Calm Down Kit for Kids

Oh my…  Have we ever been dealing with some big emotions lately.  Miss G’s always been a spirited kiddo who feels things deeply, but in the last few months it’s been at a whole new level.  Especially after school.  I’ve been doing my best to to not bombard her with questions immediately after picking her up, to not ask too much of her as soon as we walk in the door, and to make sure she’s got a big snack and glass of water once home, but even then – some days are just extremely emotional for her.

As frustrating and as hard as it can be sometimes, I’m trying to tackle it as we would any other difficult situation – by helping her find strategies to cope and get through it.  Things that help her work through her emotions. And so when I came across this anti-anxiety kit created by Sharla of The Chaos and the Clutter, I wondered if something similar would help Miss G in situations when she was feeling anxious, upset, or angry.  I asked and she was totally on board, so we began collecting the items for this little calm down kit together.

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Here’s what we included…

First up, two books picked out by Miss G…  The first being The Way I Feel by by Janan Cain {CAN} {a book about all kinds of emotions} and the second being Don’t Stress: How to Handle Life’s Little Problems by Helaine Becker {a book of simple strategies geared towards calming and slowing down when feeling stressed, anxious, emotional, out of control, etc.}

Next, a DIY calm down jar, which is just water, glycerine, loads of glitter and mini iridescent stars {CAN}, plus a couple of drops of food colouring in a VOSS water bottle {CAN} that’s sealed shut with packing tape.

Then a bunch of smaller sensory-rich tools…

• a U Fidget toy {CAN}
• a simple kaleidoscope {CAN}
• a ‘calm body’ {CAN} spritzer {which is a combination of sweet marjoram, roman chamomile, ylang ylang, sandalwood, vanilla, lavender, witch hazel, and water}
• a stress ball
• some Pür Gum {CAN}
• a Rubik’s 2×2 Cube {CAN}
• a small container of our lavender play dough
• a fidget spinner {CAN}

We also decided to include a little book of simple calm down strategies she could flip through and try if needed.

These were the strategies we brainstormed together.

Printable Calm Down Strategy Cards

With everything gathered, all I did was find a basket that was nice and shallow and showcased the items well.

Together, Miss G and I decided that the best spot to keep our calm down kit was in my bedroom closet – close to the kitchen (which seems to be the main hub of our house) and somewhere she can very easily sneak off to, close the door, and enjoy a break when it’s needed.

The idea is that when she’s feeling anxious, sad, or angry and like she wants to deal with the emotions on her own, she’ll be able to go to a quiet room and use one {or more} of the tools in her calm down kit to help her focus her energy and get back to feeling more in control.  We talked about this quite a bit while collecting the items for the kit, as well as the fact that there’s no shame in feeling deeply and needing help calming down sometimes. {I should also mention that we talked talked about if she felt comfortable with me sharing her calm down kit here and she felt like if sharing the idea might help other kids with big emotions, she was happy to have it shared.}  The good news is that we’ve had it in use for the last week or so and not only does she seem to be finding it useful, it also seems to be working for her.  Yay for that.

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