Self regulation or emotional development is learned throughout a person’s life. Babies and toddlers experience these huge emotions in small bodies. They need parents/caregivers to help them identify and regulate their emotions.
Children begin to learn self-regulation through various sensory activities which can include: movement, bouncing activities, song and music.
At My Smart Hands Saskatoon, we provide various activities each week which promote emotional development growth! During our classes, Tanya carefully watches the littles to see if there is over stimulation in the classroom. Once, children are needing a break from an activity or need to regulate their emotions a carefully planned activity will take place. Some weeks this maybe bubbles or others a different type of sensory shaking toys!
Shakers are a wonderful activity. Parents can build these toys out of a plastic bottle and add various activities. This topic will be a blog post in the near future. However, shakers help a child to release their energy, help promote fine motor skills and regulate emotions through the shaking action!