Coping Skills Brochure

In this resource, your students will have a take home brochure to help them think of and remember ways to calm down and cope with big feelings. There are 6 sections of this resource. The first section is the cover page with has a mindfulness coloring activity that students can customize to their liking. This in and of itself is a coping skill! Next you have a place where students can use their name and use the acronym of their name to help them come up and customize how they would like to calm down when they have a big feeling. For example, if the name is Jenny, they can write; J is for make a joke or listen to a joke, E is for Exercise, N is for Try something New, the other N is for Notice objects in the room (such as all the things that are green, blue, etc.) and the Y is for do yoga poses. On of the pages is the directions and the other page (flap) is for them to write their own name and customize their strategies. One of the flaps give them the acronym of CALMS which stands for C-Calming Exercises, A-Activities that distract (reading, playing a game or sport, puzzle, word search, etc) L-Look around the room (Look for all the blue objects, Look for things you see that begin with the letter A, etc.) and then M-Mindfulness practices. These are things that really bring students into the present moment. Look for 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel, 2 things you smell, 1 thing you taste, etc. The S is for Sensations. Do things that make you feel different sensations that are pleasant such as place an ice pack on your forehead, go into a hot shower or hot tub, etc. Taste something sweet or spicy. These are all the things that can help someone cope with a strong feeling.