As infants enter toddlerhood their emotional needs grow considerably, hence the "terrible twos" and threes and four for that matter! But as kids get older they need to learn to self-regulate their emotions and impulses. For some this comes naturally, for others they might find it a little more difficult to control their emotions, actions and general behavior. As parents and educators we can make life a little simpler for our young ones by first of all acknowledging that they are finding it difficult to self-regulate and secondly, by teaching them methods on how to cope with situations and make sense of what they are experiencing.

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What Does It Mean To Self-Regulate? 

Self-regulation is the action where one is able to maintain an arousal level that is appropriate in a given situation. It is an extremely complex action and requires many parts of the brain to work together at once, quite strenuous for a little body! For instance, if you are capable of self-regulation you will be able to monitor and control behavior, focus your attention and motor output as well as steer your emotions and social interactions. 

Examples of self-regulation in children can include:

• Being able to sit at a desk while a teacher gives a lesson
• Keeping your voice quite in a library
• Walking in line at school
• Being able to take part in group activities

Here's How You Can Tell If A Child Has Self-Regulation Problems: 

• They often have meltdowns or tantrums
• They often act silly
• They battle with transitioning between activities
• They battle being closely surrounded by others
• They fidget, shift in their chairs
• They move around awkwardly, almost clumsily 

How Can You Help Kids To Learn Self Regulation? 

By helping children learn the way they learn best of course - through play! Learning how to self-regulate through fun activities and games already helps a child to relax, which is an important first step when learning anything really! 

Activities that encourage solving problems, memory building, focus and attention, motor skills (especially gross motor skills in this instance) and sequencing can really help children to learn how to self-regulate and cope with situations that they might find uncomfortable or challenging. To add to this, helping kids to learn calming methods and initiating self-awareness exercises are also excellent ways of assisting in the development of self-regulation.

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3 Games And Activities That Can Help Kids Learn To Self-Regulate:

1. Mirror Mirror

This game teaches spacial awareness and movement, social skills, visual perception, gross motor skills and control as well as posture. 

How it works - You will need two children for this activity, one needs to be the leader and the other the follower (they can exchange roles further into the game). The leader then does things with his or her body that the other child needs to mimic. for example touching your nose and closing an eye, or balancing on one leg etc.

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2. Breathing Techniques

Breathing controls our bodies much more than  we are aware of. It helps us to ground ourselves and to take a moment before reacting. Teaching breathing techniques should be a part of any child's daily routine (and adults too). Find breathing techniques for kids here.

3. Red Light, Green Light

This is a wonderful game to play  since it give the children an opportunity to actively think about and practice breaking a habit, or transitioning from movement to stillness. It also helps to learn to cope with anticipation in a more relaxed manner than anxiously so.

I you have never played this game before, you can find the rules here.

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Source link: http://theinspiredtreehouse.com/self-regulation/

When it comes to our children, experts have studied that those who master self-regulation become masters of their learning too. They are also more prone to critical thinking and are more confident in decision making - their decisions are most likely to be the healthiest and wisest choice.

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