How to Create a Calm Down Corner

What is a Calm Down Corner?

A calm down corner is a designated classroom space for regulating emotions. Little learners have some big feelings! A calm down corner gives students a place to work through those feelings, safely. Today, I have tips for setting up and maintaining a calm area in your kindergarten classroom!

What Does a Calm Down Corner Need?

Often, when a child acts out, they are over-stimulated. A calm down corner should be soothing. Gather some soft floor pillows, some sensory tools (bottles, fidgets, etc.), and some visuals for how to breathe or move through strong feelings. When a child comes to your calm down area, they can find what they need to work through their emotions without doing something harmful. What you place in the area should help them do that!

Steps for Creating a Calm Down Corner

Begin by choosing a corner of your room that is away from the main learning areas. This space should not be right next to your whole group teaching area or your small group table.

After choosing the corner, fill the corner with soft materials and sensory tools. Keep the space neat and not over-cluttered. If students have too many choices of what to do while in the area, that can trigger a negative reaction. Place only a few things there at a time.

Include a few visuals that remind students what to do when they are feeling sad or upset. A menu with different movement activities is helpful to give students choice in how to work through their feelings. Or, hang posters with a few options in the corner, so students can choose what to do!

How to Introduce the Corner

I love to introduce the concept of a calming area by reading a book to my students! I create a printable book that explains why we need a calm down area, how you know it’s time to go there, and what to do once you’re there. This provides a great opportunity to introduce each tool in the corner, and model how to use it. During this lesson, you also can engage students in the different calming activities. Get them up and moving around, do some deep breathing, think happy thoughts, and more. Treat this corner like any other area of your classroom. You will want to set expectations early, and model them clearly!

If you are still dealing with some movement restrictions this year, you can also bring the calm down area to your students by placing a calm-down strip on their desks. You can leave these reminders right on their desk to refer to anytime they need to regroup. This lesson would be a good time to talk through using that visual, as well!

Calm Down Visuals

I have a set of visual posters for your calm down corner in my TPT store! This set includes a choice board for calming activities, posters, a think sheet to send home with families, a class book to use in your introduction lesson, and more! Happy teaching!