Page 16 - 101 SEL Activities

Spa Day (3+)
Time: 5-30minutes
Purpose: To introduce self-care and self-soothing while helping your child discover what helps them relax.
Instructions: Find activities to create your own spa day based on your child’s preferences. This can be done through trial and error as they may not know what they like just yet. Ideas: Nail painting, lotion, leave in conditioner, head massage, hand massage, face masks, foot soak, body scrub, bath, aroma therapy, back massage, etc.
Use this as an opportunity to see what your child likes. Help them figure out how to pamper themself. Create a spa package or a pamper box for their room. They can use this after a difficult day or just to recharge their emotional batteries.
Hand Stacking (3+)
Time: 2-3minutes
Purpose: Grounding technique to help your child learn to better regulate their emotions.
Instructions: Put one hand on top of your child’s hand and alternate stacking hands. You are the leader and you set the pace. Take turns going up and down. Go fast, go slow, use whole hands, or use only one finger. You can even stack without actually touching hands, trying to get as close as possible without touching. (See Appendix for visual examples)
The ultimate goal is for them to learn to regulate their emotions without needing any prompts. This takes time (as an adult I still need promptsJ). The more they practice and the more they see you practice, the better they will get at this. Also, be open to any of their ideas and share what works!
See Figure 4: Page 11
Breathing Techniques (3+)
Time: 2-5minutesandrepeat
Purpose: To help your child learn how to regulate and manage emotions.
Instructions: Teach your child different breathing techniques by connecting the techniques to visuals they already enjoy. Anything that gets them to take deep breaths and slow down their breathing is helpful.
Blow the sailboat: Breathe out as long and hard as you can as if you are blowing a sailboat across a lake. You can always practice this one in the bathtub.
Blow the biggest bubble: Practice deep breathing by blowing bubbles and you can also pretend when you don’t have bubbles handy.
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