. What do you see? If they are having trouble you can ask things like, "what colors do you see?" "are there people or buildings or animals or plants there?"
2. What do you hear? Encourage them to take a minute and see if they can imagine any sounds. You can prompt them by saying something like, "you mentioned you saw people are they talking? laughing? playing baseball? what do they people sound like?"
3. What do you feel? "Are there any textures you feel? Is the sun out? Is the wind blowing? Are you hot or cold or just right? Are you holding anything? What does it feel like in your hands?"
4. Do you smell anything? If they can't imagine a smell ask, "What is the yummiest smell you can add to your happy place?"
5. Do you taste anything? If they can't imagine a taste ask, "What is the best taste you could add to your happy place?"
After you lead them through this exercise, they can start to lead themselves through it. It also helps them build a "happy place" to go to when coping with big feelings. It's also something they've described to you so it gives you some insight into what makes them feel happy, safe, etc.
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Take 5- Mindfulness
Start this exercise by asking your child to sit comfortably or get in any comfortable position they want. Similar to "My Happy Place" they are going to use their senses but this time they are going to identify things in their immediate environment. Do this along with them, it's fun!
Follow these steps:
1. Set a timer on your phone for 30 seconds and say, "For the next 30 seconds we are going to be completely quiet. After I start the timer, I want you to look around the room, like a detective looking for clues, and try to find 5 things you've never noticed before" Start the timer. After the 30 seconds have passed, have them share what they noticed. Share out what you noticed as well.
2. Set a timer on your phone for 30 seconds and say, "Close your eyes. For the next 30 seconds we are going to be completely quiet. After I start the timer, I want you to stay as quiet as possible and listen for 4 different sounds." Start the timer. After the 30 seconds have passed, have them share what they heard. Share out what you heard as well.
3. Set a timer on your phone for 30 seconds and say, "For the next 30 seconds we are going to be completely quiet. After I start the timer, I want you to take notice of 3 different textures, or anything your body can feel. We don't mean emotions, we mean tangible touch. Maybe you can feel the ground beneath your feet, or how soft your shirt is." Start the timer. After the 30 seconds have passed, have them share what they felt. Share out what you felt as well.
4. Set a timer on your phone for 30 seconds and say, "For the next 30 seconds we are going to be completely quiet. After I start the timer, I want you to try to smell 2 different scents. This one can be difficult! Try your best!" Start the timer. After the 30 seconds have passed, have them share what they could smell. Share out what you noticed as well.
5. Set a timer on your phone for 30 seconds and say, "For the next 30 seconds we are going to be completely quiet. After I start the timer, I want you to try to notice 1 thing you taste. This one is really really difficult! Try your best!" Start the timer. After the 30 seconds have passed, have them share what they tasted. Share out what you tasted as well.
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