Do you have students in your early childhood classroom who need a little extra help managing their big emotions? Creating a cozy corner in your classroom can help your kids learn how to manage their intense emotions. A cozy learning center offers a safe space for calming young children when they feel angry, sad, nervous, or have any strong emotions.
Where to Put Your Cozy Corner
There are so many benefits of creating a designated space in the classroom for children to practice social-emotional regulation. The first thing you should know about creating a safe space is that you don’t have to locate this area in a corner. It doesn’t matter where you put it or what you call it – safe space, calming corner, calm down corner, safe place.
It’s important to have a special area in your classroom that teaches children how to manage their emotions safely. Ideally, you should locate your calming space away from the loudest areas of your classroom. Easier said than done, am I right?
A Safe Space is Not Time Out
Another important thing you should know about the cozy corner is that it is not for time-out. It’s not a place you send young children who are angry or upset to isolate them from others.
The purpose of the safe space is to provide young children with opportunities and tools to regain control of their emotions. But this isn’t a “set it and forget it” area where you put some calming activities and tools out and expect children to know what to do with them.
Create a safe space in your classroom where students can go to practice solving problems and managing their emotions. Learning how to solve problems and self-regulate their emotions are especially important social-emotional skills. Your students need to learn these skills now, so they can be successful in school and life. Without these skills they will struggle with both.
Your calming area should not be for punishment. Instead, it should help teach and support the social and emotional needs of students in your classroom.
What to Put in Your Calm Down Corner
You now know what a cozy corner is and what it is not. Let’s look at the items you can add to your calm down corner.
Some items will make your space cozy and inviting, while others are tools for developing important self-regulation skills. Select the ones that you feel would work best for your classroom and students. Having too much in your calm down corner can lead to more problems, so choose wisely.
Young children may cry and handle materials roughly when they struggle to control their emotions. Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind that the items you place in this area will need to be durable and clean easily.
How to Introduce Your Calming Corner
Teaching children the classroom routines can help them feel safe and secure. Establishing your classroom routines is one of the crucial first things you do at the beginning of each school year. Without classroom routines in place, it will be difficult for any teaching and learning to take place.
Introduce your calming corner just like you would any other learning center in your classroom. You can start by reading a book about book about big emotions to your class during your whole group time.
Next, show your students the tools that are in the center and model how to use them. Then, pass one of the items from the center around and invite your kids to touch and feel them.
Finally, move on to introducing the procedures for using this space. Discuss with your students the appropriate times to visit the center. Explain the activities they can engage in while there.
Demonstrate how to use the materials provided. Instruct them on the proper procedures for cleaning up after themselves. This doesn’t have to be done all in one day, you can spread this process out over several days.
Calming Areas for Small Spaces
If you don’t have space for a full blown calming area in your classroom, no problem! You can put some books and calming tools in a tub, bin, or basket and place it on a shelf anywhere.
Safe Center
I get many questions about the safe center or cozy corner, so I’ve provided answers to some of the most common ones below.
Q: What if my kids just want to play in the cozy corner?
It depends on what you mean by play. If your students choose to go there during center time then that’s fine. Children learn through play; if they’re using the materials as they are intended to be used, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
Q: What if my kids don’t want to go to the calming corner?
Young children will resist doing anything they’re being told to do when they’re having difficulty managing their emotions. Instead, invite them to go there by using carefully worded statements and questions. For example, in a very calm and steady voice say, “I see the corners of your mouth are turned down and your eyebrows are close together. Would you like to go to the calming corner and squeeze one of the stress balls?”
In the example above, you first described what you saw on the student’s face verbally. Then you gave the child a choice to go to the center and an example of what he might do there. But there’s no guarantee the child will want to go to the calming corner. If this is the case, you’ll want to follow up with something like, “You know what I do when I’m feeling (name the emotion)? I like to take deep breaths like this (demonstrate).” This is a way to remind students about the different techniques they can use to manage their feelings.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cozy Corner
Q: How many kids do you allow in the safe space at one time?
Just like with any new center, it will be extremely popular after it is first introduced to your students. During this introductory phase, you may notice more students visiting this center than you would like. Just know that it is normal and will gradually decrease over time.
In the beginning, you may want to set limits on the number of students visiting this center until they become more familiar with it and the materials available there. Remember, they are practicing self-regulation when they go to this center, which is a good thing!
Q: What if I have a student who is having a full-blown meltdown with extreme behaviors like throwing and hitting? How can I get them to go to the safe space?
When a young child has a tantrum, safety is the top priority. It is important to keep the child safe. We also need to ensure the safety of other students in the classroom. Don’t worry about the safe space at that point, it’s designed to be a teaching tool, and children can’t learn or be taught while they’re having a meltdown.
Move other students away from the child in crisis. Remove any objects that could be used to harm you or the child in a crisis.
Instead, you teach, model, and practice how to use the calming strategies and the safe center with your students during your large or small group time, not during a meltdown. Stay calm and speak softly during challenging times to help the child manage strong emotions. It is important to keep a steady voice to avoid making things worse.
Just remember that building self-regulation skills is difficult for many young children and it won’t happen overnight. Whatever you do, don’t give up – you’ve got this!
