I Need a Break! Emotional Regulation Strategy

We’ve all been there. Sometimes, the classroom is loud, sometimes things go wrong, and sometimes, the routine gets thrown off, sending us into a downward spiral to an emotional breakdown. Newsflash: teachers aren’t the only ones experiencing emotional struggles; students are, too! Sometimes challenging behaviours arise, and students struggle with emotional regulation, so we must find ways to help them re-ground themselves and calm the world around them.

This year, the Teach Starter team invites you to try a fun emotional regulation strategy called ‘I Need a Break!’. This strategy helps students regulate their emotions by providing them with calming, fun activities to help them regain control of their emotions. These activities only need to be a few minutes long, but they can provide huge benefits for struggling students.

Printable ‘I Need a Break’ Choice Boards for Kids

This printable resource download is the perfect tool to add to your classroom’s calming corner. It includes a pair of printable ‘I Need a Break!’ choice boards for your students to use to regulate their emotions during difficult times. Each choice board features 12 calming activities students can choose from to take a break from difficult situations.

We recommend printing the two choice boards and laminating or placing them in a plastic sleeve. From there, you can hang them in your classroom calming corner or create a ‘Calm Down Kit’ using a plastic tote. When situations arise that require a bit of help, have students select an activity from the choice board to complete quickly and return to business as usual.

Download Your Calming Corner Choice Boards

This resource is available as an easy-to-use Google Slides or Printable PDF Resource file. To get your copy, click the dropdown arrow on the download button to select your preferred file format.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher and Teach Starter Collaborator.

Download even more tools and resources to make your classroom a calming, safe space for feelings big and small!

teaching resource

I Can Calm Down! Worksheet

Help students identify calming skills they can apply to real-world scenarios with this one-page worksheet.

teaching resource

My Calm-Down Toolkit

Help your students calm down when they experience a big emotion with this printable coping skills toolbox template.

teaching resource

Chill Out! Calm Down Corner Poster

Welcome students into your class calm down corner with this cool classroom poster.