How to deal with difficult emotions!

During the workshops for parents that SOS-Parent offers, we learn how to deal with the emotions of children from 0 to 6 years old.

Among the few keys that we address is the “calm-down bottle”.

This bottle must be beautiful, attractive and above all arouse the child’s curiosity so that he/she will become calmer as he/she contemplates and stirs the bottle.

“The toddler learns that we do not prevent an emotion from existing, we go through it and learn to express it in an acceptable way”

Nadège Larcher Psychologist and co-founder of the parents’ workshop

This bottle can be created with the child according to his age, it is then a first occasion to approach the subject of the emotions with him and thus to inform him of the way to use it.

Create your own calm-down bottle

You need:

-> an empty plastic bottle, clean and transparent, rather rigid and as smooth as possible (like an empty cosmetic bottle, with a safety cap is even better!)
-> glitter, sequins, various small table confetti
-> a bottle of kerosene oil (in pharmacy)

The recipe : 

Rinse and dry the bottle well, then pour in the kerosene oil, leaving a centimeter or two empty.
Add the sequins, sequins and other beads of your choice.
Close the bottle tightly (even glue the cap)
Shake the bottle gently up and down to disperse the sequins
Let the magic happen!
The parents or professionals who have participated in the SOS-Parent workshops testify that they had a great time making the bottles with the children, and also say how the child has appropriated this object.

The children have access to this bottle and can take it whenever an emotion is too strong, such as anger for example.

“The most beautiful and useful thing we can teach our children is to tame their strong emotions.”

This article was made possible by the article in the October 2015 POPI Supplement #350.