Emotions are to our minds like nerves are to our bodies. They help inform us about our condition in the world around us and can teach us when things are safe or not safe. It is important to listen to emotions and not try to block them. However, emotions can be wild and scary things when you are four years old. Sometimes they are pleasant and help you enjoy the day but, sometimes they are confusing and unpleasant. As our Orca pod moves forward, developing a classroom community, we have been exploring our emotions both big and small, happy and not so happy. Early on in the year we studied the Zones of [emotional] Regulation, a color code that helps individuals understand and vocalize their feelings. Blue is the color of slower, less energized feelings, such as tired, sad, or lonely. Green is the zone of good feelings, happiness and contentment, where the most learning can take place. Yellow is a wobbly color that informs us of when things are not quite calm, a bit higher energy. Yellow feelings involve silliness, excitement, uncertainty, and even fear. Red, the highest energy zone, is where unpleasant feelings reside, anger, frustration, and aggression. The chart below is placed above the sink in our classroom and children are encouraged to name their emotional zones throughout the day. There is a mirror right above our chart and the students practice identifying how different emotions look on their own faces. This can help them as they learn to recognize those same feelings within. To learn more about Zones of Regulation please visit https://www.stmichaelsprimary.durham.sch.uk/send/zones-of-regulation/.

Credit image to https://www.stmichaelsprimary.durham.sch.uk/send/zones-of-regulation/

Our Orcas learned that all these feelings are good, healthy emotions and we should not be ashamed of them. Even anger has its uses, for anger is a warning sign that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. Even so, though it is sometimes useful to visit the red, yellow, and blue zones, these zones are not where we want to spend most of our time, for they can be unpleasant and it is hard to learn or progress while inside them. One way to help students learn how to regulate their emotions and spend more time in the green zone is to introduce a cozy corner into the classroom. This corner is a special place set aside in the classroom where students can feel welcome and comfortable to calm down and bring their big emotions under control. It is important to note that this is not a time-out spot or to be used as a punishment but rather a safe space. It should be warm and inviting and contain objects of comfort as well as manipulatives that help students identify and process their emotions. In our cozy corner, we have books on emotions that we read and discuss together as a class so the students can enjoy them later on their own. We also have soft balls to help squeeze our emotions out. On the ceiling of the cozy corner are cool colored lights to make it more pleasant and one wall is a dry-erase board where students can draw their feelings. Other ideas for setting up a cozy corner can be found at https://www.pre-kpages.com/safe-space-cozy-corner-preschool/.

This week, our big project was to make mindfulness treasure bottles for the students to use to help regulate their emotions. We read the story Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry MacLean and each student got to design and create their own mindfulness treasure bottles. These bottles are not only useful for calming down during red zone moments but they have been used during quiet nap time to assist in bringing down our energy levels and get us ready for rest. For more examples of various treasure bottles watch https://youtu.be/ftvzLjUc1a0. I and the students are super excited about our cozy corner and treasure bottles and look forward to discovering many more uses of them in the future.