Students can create their own personalized worry monster by decorating the monster.

Decorate the box like a monster with a wide open mouth.

Tissue Worry Box – Use an upcycled container like a tissue box, or food container to create a worry box.

Getting direct feedback about their breathing is a helpful learning tool as well as a great way to calm down. As students blow onto the windmill, they can learn about soft and hard breathing. Students can write emotions or draw faces on it to decorate if they like.

Paper Windmill Emotion Craft – learners can create a paper windmill using cardstock or construction paper, a brad to fasten, and a stick.

Then, decorate the mask according to an emotion name. Use a paper plate to create an emotions face mask. Play a pretend role play game with these, or have students learn to hold them up when they want to express a feeling. They can be glued onto a large craft stick or pain stirrer. Students can decorate, color, and cut out the faces.

Face Masks – print emojis or pictures of different facial expressions onto cardstock.

Other benefits to using clay include the fine motor exercise with clay play. Adding different colors for the faces (red for angry, blue for sad) may be another method for teaching feelings, although this may be too abstract for some learners. You can add googly eyes, sequins, or other items if needed. Learners can make faces into the dough by poking into it, or adding other colors for facial features. Not only is this a great idea for learning, the deep pressure and tactile input involved in sculpting and molding the clay is great for self regulation.

Play with Clay – use clay or play dough as a medium for expressing emotions.

Just paint the rocks, add googly eyes, and then use a marker or paint to add facial expressions.

Rock Emotion Faces– Also from our Instagram page, making pet rocks with facial expressions is a fun emotions craft.

They need something more simple and concrete like these emotion craft ideas: Younger students are not ready to complete this type of self reflection task. Some involve journaling, drawing, and writing ideas and feelings. There are different levels of crafts and ideas out there for different types and abilities of students. Building or making things with the hands, can help spark understanding of self regulation, as well as provide much needed input.Įmotional Regulation Crafts are just one strategy to building this understanding, and get your learners into their optimal learning zone. Here is a great overview post on Self Regulation Activities. Practice through communication and play can help your learner find that “just right” feeling. However, it is tricky to find that sweet spot and stay there. Emotional regulation in the “just right zone” feels like neither too much or too little input. In the Zones of Regulation® method, the “GREEN ZONE” is often considered the “just right zone”. The “just right zone” is similar to the Goldilocks effect not too big, not too small. Getting into the “just right zone” helps with executive function and productivity. In this post we will explore play through Emotional Regulation Crafts to help with this process.Įmotional regulation is a key to success. Young learners use play as their method to self regulate.

They are not able to articulate needing a break, or navigate appropriate activities to help them feel better.

How many times have you thought, “I need a time out”, during the past week? As adults, once we recognize the need for a break, we are often able to find a successful strategy to take one.Ĭhildren are not as fortunate. There are many ways kids crafts facilitate underlying skills and development, and emotions and feelings crafting does just that!

An emotion craft might include facial expressions, or the ability to express one’s own feelings through the art and craft process. An emotion craft is one that teaches emotions, or feelings through the craft activity.

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