The 9 best emotional self-control techniques for children.

Several emotional self-control techniques recommended for children.

What is emotional self-control in children? In this article we will talk about this issue and, in addition, we will provide you with a total of 9 emotional self-control techniques for children, which you can apply with them whether you are a professional or a parent.

These techniques are focused on teaching children to understand and manage their emotions, with the aim of issuing a more adaptive behavior in this regard (especially in the face of negative emotions such as anger or frustration).

As you will see, most of them are focused to promote the relaxation in overactivated states as those that appear in the tantrums or the angers.

Emotional self-control in childhood: 9 recommendations.

Before presenting some of the main techniques of emotional self-control for children, let's see what emotional self-control consists of.

Emotional self-control is the ability to manage emotions in the face of certain events that affect us (especially in a negative way). (especially in a negative way). Through this management, it is also possible to control the physiological activation of the organism.

This ability is acquired over the years; when they are young, children may show difficulties in managing their emotions, due to their immaturity, lack of experience, insufficient development of language... Getting angry, trying new things, asking questions, doubting... all this is part of their learning, and is a normal and necessary phase for their development. is a normal and necessary phase in their psycho-affective development..

However, we can also help them in this phase of self-knowledge, which also involves the construction of their own identity and the configuration of their autonomy. How can we do it? Through different techniques of emotional self-control for children.

Emotional self-control techniques for children

In this article we will see different techniques of emotional self-control for children, which can be adapted to the evolutionary and chronological age of the child, as well as their characteristics, interests and needs. Without further ado, let's get to know them:

1. Calm Cake

The first of the techniques of emotional self-control for children that you can apply is the cake of calm.

This technique consists of drawing a round shape on a piece of paper (which will be the cake), and dividing it into different pieces. Inside each piece we will write a "trick" or mechanism to calm down when we are excessively nervous..

Examples of "tricks" that we can use are: deep breathing, counting to ten, imagining a pleasant scene, etc. The grace of this technique is to collaborate together, and in this way seek, together with the child, different strategies (we can do an initial brainstorming).

2. The balloon

The second recommended technique is the balloon technique (or "being a balloon"). It is about imagining, when we get angry, nervous or irritated, that we are a balloon that is swelling up. we are a balloon that is swelling little by little..

Once inflated, we will imagine that we are flying high and that we are relaxing. We can use a real balloon to exemplify the technique and make it more visual and understandable for the child.

3. The volcano

The volcano is another emotional self-control technique for children. This technique is ideal for explaining what the emotion of anger consists of.. Through this technique, we explain to the child that we are like a volcano; when we are calm and collected, the lava stays inside us. On the other hand, when we get angry, we erupt (the lava comes out with force, at full force).

If you want your child to better understand this metaphor through a live experiment, you can find it in this video:

4. The traffic light

Another of the most used emotional self-control techniques for children is the traffic light. This consists of teaching children to calm down in situations that cause them anger or frustration.. Through it, a parallel is made with the operation of a traffic light. It consists of three steps (the three colors of the traffic light).

How can we carry out this technique? Through a drawing of the traffic light, made by the child, where he/she will place (right next to it) the instructions that we propose below (and that we will apply when we are angry or nervous):

In the first step, when we are in the red color, we will have to stop (as a vehicle would do before the red traffic light); when we go to yellow, we will have to think what is happening to us "inside" and look for possible alternatives of action; finally, in the green color, we will calm down and act rationally.

5. Anti-stress ball

This technique consists of creating, together with the child (or he/she, independently), an "anti-stress ball", in order to to squeeze or press in moments of nervousness, anger, frustration or rage.. A simple way to do it is with a deflated balloon, filling it with rice, lentils or chickpeas.

6. Calm space

Another of the possible techniques of emotional self-control for children, in this case, that can be used at home, is to the creation of a calm and "relaxing" space for him/her.. When going to this space, in moments of over-activation or anger, the objective will be to relax and enter into a state of calm and peace.

The place can be chosen by the child, together with his parents; it can be an area of the room, a storage room, a part of the dining room... it all depends on each family.

Recommended ideas to make this space a calm and cozy place are: add some speakers (to play relaxing music), place stuffed animals or objects that the child likes, soft cushions to relax, drawings or pictures that inspire calm, aromatic products, etc.

7. Sandbox

We can also resort to the stimulation of the senses, precisely to produce the opposite effect: relaxation in moments of hyperactivity.. We can do it through sensory stimuli such as sand.

A technique that we propose, this time more handmade, is the creation, together with the child (or, we repeat, that he creates it independently, as he likes), a box full of sand, where he can also place toys. When he is nervous, he can stir the sand, close his eyes and sink his fingers in it, etc., in order to relax and connect with the sense of touch.

8. Listening to mantras (or music)

It is said that "music calms the wild beasts". Thus, music can also be part of the techniques of emotional self-control for children. In this case, we propose the use of mantras.

When we pronounce them (and with practice), our brain is able to calm itself down.. These can be words or short phrases that the child repeats when he/she is nervous or calm, with music in the background. On the other hand, we can also use relaxing songs, without the use of mantras.

9. Blowing bubbles

This technique uses breath control to obtain the sensation of relaxation in the body, and involves imagining that bubbles are being blown. To do this, it is necessary to control the breath, It is necessary to control the breathing; we must blow softly so that the bubbles are created..

This technique, once learned, can be used by children alone (especially when they are small), or we can also accompany them during the practice, pretending that it is a game.

Bibliographical references:

• Ahmed, M.D. (2010). Relaxation activities in kindergarten and primary education. Innovation and educational experiences.
• Baena, G. (2005). How to develop children's emotional intelligence. Mexico DF: Trillas.
• Olego, E. (n.d.). Self-control techniques for children. Blog of the Psychology and Speech Therapy Center: El Teu Espai.