Zones of Regulation To Explain To Your Children

If your child is able to understand these zones it can help them communicate and express how they are feeling to you ‘red, yellow, green or blue’.

The Red Zone describes extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions, including anger, rage, intense sadness, and terror. These are the emotions associated with a fight-or-flight response.

The Yellow Zone describes elevated emotions and heightened emotional states but excludes the intense emotional experiences of the Red Zone. These emotions can be negative or positive, including anxiety, stress, nervousness, excitement, and restlessness. (If it would be easier to just include these in the red zone then do this)

In the Green Zone, a person feels calm and alert. Common emotional states include happiness, contentment, calmness, and readiness to learn.

The Blue Zone describes low states of alertness. Typical emotions experienced in this state include sadness, boredom, and exhaustion. A person may feel tired or depressed while in this zone.

When they begin to understand how they feel, you can start to speak to them about what calms their bodies if they feel yellow or red. Or what alerts their bodies if they are feeling blue in order to return back to green as smoothly as possible. For instance this may include putting a weighted blanket over them, going into a dark space ie under the duvet, rubbing their back, doing deep breathing or squeezing a squishy ball.