Here’s a practical tool and script to support your child’s self-regulation and emotional awareness – it provides a shared language to signal your child’s energy level, and helps you and your child anticipate and preempt emotional meltdowns…say hello to The Body Engine Checker System.
Do
Core Marbles
- Talk to your child about their internal energy level. Animate it.
- Use our easy Body Engine Checker printable.
- Use the engine terminology whenever you can – be consistent.
- Make a Helper Green Basket or cozy corner with your child to help get them back to ‘green’.
- Encourage your child to visit their Helper Green Basket when the moment fits.
The Body Engine Checker System*
- Talk to your child about their internal energy level. Animate it.
- Explain parts of the bodies (related to the senses) that we see on the outside and those that we do not see inside.
- Describe having something like “a little car inside called energy”. For example:
- RED – “Sometimes our cars are speeding along so fast that the driver isn’t seeing what is around him/her. When we’re this speedy, we need to stop and cool the engine down.”
- YELLOW – “There is a little place in-between just right and too fast – a place we call the ‘Uh Oh Warning Zone’. This is when the driver can feel his engine getting too hot and knows to take a quick break before going further.”
- GREEN – “Sometimes the car is moving at just the right speed – the driver can see everything around him and is feeling good, safe and ready to share a ride.”
- BLUE – “Other times, our cars are out of gas and we need to stop to re-fuel to get our engines running again.”
- Use our easy printable.
- Describe to your child what each color physically feels like. Use words they can use to communicate with you. For example:
- RED – “I am MAD. My heart is beating fast. My body is moving too quickly. I want to yell. I feel hot.”
- YELLOW – “My voice is getting loud. My hands and feet can’t stop moving.”
- GREEN – “Ready to learn, ready to play.”
- BLUE – “I feel tired. I don’t feel like moving my body. I don’t want to play. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
- Describe to your child what each color physically feels like. Use words they can use to communicate with you. For example:
- Use the engine terminology whenever you can – be consistent. For example:
- RED – “You’re yelling very loudly; you’re angry. Your engine is in the red. Let’s take a break.”
- YELLOW – “I can see that you’re getting frustrated; your block structure is not the way you imagined it. You’re in the yellow. Let’s make a choice: You can stay frustrated and then be upset, or you can take a breath and try it a different way.”
- GREEN – “Green feels good! Green is comfortable – ready to learn and play!”
- BLUE – “You’re moving slow and sleepy. Your engine is in the blue. Let’s make it just right with a green game!”
Remember – The Body Engine Checker System* is a tool to help children identify their internal state and understand how it is affecting their reactions to the environment and their emotional state. An easy pitfall is for adults to blur the lines between physical activity and emotions. For example, it is not meant to be a tool to tell children to stop moving quickly or roughhousing.
Here’s how to get your child back to ‘green’ – a Helper Green Basket can work wonders. Also, consider teaching your child independent calming strategies as a preventative technique to head off a meltdown.
Materials Needed
*Adapted from Kuypers, Leah M. (2011). The Zones of Regulation®