We have all experienced those times when we are out at a shopping centre, or sitting at a school assembly and all of a sudden you see the signs. The fidgets begin or the patience wans. Addressing these behaviours before they escalate can save you and your child from a huge emotional upheaval.
It isn’t just when we are out that we want to maintain calm. Dealing with a heightened child is time consuming and enormously taxing on our mental and physical wellbeing. It is exhausting for your child and can impact the whole family. But I am sure I don’t need to tell you any of this.
However, this is where the Calm Box comes in. This may be a box, a bag or a small pencil case. It is the contents of the box that are important. Ideally you will put together a collection of small items that help to soothe your child. Items they can fidget with or that have a repetitive and hence soothing nature. Having these items on hand to distract and calm before an escalation can save you and your child time, energy and emotional anguish. Keep in mind each child is unique and some items may be more soothing than others. Try to find the items that are of the greatest support for your child.
Below is a list of some possible ideas for your Calm Box:
1. Fidget spinners
2. Paperclips
3. Play dough
4. Goop
5. Lego or other blocks/connecting pieces
6. Feathers
7. Jigsaw Puzzles
8. Pencils and notepads or colouring in
9. Soft music items
10. Books
11. Soft toys
12. Elastic band
13. Word or number games (word search, sudoku)
14. Squeeze toys
15. Spiky balls
16. Kinetic sand
17. Satin ribbons
18. String of beads
19. Threading activity
20. Sewing or knitting activity
21. Sensory bean bags: hand size bags made from different textured material and filled with stuffing or dried lentils
22. Dot to Dot activities
23. Glitter bottle or other calm down jar
24. Origami paper and instructions
25. Bubble blowing
26. Weighted lap cushion, toy, vest or blanket
27. Noise cancelling headphones
28. Rope or string
29. Pipe cleaners
30. Kaleidoscope
31. Egg timer
32. Eye spy books or pages
33. Stress balls
34. Bubble wrap
35. Pin Wheels
36. Rubik’s cube
37. Chalk board and chalk/magna doodle or etch-a-sketch
38. Eye mask
39. Tissue paper or tissues in a sealable bag (for child to rip)
40. Snow globe
41. Scarves or fabric scraps
42. Scratch and sniff stickers
43. Spinning top
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