Zones of Regulation
What are the Zones of Regulation?
Learning to identify and regulate emotions is a big job, especially for young children! The children Fishwick Primary School are learning about the ‘Zones of Regulation’ which is a model to help children identify their feelings, identify which ‘zone’ they belong to and allow them to regulate their own feelings and behaviours.
We describe these zones using the colours blue, green, yellow and red in EYFS and as ‘Running Slow,’ ‘Good to Go’, ‘Caution’ and ‘STOP’ zones in KS1 and 2.
We teach our children how to read their body’s signals, detect triggers, read social context, and consider how their behaviours impact those around them. We teach our children that there are no bad zones to be in and that it is ok to be in any one zone.
Below is a link to a video to help you understand the different zones.
The Zones
Important things to remember:
- There is no ‘bad’ zone.
- Everyone experiences all of the zones at different times and different circumstances.
- We can’t change the way children feel but we can help them manage their feelings/states and behaviours and validate their feelings, ‘I can see you are angry and I understand, but it is not okay to …’
- You can be in more than one zone at a time
- If a child is confident using words to describe their emotions, they might not always need to relate this to a zone. However, making links to the zones will help them choose the right strategy to manage their feelings.
- If a child is in the red zone, you must limit the verbal – this is not a teachable moment! Instead, discuss the use of tools when the child is calm and well regulated and plan for if/when it happens again.
Every class has a visual display of the ‘Zones of Regulation’ that is used daily and referred to during PHSE lessons and used as points for discussion. The teachers also use this model to explain how they are feeling and which strategies they can use to help them during challenging times.
Talk through the zones with your child. Ask them how they would feel in each zone?
- Discuss what emotion they feel in each zone e.g. in the yellow zone I may feel worried
- How they physically feel e.g. in yellow zone I may have butterflies in my stomach or have sweaty palms (if feeling anxious).
- Then discuss what might they be doing- what be their actions e.g. in yellow zone would they be pacing around, snapping at others, fidgeting?
- Then discuss how to help them move into the Green zone e.g. if I was in the Yellow zone and feeling anxious I might find competing some yoga stretches/ breathing techniques helps me get back into the green zone.
- Create a list of strategies that work for the child- Remind the child that we are all unique and the strategies that work for one person might not help them so they need to think about what would help them.
Remind them that we will experience all zones and there are no good or bad zones- however our success in regulating our emotions depends on us recognising our emotion, understanding it and putting a support strategy in place.
Stories to read at home
The Color Monster – Read Aloud by Mr. Joshua Brooks – YouTube
The Dot by Peter H Reynolds : a wonderful story about art and creativity for kids – YouTube
Further links
For further support with Mental Health and Wellbeing see the links below.
Find help – for parents (youngminds.org.uk)
Information for parents | Mind, the mental health charity – help for mental health problems