It is Easter weekend and as always during every holiday (including one in lockdown) emotions are running high in your household. We have a perfect solution for you and your child. We would love you all to give it a try! Scenario: Your child is screaming and crying (throwing a tantrum) because they can not have an Easter chocolate (or a 5th, 6th, 7th Easter chocolate). What do you do? The “chill out " corner Create a space in your house where your child can go when they just need a minute to take a few deep breaths and calm down. This is a positive space where they feel secure and comfortable. This corner is used as teaching your child coping skills to better understand emotions and to nurture their developing minds. A few ideas of how to set up the corner: Place a beanbag, pillows, blanket or cushions on the floor. Place a sensory type activity in the corner (coloured rice with lavender oil, playdoh (if they wont eat it), squishy toys, a squishy ball etc.) The aim is to shift childrens focus from the tantrum/anger/sadness to bring it to the present. You can place some books in the corner, colouring books, cars. Place the grid of emotions on the wall (please see link for further details). When to use it: During a tantrum When a child is fighting with siblings When a child is being aggressive When a child is showing signs of anger (clenching jaw, gritting teeth, raising voice, reddening face). How to use it: You remain calm in the scenario. Walk your child to the "chill out" corner and have them take a seat. Leave them to calm for up to 10 minutes. After your child has calmed: Go through the emotions board and talk about the situation that occurred For example: (Your child’s name got upset because Mummy said you couldn’t have the ipad and this made you sad.) Revert back to the visual schedule if you have allowed your child the ipad for a set amount of time that day. Explain to them that they may have it then. Praise your child for calming down and for listening. Practice role play situations with toys and siblings.

Emotions in children can be challenging in general let alone when their structure and schedule is thrown off. When teaching children about emotions we encourage you to be open ears and listen to what they say about why they are upset. Help them to label the emotion based on what their face is showing and let them know you are listening and understand how they feel. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is “the ability to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle relationships reasonably and empathetically.” It is important that as parents/caregivers/teachers we understand how to best foster and teach emotional intelligence to children through helping them understand feelings and label emotions. It is classical to think of your toddler as an “emotionally unstable” little being who runs you ragged because they know how to push your buttons and ultimately control you. This is because they have not developed the skills in order to learn how to calmly express themselves. Five Steps to Developing Emotional Intelligence in your Children 1. Allow Expression - Small children can not differentiate their feelings and their “selves.” It is important we accept the feelings by allowing your child to express them. Teach your child the full range of emotions and let them know that it is acceptable to have feelings. Encourage your child to use their words and to point to the emotion in the emotions pictures provided. 2. Acknowledge your child’s expressing and empathise with them . Empathizing does not mean you agree, it means that you see it from their perspective too. 3. Listen to your child’s feelings - Let your child know that you are fully present and listening to their feelings when they are coming up and out. 4. Teaching problem solving - Allow your child to breathe through the emotions, feel them and learn to tolerate them. 5. Play it out - role play and practice the situations with your child. Create the situations so your child has a chance to practice how to appropriately react/use their words. A few great resources: The Whole-Brain Child by Dr. Daniel J. Siegal and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson No-Drama Discipline Dr. Daniel J. Siegal and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson Generation Mindful - https://genmindful.com

There has been a lot going around the internet about various types of schedules and how to best structure your home. We’d like to kick this section off by encouraging you to first take some time to sit down and allow yourself time to catch up with what's been going on. Daily schedules can be helpful. Lots of children and particularly those prone to being more challenging or hyperactive. These children benefit greatly from routine and regularity. Knowing what's going to happen and being allowed small regular choices really does help them be their best selves and keep family harmony. With that being said, if an intense daily schedule isn’t going to work for you, then please do not try to implement one of the very intense schedules going around!! Given this situation is for an undetermined amount of time, slow, steady and sustainable should be your household motto. If you need to take a keep ‘staycation’ first to get to this place, then please do! We recommend you chunk up your day into 30 minute or hour block and proceed to fill them with a mix of sensory play, movement breaks, free play, structured play, tidy up time and whatever else suits you and your family routine. A particularly great example of this can be found here , please bear in mind that while these schedule look amazing, they are for adult use, not child use! To help younger children understand the new routine we recommend you download this pack from twinkl , and follow our fab video on how to use it and implement a visual schedule in your home!