Get in the Green Zone – A zones of regulation board game.
Get in the green zone is a talk it out zones of regulation board game geared towards social emotional learning in children. I believe social emotional learning is extremely important during early childhood. As a result, I created this as a group or family game that encourages discussion, turn-taking and perspective sharing around emotional regulation and control.
This game is based on the concept and colours of the Zones of Regulation. It aims to open discussion about how children can make better choices to respond appropriately and regulate their emotions.
The zones of regulation are a curriculum widely used to teach children social emotional skills to regulate their emotions and control their responses. It is often used by school counsellors, educators, schoolteachers and occupational therapists. However, it is starting to become widely accepted as a method to use in early childhood, home schooling and in environments.
I have been doing a bit of work relating to the zones of regulation. If you haven’t been following, you might like to read these. Zones of regulation – How big is your problem, Zones of regulation strategies cubes, THINK first Poster, & Empathy and Emotional intelligence Chatterbox.
What you need to Play ‘Get in the Green Zone’.
First, you need…
- This zones of regulation board game. Its best to print it as “scale to fit page” and laminate it with a good quality laminator.
- A dice.
- From the Zones of Regulation board Game, cut the discussion cards out.
- And some counters, or place checkers.
How to Play the zones of regulation board game
The Zones of regulation board game is easy! Reinforce the idea that we are trying to get in the green zone. Like other board games you get the children to take turns rolling the dice. Count along until they stop on a colour, then they need to pick up the associated colour card.
Now, there are a few ways to do this depending on the age of your children. For instance, if you have younger pre-reading children, you might have an adult read them the question and they must answer. Alternatively, they can read it and answer it themselves. Or they can read it and pick another player to answer (best with groups of 3+).
Benefits of the zones of regulation board game
The ability to self-regulate one’s emotional state is extremely important in developing emotional intelligence and successful social skills. Being able to self-regulate your emotional state involves; Self-control, Anger management, Self-management, Resilience, Impulse control and Sensory regulation.
Therefore, the zones of regulation board game consists of related discussion topics and questions divided into four colours. Red is about anger management, self-control and impulse control. Yellow cards are about being able to identify and cope with confusion, over-excitement, anxiety and irritation. Blue topics surround feeling down, upset, tired and low. Green cards are focused on resilience and identifying the positives of being in this zone.
This approach to learning is hollistic. It addresses all emotional states, how these look/feel and different startegies of coping with them. Likewise, all coloured cards also aim to bring in a sense of empathy and friendship. These help children reflect on and discuss such things as: coping strategies, reading body language of others, handling stressful situations, safe adults/people to approach for help, the size of the problem and emotional awareness in general.
I know this will benefit your children and they will love playing this game with you. Social Emotional Learning games like this zones of regulation board game are frequently used by occupational therapists and school counsellors because they understand the value of them.
Similarly, I hope you develop some meaningful moments when playing this game and get to know your child’s social-emotional thinking patterns as you play. Play creates connections.
Thank you for reading.
Happy Adventures
x Renee
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