Transcript
0:00 so some of our kids need a little more help before they go to the safe place because their bodies are so active y'all know those kids yeah so we've got something called the active calming Center is does anybody in here have an active calming Center have you found it to be helpful yes and so this is just something that we've put together to give them uh some activities to do and they start with they start really active
0:28 and move and as they get as we move down the chain it gets more and more calm so it's preparing their body and organizing them to get ready to go to the safe place so they start over here with stomp it out now it's up here but one is on the floor there feet there's feet on it so it shows them where to stand and they can Stomp and stomp and stomp and stomp then step number two is push the wall so
0:53 they're going to take two hands and push as hard as they can in some places I've seen where they've got the mat on the wall and then they have adult hands over it so the adult or beside it so the adult can push with the child you can do that too number three is flex it out and I love this one because what this one does is it has the the um it has the band that's attached to through this
1:18 Loop attached to the mat so they can't pull it off and they can stand there and they can stretch and pull as hard as they want to and it's not going anywhere so it gives them a way to really move those big muscles in their body so that's number three number four is count it out so the these are stars and you do get a set of replacement stars in there in case you lose one but this is
1:43 attached with industrial strength Velcro so when they pull it off it's hard to pull they can't just reach up and grab it it's going to fall off they really have to pull it to pull it off and it's also kind of like a put in task so this is helpful for kids especially that have autism you can pull it and put it in so it gives them a place to put it in and so they do all 10 of these then they
2:06 move to step number five which is Trace the rainbow so they're going to start here and it shows them where to start with their finger and this is textured so they're going to go across which is crossing the midline and they're going left to right so they're going left to right over here when they get to the heart they pull it off and it shows them where to come back they stick it here they trace a cross pull this one off it
2:32 matches here and they go all the way down that cool then we have a work task and what we know about work tasks is that they are very calming especially for children with ASD or autism spectrum disorder and it helps to organize them so this again is a box that has a hole in it you're going to pull these off and put it in pull them off and put it in but do you see how we move from really active and
3:00 now we're coming down and we're calming the body down yeah then step seven is Yoga so there's four oh and this one also has some replacement Hearts you get a whole pack of replacement hearts in there too in case you lose one of these you have there's four yoga poses so we encourage them to do all four and as they do the do one they pull it off and then they put it in and then they'll go
3:24 to the next one pull it off put it in until they've done all four then we come down here and now we're going to take some deep breaths so here we're going to pull this pull this first one off they smell the flower blow the pin wheel and then they put it in the little loop at the bottom and there's the little loops and the velcro that'll hold it into the bottom and now once I've taken some deep breaths I'm ready to go
3:52 to the safe place and this signage is consistent for the for the sa the ones that we have in the safe place so this is just something that you can put in your room uh before they go to the safe place for the ones who are super active and those of you have said that have done this have found it really to be helpful
Summary
- The Active Calming Center includes a series of activities that help children calm down.
- Activities start with high-energy movements like "stomp it out" and "push the wall."
- Each step is designed to engage large muscle groups and promote physical movement.
- The program includes calming tasks such as "count it out" and "trace the rainbow," which help with focus and organization.
- Yoga poses are incorporated to further promote relaxation and mindfulness.
- Deep breathing exercises are used at the end to prepare children for transitioning to a safe place.
- The center is beneficial for children with autism, aiding in self-regulation and emotional control.
- Consistent signage is provided to reinforce the calming process.