The Zones of Regulation

What is the Zones of Regulation?

The Zones of Regulation is an internationally renowned approach which helps children to manage difficult emotions,through ‘self-regulation’.

Self-regulation is best described as the best state of alertness for a situation, or the ability to maintain a well-regulated emotional state to cope with everyday stress and to be most available for learning and interacting. From time to time, all of us (including adults) find it hard to manage strong feelings such as worry, anger, fear, or tiredness, and this stops us from getting on with our day effectively.

The Zones of Regulation aims to teach children strategies to help them to identify their emotions and cope with these feelings so they can get back to feeling calm and ready to learn. These coping strategies are called ‘self-regulation’.

We want to teach our children to have good coping and regulation strategies so they can help themselves when they experience anxiety and stress.

Each class will be taught about the zones and will use them in the most appropriate way.

In using the Zones of Regulation as a whole school approach, we are aiming to help our children to:

Recognise when they are in the different Zones and learn how to change or stay in the Zone they are in.
Increase their emotional vocabulary so they can label how they are feeling.
Recognise when other people are in different Zones, thus developing better empathy.
Develop an insight into what might make them move into the different Zones.
Understand that emotions, sensory experiences such as lack of sleep or hunger and their environment might influence which Zone they are in.
Develop problem-solving skills and resilience.
Identify a range of calming and alerting strategies that support them (known as their personal ‘toolkit’).

What are the different Zones?

There are 4 coloured zones to categorise states of alertness, energy level and emotional states:

IMPORTANT NOTE - No zone is ‘bad’ or ‘good’ and we all experience them at one time or another. It is important to avoid reinforcing the idea that red is bad. Often, we see with our children that they will indicate they’re in the green zone, even if they’re not. It is important to validate all emotions, and we should be helping our children to identify these emotions.

Tools and Strategies for Regulation

There are multiple tools and strategies that our children can use to self-regulate – and they will be individual to each child. However, it may be useful to think about the types of activities that will help our children to regulate in each zone. Here are some examples tools for each Zone:

How can you help your child use The Zones of Regulation at home?

Model and identify your own feelings using Zones language in front of your child (e.g. “I’m frustrated. I think I am in the Yellow Zone.”)
Observe your child’s behaviour and try to use strategies when they are showing signs of being in the yellow zone, to catch it before they move to the red zone.
Practice calming strategies when your child is in the green zone. This may include doing some deep breathing/meditation/heavy work and sensory activities throughout their day. They can then use these tools at other times.
Talk about what tool you will use to be in the appropriate Zone (e.g. “I need to take four deep breaths to help get me back to the Green Zone.”)
At times, wonder which Zone your child is in. Or discuss which Zone a character in a film/ book might be in. (e.g. “Peppa looks sleepy. I think she might be in the Blue Zone?”)
Praise and encourage your child when they share which Zone they are in.
Develop your child’s own zones of regulation toolbox.
Have easy access to calming/sensory equipment at home.
Remember to monitor your language: usually less is best (minimal in the red zone).
Put up and reference the Zones visuals and tools in your home to consistently refer to and check in regularly with this. We will be creating different Zones visuals in our classes over the coming weeks. So please ask your child’s class teacher if you would like some Zones of Regulation visuals to use at home.

Tips for helping your child to regulate:

Know yourself and how you react in difficult situations before dealing with your child’s behaviours.
Know your child’s sensory threshold. We all process sensory information differently and it impacts our reactivity to situations.
Know your child’s triggers.
Empathise with your child and validate what they are feeling
Have clear boundaries/routines and always follow through.
Do not deal with an angry, upset child when you are not yet calm yourself.
Discuss strategies for the next time when you are in a similar situation.
Remember to ask your child how their choices made you feel (empathy).
Praise your child for using strategies. Encourage your child to take a sensory break to help regulate their bodies.
Create a ‘calm box’ or ‘sensory box’ full of things which help to keep your child calm and alert.