Self-Regulation Strategies for Children in Afterschool Spaces
By Anna Jennerjohn and Bryce Becker
Rockman et al Cooperative (REA) is excited to be partnering with Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) on a multiyear project funded by a Ready to Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Skillsvilleᵀᴹ is a suite of media resources for young children that promote executive function skills and self-regulation strategies and aim to build children’s awareness and excitement around a wide variety of careers. This blog post is part of a series on what we have learned from our recent pilot study of the Skillsvilleᵀᴹ curriculum in afterschool programs.
It’s 2:28 pm on a Tuesday in May. Students in an urban, Midwestern elementary school are transitioning from their classrooms into afterschool clubs. In one classroom, children meet for the Skillsvilleᵀᴹ Club. It’s a small space with a play kitchen and dollhouse that are left over from its previous use as a preschool play zone. Ms. Winston and Mrs. Kearse¹, the afterschool educators, greet children at the door. Both are retired principals who run the afterschool program as a part-time job because they “get a kick out of” seeing the children every Tuesday and Thursday.
One little boy comes to class amped up after a long day of kindergarten. He is running around the cramped space and jumping off the child-sized chairs. “Jaden,” intones Ms. Winston calmly. “Don’t run inside the classroom. Let’s use our Silly Shakes instead.” She’s referring to one of the self-regulation strategies that they teach the children in the Skillsville program — it has given them a tool to help children move in ways that work for indoor classroom settings while still letting their energy out. He stops in a carpeted corner of the classroom and looks at her. “Shake, shake, shake!” she models, moving her feet back and forth and flinging her wrists as if she were shaking off water and had no towel. At first it seems like he won’t join in, but then Amaya and Vasha, second graders, join the Silly Shakes with their own, more flamboyant moves. This seems to convince Jaden to join in. “Shake, shake, shake!” repeats Ms. Winston as the group moves their bodies to regulate themselves.
Self-Regulation Strategies
The Silly Shakes are one self-regulation strategy that the afterschool educators had shared with the children in the weeks prior. Self-regulation strategies are tools and techniques that help achieve calmness and concentration. Afterschool spaces can be a useful environment for teaching children about self-regulation strategies because groups are sometimes smaller and children are often in need of self-regulation after a long day of formal school.
Here are a few of the self-regulation strategies that Ms. Winston and Mrs. Kearse have taught the children so far in their afterschool group, using the Skillsville Children’s Program:
- Quiet time — Children can close their eyes and sit quietly for one minute. When possible, children can even do this outdoors with the added benefit of nature’s support for self-regulation.
- Movement — The Silly Shakes are one way to use movement for self-regulation. Movement can be adjusted to fit the space. Children can jump, dance, wiggle, and so on.
- Positive affirmation — Children can say something positive to themselves about what they’ve accomplished or what they have the ability to do. They might affirm themselves with phrases like I’m special and I can do anything I set my mind to; My best quality is ______; or I always try my best.
These and other self-regulation strategies help children manage their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors when they experience stress or intense emotions, like anger, sadness, anxiety, or even excitement.
Integrating Self-Regulation Strategies in Afterschool Spaces
Ms. Winston and Mrs. Kearse, along with a cohort of other educators from around the United States, learned how to teach children about self-regulation strategies like those above using short, specially-produced videos that modeled the strategies onscreen.
The educators participated in an online training that discussed ways to use the strategy videos with children as well as how to incorporate these strategies into their everyday practice. Compared to before the training, participating educators increased their knowledge of what self-regulation strategies are in general and situations where they are useful. After the training, they could name more self-regulation strategies, like movement, quiet time, and counting. One educator reflected on using self-regulation strategies with children during the program: “It helps them to [ ] deal with not just each other, but difficult situations or just stressful situations or just them being unhappy.”
Lessons Learned About Self-Regulation After School
In addition to feedback from educators, children provided many insights about using self-regulation strategies in afterschool spaces. Here are three key lessons learned:
- Children are interested in learning about and actively practicing self-regulation strategies. When viewing self-regulation strategy videos, children across all participating sites actively imitated the strategies both during and afterwards rather than viewing the videos passively. For example, one educator projected the self-regulation videos as children entered the afterschool space, with children joining in to do the Silly Shakes, sing, or close their eyes and practice breathing exercises, like imagining blowing the petals off a flower. The educator then posed questions like, “How does it feel when you close your eyes?” so the children could reflect upon the strategy.
- Some techniques, like breathing exercises, are familiar to children because they are taught as part of broader social emotional learning curricula. Many children had already learned about different types of breathing exercises with a school counselor or classroom teacher. While the breathing techniques may be taught in multiple settings, children are not necessarily initiating these techniques independently yet. Thus, it was helpful to 1) have the children practice breathing exercises because then they were more accessible to them when big feelings arose, and 2) introduce new self-regulation strategies, especially movement based ones, so that children had other strategies in their toolkits.
- Many children are drawn to active, movement-based strategies. The activities that got children up and moving, like the Silly Shakes, were the most popular among the children themselves. Perhaps these were popular because they are newer techniques to many children. Other popular self-regulation strategies among the children were singing, talking to a trusted friend or adult, breathing, walking, and drawing. Multiple educators also noted that they appreciated the way that the strategy videos got the children up and moving. When children are all-too-often asked to be still in school spaces, opportunities for movement are welcomed by children and educators alike.
A Great Opportunity to Work on Self-Regulation
Overall, children shared that they learned more about self-regulation strategies in the afterschool Skillsville program. In one focus group, five out of seven children indicated that they learned “a lot” about self-regulation strategies by practicing them in their afterschool programs. Educators who led the afterschool programs also noticed that children were talking about self-regulation strategies more than they had before the program.
The afterschool space provides a prime opportunity for children to learn about new self-regulation strategies. Just as Ms. Winston was able to coach Jaden to use a movement strategy, other educators can also use techniques like these to support children in afterschool environments.
Here are a few other resources to work on self-regulation with children:
- Child Mind Institute on self-regulation
- Self-regulation strategies for children
- Self-regulation for babies and toddlers
- Self-care habits for kids
The contents of this program were developed under the Ready to Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education (PR S295A200002) awarded to Twin Cities PBS. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
To learn more about Rockman et al Cooperative visit: rockman.com.
¹ All names are pseudonyms.
