Coping Bags/Boxes

Coping Bags/Boxes

See what our new schedule looks like for the fall. We are offering NEW after school classes. I have created a flyer on a new website I have just discovered called SMORE. Click the link to see what my flyer looks like. Smore if a very simple website and it's free! Anyone can use it and make a flyer for anything! Try it out! https://smore.com/7jhf

Parent Tip: We made coping bags with the children at our Summer Fun Club this week. We used dot paint to decorate the fabric bags. I bought them at a fabric store. But you can use brown paper bags or shoeboxes. We suggested that the children put different items in their fabric bags that make them happy. When the children get upset, have them take out their coping bags and sit in a quiet place to calm themselves down.

For older children we have had them write down coping strategies on index cards: ie I like to listen to music, I like to draw and glue these ideas on their coping boxes/bags as a reminder of what to do when the kids are upset. It is a visual reminder for them during the "heat" of the moment. 

They can use their deep breathing that we practiced (smell the flower, blow out the leaf technique we learned) to help calm themselves down. We even made flowers out of pipe cleaners to help our visual learners. We also cut out leaves and had the children practice blowing them in their hands. (This is a great activity to do when the leaves are falling from the trees in the fall.)