Self-control activities for kids: Easy ways to teach children how to control their emotions and behaviors

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Some of the most frustrating moments in my interactions with my son are those moments when his behavior is completely out of control. No matter what I say or do, nothing seems to really get to him and help him calm down.

I can clearly see that he is struggling to manage his emotions, but his chaotic behavior makes it very hard for me to connect with him. The more agitated or overwhelmed he becomes, the more difficult it is for me to manage the situation.

So I decided to do my best to prevent them from happening and focus more on teaching my son how to control his emotions and reactions.

At his age, he is still learning about self-control and emotional regulation, so it’s impossible to completely avoid these challenging moments. But I noticed that teaching him how to get better at controlling his impulses and managing his emotions had a great positive impact on his behavior.

Self-regulation is one of the most precious skills that we can teach our kids because it impacts their lives in so many ways!

Their ability to regulate their emotions and behaviors plays a huge role in their relationships with other people, their success in school (and later in life), and most of all, their ability to overcome challenging moments in their lives.

It takes time and guidance for kids to develop their self-regulation skills, so they need plenty of opportunities to practice these skills and learn new strategies they can use.

This is why I’ve gathered here a list of self-control activities for kids that worked great for us, and I hope they will inspire you to try them with your children as well!

1. The best tool for teaching kids to regulate their emotions

When kids are overwhelmed by emotions and their behavior is completely out of control, they are not emotionally available to listen to our guidance. So no parenting methods will really work until they manage to calm down and reconnect with us.

The best way to help them learn to regulate their emotions is by creating a calm down corner (or toolkit) for them to use anytime they need.

The way the toolkit looks like depends on the child’s age and needs.

We created a time-in space in our home, and it made a big difference in helping my son express his feelings and improve his behavior.

I love using it with my son, and it made tantrums and angry moments a lot easier to handle!

2. Self-control activities for kids: Practice self-control with easy games

Using a playful approach is one of the most effective ways to teach kids new skills.

Here are some easy games that you can play at home with your kids to help them develop their self-control:

red light, green light
freeze tag
statues
Simon says
freeze dance
musical chairs.

Also, you can use family games like Jenga, Rhino Hero, Operation, or Suspend to encourage kids to develop their self-regulation skills and teach them how to take turns, follow rules, handle frustration, and control impulses.

3. Use visual reminders at home to help kids manage their emotions better

When emotions run high, kids can’t really control their behavior because the emotional part of their brain takes control over the rational part.

To prevent things from getting out of control, you can use visual reminders to help kids keep track of their emotions. When you observe that your child is starting to struggle with controlling their feelings or behaviors, invite them to an “emotion check-in” using a visual reminder.

Here are 2 ways to do this:

Option #1: Use a picture of a traffic light as a visual reminder and display it in your home

Invite the child to tell you if their emotions are in the green zone (feeling calm and happy), yellow zone (feeling a little bit angry or upset), or in the red zone (their behavior is out of control and they feel overwhelmed by anger or other strong feelings).

If the emotions are in the yellow zone, the child needs to “slow down” and find ways to shift their state to a calmer one (with your help, if necessary).

If the emotions are in the red zone ,the child needs to “push the brake pedal” and focus on managing their strong feelings using one of the self-regulation strategies they learned (with your help until they learn to use them on their own).

Option #2: Use a picture of a superhero to remind kids they have the power to control their emotions

When emotions run high, remind your child that they can be a self-control superhero and regain control of their emotions.

Offer them your support by suggesting different calming strategies and encouraging them to put them into practice.

4. Use brain breaks to help kids calm down

Sometimes the daily schedule can become overwhelming for kids, especially at an early age. When they get tired or overstimulated, their behavior reflects this in a negative way.

This is why offering them opportunities to relax and regain control of their behavior using physical activities is very helpful for their emotional development and mental health.

One easy way to do this is to implement “brain breaks” or “movement breaks” in your home.

Brain breaks are a great tool that many teachers use in the classroom, but using them at home brings many benefits as well.

The easiest way to implement this idea is to create a list of brain break activities for your child and use it anytime you need it.

5. Discuss different scenarios that teach kids self-control and improve their self-regulation skills

One effective way to teach kids how to control their emotions and behaviors is by offering them easy strategies to use when facing challenging moments.

You can do this by reading books that focus on self-regulation (see the list below) or using role-play to encourage kids to develop their emotional skills.

Talking about emotions with your kids is a great opportunity to encourage them to open up about their struggles and to find together possible solutions for them to use when they face challenges.

Books that teach kids about self-control and handling emotions

Here is a list of books that are great for approaching topics like self-control and emotional regulation:

1 – What Were You Thinking?: Learning to Control Your Impulses (for older kids)

2 – What Should Danny Do?

3 – The Way I Feel

4 – My Mouth Is A Volcano

5 – Listening to My Body: A guide to helping kids understand the connection between their sensations and feelings.

You can find more books that help kids develop their emotional intelligence on this list of 30 books about emotions for kids.

I hope that these tips and ideas will make it easier for you to teach your little ones about self-control in a playful way!