Social-Emotional Wellness Activities for Families

Activity/Craft

Activity - Self-Control Strategies

Check out Counselor Keri's website for 10 Awesome Games to Practice Self-Control

Self-Control Strategy List

• Deep breaths
• Count to ten
• Ask to be alone
• Swing
• Listen to music
• Dance
• Calming jar

VIDEO

BOOK LIST

• Why is Jane so Mad?, by Jeffrey Cheatham II, Illustrated by Ebony Glenn

• What Were You Thinking?: Learning to Control Your Impulses by Bryan Smith, Illustrations by Lisa Griffin

• The First Strawberries, retold by Joseph Bruchac, Illustrations by Anna Vojtech

• How to Be a Superhero Called Self-Control!: Super Powers to Help Younger Children to Regulate their Emotions and Senses by Lauren Brukner

• My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain, Illustrations by Ella Bailey

• The Lemonade Hurricane by Licia Morelli, Illustrations by Jennifer E. Morris

• Waiting is Not Easy! By Mo Willems

• We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, by Ryan T. Higgins



• Allie All Along by Sarah Lynne Reul

MINDFULNESS ACTIVITY

Balloon Meditation

• Lie down on your back, stand or sit
• Pretend you are holding a balloon in your hands
• Picture your balloon, what color is it?
• Gently hold your balloon in front of your stomach
• When you breathe in you inflate your balloon
• Try to inflate your balloon as large as you can without popping it
• Now shrink your balloon by breathing out, make it completely flat
• Breathe in to inflate, breathe out to deflate
• Repeat three times
• Pretend to inflate your balloon and hold onto the string
• Allow your balloon to float up above you while breathing in, pull your balloon gently back down while breathing out
• Repeat three times
• You can end quietly by releasing the balloon

MOVEMENT ACTIVITY

ADDITIONAL PARENT RESOURCES

• Impulse-Control Techniques for Children

• Teaching Your Child Self Control

• Teaching Self-Control to Kids: 12 Fun Games and Exercises