Full Course Description

---

Anxiety, ADHD and Anger in the Classroom: 60 Activity-Based Coping Skills to Effectively Manage “Big Feelings”

Program Information

Objectives

1. Develop strategies for teaching kids coping skills that positively impact academic performance and their ability to maintain relationships.
2. Analyze how the nervous system response of “fight, flight or freeze” is connected to stress and communicate how coping skills can be used to shift kids to a more tranquil “rest and digest” response.
3. Execute a classroom routine that allows for breaks to benefit both hypo-arousal and hyper-arousal in kids with ADHD.
4. Utilize mindfulness and grounding techniques that can be used to help children manage their symptoms of anxiety.
5. Employ methods to determine the source of stress and create a plan to eliminate shutting down or acting out.
6. Utilize specific movement-based strategies that can effectively intervene in kids’ anger responses.

Outline

Coping Skills Overview

• The autonomic nervous system & coping skills
• 4 types of coping skills: calming, physical, distraction and processing
• Coping skills checklist to identify current skills and strengths
• Preventative interventions

Skills and Strategies: Interactive Exercises
Deep Breathing – Beyond “Taking a Deep Breath”

• Props – pinwheels, bubbles, stuffed animals, Hoberman sphere
• Words – to encourage deep breaths, “smell the soup, cool down the soup”, etc.
• Shapes – star breathing, lazy 8 breathing, square breathing, triangle breathing
• Your Body – your hand, whole body movement

Coping Skills for Anxiety/Stress

• Mindfulness Practice – one mindful minute, spiderman mindfulness, audio and visual mindfulness scripts, Grounding Techniques – 54321 grounding, alphabet grounding
• Identifying and taming anxiety – take-home worksheets to help identify anxiety, including a thermometer for anxiety worksheet, “sources of stress” worksheet

Coping Skills for ADHD

• Plan movement and sensory breaks
• The importance of play, hobbies, and having fun: calming jars, fidgets, sand trays, zen gardens
• Coping skills for stress
• Manage stressful times – the importance of play, hobbies, and having fun
• Sensory Ideas – calming jars, fidgets, sand trays, zen gardens

Coping Skills for Anger/Frustration

• Small physical movement activities to manage frustration – squeezing play dough, scribble drawing, bubble wrap, ripping paper
• Big physical movement activities to manage anger – jumping jacks, running, wall push ups, obstacle courses, yoga
• Processing anger – comic strip processing, what I can control vs. what I can’t control worksheet

Practical Implementation Ideas for the Classroom or Office

• Make a coping skills toolkit for your room – fidgets, coping skills cue cards and other visuals to help, include distraction coping skills like word searches, hidden pictures. etc
• Creating a calm down spot/calm down room – identify a good spot, create an area that is peaceful and relaxing, include the coping skills toolkit
• Practice your own coping skills – mindfulness and self-care worksheet

 

Copyright : 04/20/2018

---

Coping Skills for Kids and Tweens: How to Manage Big Feelings in an Uncertain Time and Beyond

Program Information

Objectives

1. Determine how the pandemic has impacted students socially and emotionally and integrate strategies for better focus.
2. Apply coping skills for kids to try either at home or school to implement safe ways to express anger.
3. Develop students' relaxation and coping skills to manage anxiety.

Outline

Anxiety, Stress, and Anger in a Pandemic

• Explore how the pandemic has impacted the social and emotional lives of our children
• Why Social Emotional Learning is important now more than ever
• How our needs and windows of tolerance have changed

Coping Skills for Anxiety

• Deep Breathing Ideas
• Mindfulness Strategies
• Relaxation/Calming Activities for Kids 

Coping Skills for Stress

• Scheduling to reduce stress
• The importance of play and downtime
• Using your senses to manage stress

Coping Skills for Anger/Frustration

• Understand that anger is often just the tip of the iceberg - a lot of feelings hide beneath 
• Safe ways to express anger with movement
• Setting up individual calm down kits for kids

Copyright : 08/05/2020

---