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Writer's pictureMelissa Evans

Build your own Calm Box

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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