Resources

Have a resource suggestion? Please take a moment and complete the survey to ensure we accurately identify relevant materials for future development.

The 4-7-8 breathing technique is a simple but effective breathing exercise used to promote relaxation. It's often practiced to help manage stress, anxiety, and improve sleep.

Stay grounded, listen with empathy, and respond with flexibility. Use this 5-step approach to keep interactions calm, supportive, and focused on relationship-building.

5 Things is a Mindfulness strategy that can connect students to their senses, centering the body and mind.

This handout offers quick, student-friendly strategies to manage anxiety in the moment. Each reset helps students calm their body, focus their mind, and regain a sense of control.

These simple, playful questions help young children explore their feelings, preferences, and imagination while building trust with caring adults. Designed with early learners in mind, these prompts promote communication and connection through fun, age-appropriate conversation.

These questions spark curiosity, encourage empathy, and help children in grades K-5 reflect on themselves, their feelings, and their friendships. They're ideal for building meaningful connections in the classroom and creating a supportive environment.

These reflective and thought-provoking questions help teens explore identity, relationships, goals, and challenges, fostering emotional insight and authentic classroom dialogue. They're perfect for building trust, respect, and connection with older students.

The Iceberg worksheet helps give students a visual on what may be happening under the surface when they feel angry.

This visual helps students and educators understand emotional escalation using the metaphor of an expanding balloon. Each stage represents increasing emotional intensity, offering a shared language for identifying feelings andguiding supportive responses.

Bear Breathing outlines breathing strategy for students.

Behavior & the Brain highlights parts of the brain and their respective function.

This resource supports educators in developing a shared understanding of key terms. It includes a definitions page, example pages, and blank template pages that teams can use to document real-time data during actual behavioral incidents.

Belly Breathing allows students to feel how their body is engaged when using relaxing breathing strategies.

La respiración con el vientre permite a los estudiantes sentir cómo su cuerpo está involucrado cuando se utilizan técnicas de respiración para relajarse.

These cards promote conversations about being mindful throughout life.

For use with the breathing board resources

Para usar con los recursos del tablero de respiración

The Breathing Board handout provides an activity for youth to de-escalate. Print each board or all of the boards to support the student.

El Tablero Para Respirar es una herramienta centrada en la asistencia de ejercicios de autoregulación. Los estudiantes pueden usarlo para practicar la respiración y relajarse a la vez que controlan sus emociones.

The Breathing Board handout provides an activity for youth to de-escalate. Print each board or all of the boards to support the student.

El folleto "Tablero de Respiración" ofrece una actividad para que los jóvenes descansen. Imprima cada tablero o todos los tableros para apoyar al estudiante.

This resource helps students learn how to build inclusive, respectful friendships with peers who have significant disabilities. It emphasizes empathy, communication, and meaningful connection through practical tips and examples.

Butterfly Breathing encourages students to feel relaxed and free. Use this strategy to encourage students to self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset.

Candle Breathing is a strategy that gives students a visual to focus on while attempting to regulate through deep breaths.

Use these strategies to encourage students to self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset. Practicing these techniques while in a regulated state will help students feel confident when they need to use any regulating strategy on their own.

This icon-focused plan encourages students of all abilities to identify emotions and the tools to return to a regulated state. This plan provides a template for adults to engage students in discussions about different feelings and ways to regulate unwanted or uncomfortable emotions.

This poster can be used as a regulation strategy to teach students to reduce stress and reminds them to slow down and use their imagination to calm their bodies when anxious or dysregulated.

This resource provides adults with observable signs of dysregulation and strategies to regain student focus.

Color Breathing is a visual strategy that can be quickly learned. This poster can help remind students to use their breathing as a simple, stress-reducing activity.

This document teaches students about three different conflict styles. It identifies healthy ways to manage conflict and includes a script for using I-Messages to help students express feelings respectfully.

This document outlines the use of physical restraint and timeout in schools, emphasizing their role in crisis intervention when a student poses an imminent danger. It highlights the importance of monitoring for signs of distress, recognizing contraindications, and ensuring that these interventions are only used when necessary to protect student safety while minimizing risks and unintended harm.

This resource can help facilitate morning meeting conversations, enhance social-emotional learning, or practice peer social skills.

Co-regulation is a vital skill when helping students remain regulated and de-escalate after a crisis. This resource highlights why co-regulation matters and offers practical examples, phrases, and steps educators can use during moments of student escalation.

This resource offers inclusive holiday season activities that help every student feel seen, valued, and
connected. Each activity aligns with an educator tip and includes simple crafts or a worksheet and circle question to build belonging during the winter months.

Coloring can help engage the brain without a lot of effort. When a student cannot focus,
coloring is a re-connection strategy.

The Cup of Calm helps students engage different senses to promote self-regulation.

These are strategies to help when attempting to de-escalate dangerous behaviors.

This poster visually guides students through a simple, five-step decision-making process: Stop & Think, List Options, Weigh Consequences, Choose Wisely, and Reflect. It provides a quick-reference framework that reinforces thoughtful choices throughout the school day.

Decision Pathways is a classroom-ready tool that helps middle and high school students practice thoughtful, intentional decision-making. Each card presents a realistic scenario and prompts students to consider options, consequences, and personal choices.

Distract Your Mind Trace A Line is a strategy to actively refocus student attention from current stressors toward a busy activity requiring active motor skill coordination.

Diwali Breathing is a calming activity where children touch numbered dots on top of the Diyas, repeatedly breathing in on one dot and out on the next to relax and refocus.

The Educator Regulation Strategies is a quick reference resource designed to support staff in recognizing how to reset during difficult moments and responding intentionally throughout the school day. This poster provides simple reminders and practical regulation strategies that educators can use to support their own well-being.

Emotion Explorers is a playful, camping-themed game that helps young children build social-emotional skills through storytelling, role play, and meaningful questions. As they hike through feelings, friendship, and problem-solving adventures, kids learn to name emotions, connect with others, and handle challenges with confidence.

Use these strategies to encourage students to self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset. Practicing these techniques while in a regulated state will help students feel confident when they need to use any regulating strategy on their own.

Feather breathing is a relaxation technique that encourages deep, slow breathing to promote relaxation and reduce stress.

Learning how to connect emotional events to what’s going on in the body gives students a personal resource to turn to when they are not sure what they're feeling. Feelings Bookmarks provide students with visual prompts to clearly identify the emotions they experience and example strategies for regulation.

This worksheet packet is designed to help preschoolers identify and express their emotions by circling images that match how certain things make them feel. Each page focuses on different emotions, such as happy, sad, or excited, allowing children to connect visuals with their own experiences.

This two-piece puzzle helps preschoolers explore and identify different feelings through matching either an expression and a word or matching two identical expressions. There are various support levels, depending on student needs.

Figure 8 is a breathing strategy that can help students relax when they feel anxious or dysregulated.

'Getting it Together!' is a student-focused tool to guide thoughts following a problem with staff or a peer that may require a restorative conversation to resolve the issue and repair the school community.

Goodness gems contain unique terms associated with positive attributes and meanings. Students may choose a gem of their liking, reflect on its message, and keep as long as it provides personal support.

The Growing Your…provides tips on what to say or do to facilitate growth in these areas.

The Growing Your…provides tips on what to say or do to facilitate growth in these areas.

The Growing Your…provides tips on what to say or do to facilitate growth in these areas.

The Growing Your…provides tips on what to say or do to facilitate growth in these areas.

Use these strategies to encourage students to self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset. Practicing these techniques while in a regulated state will help students feel confident when they need to use any regulating strategy on their own.

Hand Breathing allows students to visually follow how their body is engaged when using relaxing breathing strategies.

La mano para respirar permite a los estudiantes seguir visualmente cómo su cuerpo se involucra a la vez que usan técnicas de respiración relajantes.

Hanukkah Breathing is a set of calming activities where children trace shapes while repeatedly breathing in and out in an effort to relax and refocus.

Students may not be able to identify what they need to regulate when upset. This resource provides students with ideas of ways to regulate before becoming dysregulated. Staff then keep this resource available as a future reference for intervention.

This regulation visual is a reminder that children often need help with regulation before they will ever be able to reason.

Helping students recognize what they are thankful for will assist them in slowing down and focusing on the positive aspects of their life.

This resource helps students reflect on gratitude by providing structured ways to identify what they are thankful for. It includes simple prompts, peer-sharing opportunities, and an alphabet-based activity to encourage deeper thinking about appreciation.

Identify Feelings is an interactive resource that helps early learners recognize and name emotions by pairing relatable images with simple feelings words. It fosters emotional awareness, vocabulary development, and empathy, supporting children in understanding their own feelings and those of others.

This visual will help students learn the structure of I Statements, assisting them with how to phrase and share what they are feeling.

This worksheet helps students express what fears they may have. Allowing students to name what is scary opens the door to healing.

This visual will give educators a quick set of intervention tips for supporting a struggling student.

Esta ayuda visual proporciona a los educadores una serie de intervenciones y consejos para usar con aquellos estudiantes que tienen problemas.

Kwanzaa Breathing is a calming activity where children touch numbered dots on top of the Mishumaa Saba, repeatedly breathing in on one dot and out on the next to relax and refocus.

These Valentine’s activities help students practice self-love, kindness, and appreciation for others through fun, hands-on exercises.

Lunar New Year Breathing is a calming activity where children trace arrows around the Lóng, repeatedly breathing in on one arrow and out on the next to relax and refocus.

Match the Mood is an interactive emotions activity where children match cutout facial expressions to corresponding faces in a whole page format. It supports emotional recognition, language development, and self-awareness in a fun, hands-on way.

Maze breathing is a technique that helps manage stress and calm the mind.

Mindfulness is being fully aware of the moment-by-moment thoughts/feelings/actions in oneself. Teaching students mindfulness, a relaxation technique, enables them to have a positive mindset.

Children may be unable to identify what they need to regulate when upset. This resource asks parents/guardians to supply ideas for interventions to assist staff in supporting their child's regulation. Staff then keep this completed resource for future reference.

This tool allows students to review what will happen in their restorative circle before it begins. Providing advanced notice of what to expect and coaching socially appropriate responses helps reduce anxiety for some students.

My Circle Rules offers three different versions, allowing staff to choose a tool that fits the needs of their students for learning restorative circle rules.

This packet is a social-emotional learning journal. Journal prompts are based on the Social Emotional Learning Standards for the State of Illinois.

This plan is designed to help educators recognize their own stress signals, identify supportive strategies, and respond intentionally during challenging moments. Taking time to reflect on personal regulation can strengthen the ability to calmly respond, improve decision making, and support a calmer classroom environment.

Helping students identify the size of their worry can aid in expressing to others what is happening in their world.

To understand the few instances when intensive behavioral interventions may be warranted, here are five specific definitions that outline the legal statutes and minimum standards that must be applied before engaging in Restraint and Time-Out (RTO)

Students struggling with anxiety are often anxious about events in life that are out of their control. This activity allows students to articulate what's within their power and what's not so they understand their locus of control.

This tool will assist a student in identifying sensations within their memories, emotions, and body. As a
student begins to recognize what is happening within their body, they can act on regulating those sensations or emotions. It gives students the visual opportunity to write in a sensation and connect it to experiences.

This activity has been created for students to write a note to someone who makes them feel safe.

This resource offers simple, low-effort ways for high school teachers to integrate social emotional learning into daily classroom routines. You don't need a new curriculum, just small, intentional habits woven into what you already do. SEL thrives when it feels natural, not added on.

Pre-correction as a proactive strategy helps prevent challenging behavior by clearly reminding students of expectations before a problem occurs. This resource provides examples, practical steps, and simple language educators can use to support students during common classroom transitions and challenging tasks.

Preventative Strategies to Support Student Behavior is a practical tool that provides educators with
proactive approaches to help students feel safe, regulated, and ready to learn. The strategies focus on routines, transitions, classroom supports, and emotional regulation to reduce challenging behavior before it escalates.

Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves tensing and relaxing specific muscle groups to release physical tension. It's a helpful method for teens dealing with stress, anxiety, or even physical discomfort.

Rainbow Breathing is a calming technique that helps students focus on their breath, redirecting attention away from sources of stress. Use this strategy to help students self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset.

This icon-focused plan encourages students of all abilities to identify emotions and tools to return to a regulated state.

Este plan de iconos anima a los
estudiantes de todas las habilidades a identificar emociones y medios para volver a un estado calmado.

Ramadan Breathing is a calming activity where children trace the moon, focusing on breathing and repeating as needed for regulation.

These cards promote practical self-regulation strategies teens can apply now and as an adult.

Circle norms are agreements created by the group to guide respectful participation in community and restorative circles. They help ensure safety, fairness, and equal opportunity for every voice to be heard.

This resource provides a comprehensive collection of restorative questions and circle prompts. It supports building empathy, accountability, and problem-solving while fostering a safe, respectful, and connected classroom community.

These posters provide simple, kid-friendly affirmations that help students understand accountability,
relationships, and the importance of making things right when harm occurs. Each statement encourages positive choices and reminds students they are valued members of their community.

This resource introduces restorative practices as a relationship-centered approach that builds community, repairs harm, and supports student growth. It highlights strategies teachers can use proactively and reactively to foster accountability, empathy, and healing in the classroom.

This handout explains the purpose, criteria, and examples of talking pieces used in restorative practices. It highlights how talking pieces promote fairness, respectful listening, and meaningful participation during classroom circles.

This resource is a strategy to help students practice positive self-talk.

This journal guides teens through simple, meaningful self-care practices such as mindfulness, routine-building, gratitude, and emotional awareness. Each page helps students slow down, reflect, and build habits that support their overall well-being.

The Sensation poster is a visual for helping students grow their sensation vocabulary list.

This handout will give staff a snapshot of what students may be experiencing and feeling based on observed behaviors.

Shape Breathing is a set of calming techniques that help students focus on their breath, redirecting attention away from sources of stress.

The Signs of Distress handout provides school staff with examples of physical signs that may indicate a student is in distress.

Use these strategies to encourage students to self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset.
Practicing these techniques while in a regulated state will help students feel confident when they need to use any regulating strategy on their own.

Usa estas estrategias para animar a los estudiantes a autorregularse cuando se sienten estresados, ansiosos o molestos. Practicar estas técnicas con los estudiantes cuando están calmados ayudará a los estudiantes a sentirse más seguros cuando tengan que usarlas por su cuenta.

The Staff Calm Corner resource is designed to provide educators with quick, practical strategies to
support regulation during stressful or overwhelming moments throughout the school day and to create intentional opportunities for adults to pause, reset, and regulate.

These 15 strategies offer practical, relationship-centered ways to prevent power struggles before they start. By staying flexible, listening actively, and offering choice, educators can create a calmer, more respectful classroom climate.

Self-regulation is a skill children can learn with practice and support. These Self-Regulation Tools use
familiar, hands-on metaphors to help children recognize big feelings and choose safe, calming actions.

This resource explains how structured choice can reduce escalating challenging behaviors by giving students a sense of control and highlights the value of shifting from power struggles to collaborative problem-solving.

This regulation strategy involves a sequence of physical movements paired with controlled breathing to help calm the body and mind. Focusing on the superhero imagery and mindful breathing promotes relaxation and stress relief.

Supporting Your Family is specifically written to help know what to do when a family has a child
experiencing trauma and grief.

This document has six apps that teens can download that will help with coping and emotional regulation.

This edition of Teen Life Hacks features tips and strategies from the Braves Mental Health Awareness club. This is a club formed by students at Mt. Zion Junior High who are interested in spreading mental health awareness to the school and community. They are affiliated with Erika's Lighthouse empowerment clubs, which use Awareness into Action Activities to promote good mental health
in the school throughout the year.

Regulation skills like working towards a goal, coping with change, or recognizing your feelings, help you manage your emotions, reactions, and behaviors in a healthy way, even in difficult situations. Developing these skills is especially important as you navigate new challenges as you continue to grow and mature.

Regulation skills like working towards a goal, coping with change, or recognizing your feelings, help you manage your emotions, reactions, and behaviors in a healthy way, even in difficult situations. Developing these skills is especially important as you navigate new challenges as you continue to grow and mature.

This document has six apps that teens can download that will help with coping and emotional regulation.

Regulation skills like working towards a goal, coping with change, or recognizing your feelings, help you manage your emotions, reactions, and behaviors in a healthy way, even in difficult situations. Developing these skills is especially important as you navigate new challenges as you continue to grow and mature.

The Feelings Packet is a set of resources for students functioning at the 3-9 year old range. Included are a feelings compass, feelings scale, student dictionary, teacher definitions, drawing prompts, writing prompts, and cards differentiated at three different levels. Use this packet to help build an emotional vocabulary with your students.

El Paquete de Sentimientos es un conjunto de recursos para estudiantes que funcionan en el rango de 3 a 9 años. Incluye una brújula de sentimientos, una escala de sentimientos, un diccionario para estudiantes, definiciones para maestros, indicaciones para dibujar, indicaciones para escribir y tarjetas diferenciadas en tres niveles diferentes. Use este paquete para ayudar a desarrollar un vocabulario emocional con sus studiantes.

This resource reviews core principles of relational practice and highlights daily opportunities for connection. It provides practical strategies for building trust during instruction and challenging moments, reminding educators that relationships are foundational, not optional, in creating safe, supportive learning environments.

Thinks Sheets are reflective activities designed to help students focus on their body sensations that occurred during a time of dysregulation. The activity helps a student to identify sensations and feelings they may have experienced and helps to identify strategies for self-regulation when experiencing similar sensations in the future.

La Hoja De Reflexión ofrece varias actividades diseñadas para que los estudiantes se centren en las
emociones corporales que fueron alteradas durante un período
agitado. Estas actividades ayudan a los estudiantes a identificar las sensaciones y sentimientos que pueden haber experimentado, y también, ayudan a identificar estrategias para autorregularse por si experimentan sensaciones similares
en el futuro.

This resource outlines strategies to support a child who has experienced trauma.

Turkey Breathing is a calming activity where children trace up and down the arrows on each of the turkey's seven feathers, breathing in up one side and out down the other to relax and refocus.

Visual Pacing Strips are flexible tools that allow adults to control the visual progression of time-based on student response or age and vary accordingly. They are effective for class-wide application and as a layer of additional support for individual students.

These voice-level posters help students understand how loud or quiet their voices should be indifferent situations. Each level describes when to use a silent, whisper, partner, presentation, or outside voice.

These fun and expressive heart-shaped emotion flash cards help students learn and talk about their feelings in a playful and relatable way. Each card features a different feelings word with a heart character that reflects the identified emotion.

These full-page emotion posters each feature one feeling word with a fun heart character, giving students a visual and engaging way to connect with emotions. The last poster includes space for students to draw their own picture to invent their own feeling heart character.

This cheerful and colorful poster helps students identify and name their feelings using heart characters. It's a fun, visual way to build emotional awareness and create daily check-in moments with your class.

These heart-themed worksheets invite students to explore their emotions by drawing a picture that matches each feeling word. It’s a creative and reflective way for students to connect with their feelings and begin to understand the different ways emotions can show up in their lives.

The When I Feel... I Can Try... strategy offers images for students to focus on to help re-frame negative thoughts into positive feelings.

This guide is designed to help early childhood educators better understand the “why” behind preschool behavior and provide practical, nurturing strategies to support emotional regulation. It offers a blend of developmental insight and hands-on techniques for calming, connecting, and guiding children through big feelings.

The Window of Tolerance visual will remind educators how a student that has experienced trauma may have less tolerance than a student who has not experienced trauma.

Use these strategies to encourage students to self-regulate when they feel stressed, anxious, or upset.
Practicing these techniques while in a regulated state will help students feel confident when they need to use any regulating strategy on their own.