Rest and Regulate

This should be a time to rest and renew but most of us are exhausted, COVID has amplified this fatigue. The children have been on an escalator of excitement and anticipation, joys and disappointments.

Can we enhance calm in our settings to relish the quiet and cosiness of the winter months? Imagine yourself through the sensory day of your most sensitive children.

Can we reduce movement? Soften the noise in our spaces? Are quiet spaces really that quiet?

Can we slow our talking and soften our tone any more than we do already?

On a sound walk, an imbalanced nervous system can be spotted in our struggling listeners.

Listening is a nervous system experience, what we hear can calm or arouse, create safety or danger. Our voices and the breath in singing and playing wind instruments is not only very regulating for our children, it can help us feel calm.

Find out more about helping children self-regulate through sound and listening experiences:  Early Years Mental Health training – a video, useful links and free resources are here.