Program Materials
The Calming Ourselves in Stressful Moments™, Second Edition includes:
• The Stress-Reducing Booklet—includes The Calming Skill™
• Calming Cards—a set of beautifully illustrated, creative lessons to lead
calming activities
• Trainer's Guide—with downloadable PowerPoint slides and masters
for handouts.
The Stress-Reducing Booklet highlights research that supports why it is important to manage stress and become calm. Written in a simple, understandable style to appeal to a general audience, it provides clear connections between neuroscience (the "why") and calming activities (the "how").
The booklet presents The Calming Skill™ — a five-step process that adults and children can use to calm themselves. A well-defined progression helps parents and professionals guide children in using the skill steps to manage stress. Even very young children can be coached to notice their stress signals, pause, and make positive choices about how to act.
Calming Cards are a set of 30 beautifully illustrated, sturdy, 5 x 8 cards with lessons to lead calming activities. Designed for young children, these playful and easy creative activities are supported by research as effective stress management methods. Strategies include breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, tension-releasing activities, guided imagination, positive self-talk, and calming songs.
Each lesson presents a calming strategy through the following pattern of steps:
• Introduce the activity: Connect to the child's experience
• Ask the child to: Lead the child through the activity
• Check in: Encourage the child to notice and share feelings
• Share positive words: Develop positive self-talk
• Sing: Review and affirm
A Trainer’s Guide assists leaders in child care, education, health, family services, and mindfulness communities to provide in-house training. Step-by-step lessons facilitate teaching the program to co-workers and families. The guide includes master handouts and PowerPoint® slides to present information on the impact of stress and on the benefits of being calm.
Calming Ourselves in Stressful Moments™ presentations and trainings will be available upon publication of the Third Edition.
We are excited to be developing the Third Edition!
The Second Edition of Calming Ourselves in Stressful Moments™ is sold out. The Third Edition of Calming Ourselves in Stressful Moments™ will be available through Mindfulness Education 4 Life™. This edition updates research on neuroscience and social-emotional learning, integrates mindfulness practices, and expands the section on guiding children to use The Calming Skill™. New Calming Activities are being added to include mindful awareness, yoga, and Brain Gym™.
Please contact us to be notified when the Third Edition materials are ready for purchase, when our facilitator trainings and presentations are available, or if you'd like more information about the program.
Links to find the following information
• Program Overview
» Program Materials
• Program Background
• Program Evaluation and Testimonials
“We think that unless children learn how to calm down when they’re truly upset, nothing else that we’ll teach them about (social-emotional) development or about feelings will make much difference in their social or academic performance.”
—Mark Greenberg, PATHS - Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, PENN State University
"The self-calming experiences children have while their brains are under peak construction build a foundation of neural pathways for self-regulation, sustained attention, resiliency and well being that can last a lifetime."
—Victoria Tennant, Calming Ourselves in Stressful Moments, Third Edition
"Your techniques come in very handy. We try to keep the big cards handy for those meltdown moments and to remind ourselves what other methods we can try with our kids. We love the program!"
—Becky Blake, Special Education Instructional Assistant, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, WA
Sample Calming Card Front and Back
Click to view pdf and download
this Calming Card for FREE!