Panic Box

One of the things that we have the most problem with in this house is anger management and stress control.  Mariposa tends to be very dramatic and impulsive, easily driven to panic.  She doesn't seem to be very aware of her emotions or how to react to them.  This makes very small situations become blown out of proportion very easily because she's like a freight train barrelling down the tracks with no brakes.  She has no idea how to calm herself once she's upset and she has no idea how to not get upset.

I've been doing some research (okay, okay - pinterest and FB can be considered research if used properly) and decided to come up with a stress box.  Two, actually.  One for school and one for home.

We worked on this together all weekend and went through every item tonight and talked about why it's there.  I also reinforced the idea that this is NOT a play box, it is NOT a box to get her out of doing something unwanted, and it's NOT a box to get her out of trouble.  It's a box to help her recognize her emotions and keep her from getting INTO trouble.

The box:  I think it was like $2.50 at Target.  We have a green one for home.

We made these ourselves and they are, by far, Mariposa's favorites.  I even like them.  Very simple.  Playdoh in balloons.  Sharpie on some faces.  I added the words on the back because M is such a reader.

M loves fleece.  It is her comfort, her companion, her "zone" - it soothes her tactile seeking.  Since she can't carry her fleece lovey around with her, I made her a miniature blanket - she picked out the fabric.

A squeezie/bouncy/squishy ball and her Klix fidget bracelet.

A (very outdated) picture of us.

A notebook and post-it notes, mini gel pens (thanks Target $1 aisle).
I asked her, everytime she needed to use the stress box, to please write me a note telling me her feelings and then put that note in her lunchbox so I could help her at home.

Some flashcards to help her write her notes.  They say "Today I felt...." on one side and then a variety of feelings on the back.  I'm sure she'll get creative and start making up her own soon.

Two mini calm tubes.  The top one is a mini version of a "calm jar" (see below) and the bottom one is a mini version of a shaker.  The bottom one has letter beads spelling her name (hence the photo-shopped swirls) and seed beads.  It makes a very nice (but soft) rattling sound when shaken - sort of like a quiet rainstick.

And that's the contents of her Stress Box.  I'll let you know how they work in the coming days.


Calm Jars:

(found multiple different "recipes" on Pinterest - this is the one we used)

Used a coke bottle and then just poured a little into our mini tubes for our boxes.

1 cup hot water + 1 tbsp glitter glue + glitter + food coloring = calm jar.
Shake up to make a glittery bottle, then watch the glitter slowly settle to the bottom.