Have you ever thought about creating a calm down corner for your children to go to when they are angry, sad, frustrated or just need some quiet time to calm down? My girls are a little bit older now [6, 9] but I still absolutely love having a little space in our house for them to go-to when they are experiencing different feelings or emotions. I currently have our little calming corner inside our entertainment center.

THE FIRST THING I ADDED WAS A VISUALLY cute-little emotions canvas! I really wanted to provide something visual for my girls to reference to. A face to emotions list of the different feelings we experience being human. 

"It's okay to feel" hanging canvas

Adding visuals to your calming corner!

I feel like having visuals for your little one/ones to recognize the different emotions is a must - whether that is a feelings chart, a page to color, or even a laminated "feelings" page to use hands on or even use with dry erase markers.

One day I hope to have a dedicated calming space somewhere around the house...maybe with a comfy bean bag - but for now, this space is working great for us! The first day setup, my girls sat there for an hour straight just flipping through their emotions flip book and snuggling our calming plushies. I just love that they have this safe space to go to. <3

I'm a huge lover of books, of course my favorite part of their emotions corner is the cutest little feelings books! 

my magic feelings / empathy is your super power / slumberkins dragon gets bored

I really envisioned a hands-on sensory basket for their calming area. My 6 year old is BIG on sensory items. Slime, kinetic sand, stress balls. You name it, she loves it. When I picture a kids emotions corner...I instantly think of a basket of sensory items that can help them if they experience anxiety, or need help concentrating, etc...I gathered some things from around the house and placed it in a small basket. We have / textured sensory balls / similar fidget slug / and a few Montessori tool I found in their old toy bin.

/ FEELINGS FLIPS / chart books are super fun and engaging to have in your kids EMOTIONS corner!

My girls are huge SLUMBERKINS fans! <3

The slumberkins emotions concept-books - paired with the cutest plushies, are soooo tempting! Especially for a book loving mom like myself <3

/ slumberkins flip hammerhead shark / 

YOGA 

/ yoga animals at the seashore / goodnight yoga book / kids yoga game / 

We also have this favorite rocket ship yoga book that we absolutely LOVE! My girls removed it just before I captured these photos. It's definitely a favorite in our calming corner!

I also added a couple more little things that I thought could be useful...when my girls get nervous or anxious - they will spray their sea turtle with [one] spray of the lavender mist and snuggle it. 

sequin sea turtle /   lavender-chamomile mist / bug fidget pop-its / 

Feelings and calming strategies 

It’s super important that you don’t use the calm corner as a punishment, but instead as a safe space for your child to learn or help manage and navigate their feelings. I love to encourage my kids to choose one of the tools in their calm down basket or look for strategies they can use to de-escalate those big feelings. These include things like taking deep breaths, hugging a soft toy, practicing yoga, talking to someone, etc. These / SENSORY FLASH CARDS / are wonderful to have in your little feeling's sensory basket. I really hope this inspired you to create your very own calm space for your little one[ones]!