Regulation and Social

Development in the Early Years

Presented by: Kari Lotzien, Occupational Therapist

To the Stars Occupational Therapy & Wellness Centre
www.tothestars.ca
p. 403.786.0006
Types of Play in Preschool (Feldman, 2007)
Functional - repetitive play with toys - 3 years
Constructive - building - typical in 3 year olds
Onlooker - watch and appear to want to play - occurs at
age 2.5
Parallel - play with same toys beside others - occurs at
age 2-3 years
Associative - two or more kiddos interact, sharing and
borrowing but do not do the same thing, no shared goal
or play plan - typical in 3 year olds
Cooperative - play together, take turns, play games -
typical in 4 year olds
Attachment and Emotional Engagement
Attachment - the social and
emotional connection

Self-Regulation - stress response

system

Affiliation - Sense of belonging

to the group

Attunement- Awareness of
differences

Tolerance - Ability to accept

difference in others

Respect - Ability to respect

oneself and others
Self regulation is the gateway for self control.
Stuart Shanker
The more energy a child is using to control themselves the less energy
they have to be available for interaction and learning.

Through increased awareness and tuning in to our kids, we can support

their ability to self regulate so that they are more available for other types of
learning (social and academic).

This can be learned.

If a child has more difficulty being able to filter distraction or needs more
input to arouse their brains, it is not a weakness of their character. They
simply require different supports.
Development of Regulation

Social
competence

Self Regulation

Coregulation
Sensory Processing in a Nutshell

Ability to attend+ Ability to filter = Sensory Processing

Under arousal low

registration, lethargic

Over arousal sensitive,

anxious, explosive, fidgetty,
constantly engaged, on the
move
What the program IS

Can help parents, teachers and adults

tune in to childrens responses so that
we can provide appropriate strategies
Gives kids a visual representation of
their emotions which are quite abstract
Helps kids identify how they are feeling
Teaches kids about their bodys physical
response to emotions
Helping kids to learn to calm or energize
their bodies
What the program IS NOT

It is not a behavior modification program. We

dont tell kids what zone they need to be in and
reward them. This often leads to kids falsely
identifying how they are feeling
This is not just a program for kids who are
having a hard time managing their behavior. It
can be very valuable for everyonewe adapt
the expectations based on the childs age and
stage of development
Relaxed Flexible Key Unsafe
Peaceful Social thinking zone for Survival brain
Zen strategies The 3 Fs
How to calm
Get physically low. Be at or just below
the childs eye level
Slow your rate of speech
Lower your tone of voice
Use less language (or none at all)
You might use physical touch. Make it
visible and predictable. Use firm rather
than light pressure.
 The Power of Coregulation

Baby Hears Dad

How to alert

Be animated
Be unpredictable
Change your tone of voice
Cool the body
Random movements wrestling, tag
Still Face Experiment
Coregulation Tools
Person Therapeutic Use of Self is your most effective
tool
Establish relationships
Predictable routines
Consistent expectations between adults
Self care (for YOU!)
Observe patterns of behaviour
Adult reflects on the zones and link to
environment/situation
At this stage, the adult introduces and is primarily
responsible for implementing strategies
Model, model, model!
Moving towards Self Regulation

Knows the daily routine and expectations

Able to parallel play/work alongside regulated peers
May find it challenging during transitions or new
situations
Able to pretend play or are starting to take
perspective
Starting to use emotional vocabulary to engage with
both adults and peers
May still need significant adult support to assist with
perspective taking, regulation and settling
disagreements
Self Regulation Goals
Build and expand emotional vocabulary
Increased awareness of others empathy, desire to be a
part of the group
Can identify the expected behaviour in a situation (may
need prompting or visual supports)
Able to describe their own zone and corresponding
emotion once language has been taught
May be able to choose strategies or tools that assist with
regulation in some settings.
Starting to learn that other people have thoughts and
feelings too
May still require more support in new situations or when
peers are dysregulated
Teach before you Test
Expose children to Zones language
EVERYWHERE. When they can see the
zones in their family members, friends, pets
and in characters this is when they are
ready for SELF AWARENESS.
We then want to teach
I see you are (observable signs yawning,
clenched fists, breathing, flushed,
fidgetty).
I think you are in the (color) zone.
You need MORE/LESS energy in your body.
You could try (2-3 strategies) to help.
What would you like to try first?
 We Thinkers: Thinking Thoughts and
Feeling Feelings

We all have thoughts and feelings.

Things we like to think about.
When things happen that we expect, we tend to have good feelings. This helps us
to stay regulated.
When unexpected things happen we might have different feelings (silly,
surprised, nervous). This might change our zone.
How parents can support
Talk about things you like to think about
Expand childrens knowledge of emotional language (books, videos, natural situations)
The Group Plan
When everyone is thinking about the same things, we can follow the group
plan.
If someone is following their own plan, others might have thoughts about
them.
They dont want to play with me.
People might get frustrated.
Parent link:
Talk about your group plan at home going to get groceries, going to a restaurant
You might link this to zones and talk about what is expected when following the
group plan
You might talk about what tools you could use so that it is easier to follow the
group plan (coloring while waiting at a restaurant, thinking about what you like to
eat)
 Thinking with Your Eyes
We can use our vision to observe others and
make smart guesses about what others are
thinking and feeling and to know what the
group plan is.
This is a critical social skill as we age as it tells us about what the
expected behavior is for a situation.
Parent Link
Play imitation games using only vision and no talking!
Encourage kids to think with their eyes to see what the group plan
might be. This can help them to join in a play situation at the park or
to know what to do on a playdate.
Thinking with your eyes also helps us to see how someone might be
feeling.
Body in the Group
When our body is the in the group, it shows others that we are
thinking about the group plan.
We want to be about an arms length away from others to have
our body in the group.
Parent link connect to family outings, errands, play games
such as freeze tag or play silly walking games to practice
staying in the group without having to hold hands!
Whole Body Listening
When we listen with our whole bodies it shows we care about the other person.
This builds emotional capacity because it teaches kids to tune into non verbal cues as
well.
Note: we need to model whole body listening too!
Questions?
Contact us at www.tothestars.ca

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