Children are often faced with big feelings or tough emotions which they may need support to navigate. As Occupational Therapists, we consider the Window of Tolerance and we can use this concept to understand a child’s state of arousal and how to support their self-regulation.
The Window of Tolerance was originally introduced by Dr Dan Siegel to identify the optimal zone of ‘arousal’ for a person to function in everyday life and to understand how a person’s zone of arousal can be impacted by stressors in life. For children, their window of tolerance is a zone in which they are able to manage their regulation and participate in everyday activities. They can experience hyperarousal or hypoarousal and this can present as dysregulation.
Hyper-arousal is a heightened state of activation or energy. In this state, a child may look like they are moving quickly, have a surge of energy, panicked, out of control or impulsive. Hypoarousal is a state of shutdown. A child may look like they are moving slowly, lethargic, zoned out or sluggish.
It is our goal to support children to use regulation strategies to help them to bounce back into their optimal window of arousal.
When children are in a state of hyperarousal, we need to focus on regulation strategies that are going to ‘down-regulate’ them back down into the optimal zone of arousal. Conversely, when children are in a state of hypoarousal, we need to focus on regulation strategies that are going to ‘up-regulate’ them back up into the optimal zone of arousal.
As parents, it is hard to know what to do to support your child to manage their regulation. Here we share some regulation strategies you can do with objects you likely already have around the house!
Blanket Burrito
Lay down a blanket on the floor. Get your child to lie along one edge of the blanket. Ask your child to roll across the blanket while you wrap the blanket around them like a burrito! The blanket offers proprioceptive input by creating pressure into our muscles and joints which can be calming for the nervous system. This activity is a great ‘down-regulation’ strategy for hyperarousal.
Cushion Sandwich
Ask your child to lay down onto a cushion. Place another cushion on top of them, being mindful of their head. To increase the proprioceptive input you can provide some gentle squishes by pressing down onto the top cushion. As this is another proprioceptive input activity, it is a great ‘down-regulation’ strategy for hyperarousal.
Towel Tug of War
Twist a towel tightly so that it forms a rope. With you holding one end of the rope and your child holding the other, have a competition to pull each other like tug of war. By providing proprioceptive input, this is a great ‘down-regulation’ strategy for hyperarousal. The increased movement and fast pace of this activity can also provide ‘up regulation’ for children who are hypo-aroused.
Mindful Looking
This Mindful Looking Video is a great regulation strategy using our visual system to bring calmness and attention. This activity can be used as a ‘down-regulation’ strategy for hyperarousal as well as an ‘up-regulation’ strategy for hypoarousal particularly when children are zoned out or look like they are day dreaming.
Bubble Monster
This is a great activity to encourage deep breathing in an engaging way! Fill a bowl up to half way with water. Add a squeeze of soap or dishwashing liquid. Give your child a straw and ask them to blow big puffs of air into the water. Watch as the bubbles grow and grow into a big ‘monster’. Remember to reinforce to your child to blow into the straw and not try to suck any air up! Deep breathing is a great strategy for ‘down-regulation’ for hyperarousal!
Glitter Jar
Using a clear, plastic bottle, fill it ¾ with water. Add some food colouring and glitter and then fill the rest of the bottle with clear glue. Screw the lid on and sticky tape the lid so that it cant be taken off! Shake the bottle and watch as the glitter floats back down to the bottom. This is another great ‘down regulation’ strategy for hyperarousal using our visual system.
Movement Breaks
Movement breaks are a fun way to provide fast movement to the body as well as proprioceptive input to the joints. A great example of movement breaks on Youtube is PE with Mr G – https://www.youtube.com/c/PEwithMrG. These activities are quick and simple to do at home and can be a great ‘down regulation’ strategy for hyperarousal as well as an ‘up regulation strategy’ for hypoarousal.
Check out these blogs if you would like to know more about sensory processing and proprioception to understand how it can impact a child’s level of arousal. https://occupationaltherapy.com.au/proprioception/
