The theme for June in our Social Skills program is Supporting Emotions. We will work together with the child to come up with a set of tools they feel would be effective in calming their emotions.
Underlying Principle:
Being aware of one’s emotions and being able to regulate or control them is essential for social success. If we are unable to manage our emotional state, we will have minimal success in social situations.
Targeted Skills: Coping Skills, Identifying emotions, Perspective Taking
Examples of Activities:
Mood Meter
We will have our client check in at the start of session or throughout with a visual scale or meter. Asking the client to indicate how he/she is feeling. Encourage him/her to express their mood and explain why he/she is feeling that way. If the feeling is scared or upset about something, we assist by talking about why he/she is feeling that way and come up with a tool or way to make him/her feel better ( e.g. taking a walk, thinking about something that makes him/her happy). Checking in like this throughout the day is a great way to regulate emotions.
What is My Perspective?
We will begin with some simple thought and emotion cards using index cards and a marker. Write down one word or phrase on each card.
Think cards might include:
That’s nice! That was silly! I like that! I hate that! That’s good! Not Cool.
Emotion cards might include:
Happy, sad, scared, mad, Okay, frustrated, etc.
We can then match the thinking and the emotion words to the child’s social level. This activity allows the specialist to use the cards with their client when together in different situations to explore thoughts and feelings-same or different perspective.
These are just a few activities we will be exploring during the month of June. We will be celebrating the June Solstice on the 20th which is the official start of summer and the longest day of the year. Enjoy the new season!
