5 Easy Emotion Regulation Activities For Kids That Actually Work

Reviewed by Dr Lucy Russell DClinPsyc CPsychol AFBPsS

Want simple tools to help your child stay calm, cope better, and build confidence? These 5 emotion regulation activities are a brilliant place to start – and they really work.

As a person-centred counsellor (and mother of three grown-up girls), I’ve supported many children who struggle with overwhelming emotions. I’ve also seen how powerful it can be when parents learn the right tools to help their children self-regulate.

In this article I’ll explain what emotion regulation is, why it’s vital for your child’s wellbeing, and guide you through 5 practical, fun activities you can start using today.

These are tried-and-tested techniques that can build emotional understanding and control, reduce outbursts and help your child thrive.

If outbursts and meltdowns are a regular part of life in your household, these ideas are a great first step – and if you’re ready to go deeper, my colleague Dr Lucy Russell’s short online course End Emotional Outbursts can take you the rest of the way.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): 5 Emotion Regulation Activities That Work for Kids

• 🟨 Use mood cards to build emotional awareness
• 🫧 Teach calming breathing techniques in quiet moments
• 📚 Spot and name feelings using picture books
• 🎲 Play board games to practice frustration tolerance and self-control
• 📊 Try the 5-Point Scale to recognize and manage rising emotions
• 🧠Take the End Emotional Outbursts short course to feel even more empowered in successfully managing your child’s emotional ups and downs.

Bonus: These tools are most effective when used together and practiced during calm times with your support.

Why Emotion Regulation Matters

All children – just like adults – experience a wide range of emotions every day. But unlike adults, children’s brains are still developing. The part that helps them manage big emotions doesn’t fully mature until their mid-twenties.

That means it’s completely normal – expected, even – for children to struggle with self-regulation. Especially if they’re tired, hungry, overwhelmed, or neurodivergent.

If your child finds it hard to manage emotions, you might see:

• Frequent outbursts or meltdowns
• Anxiety or shame about “being out of control”
• Trouble with friendships, learning or transitions

These moments aren’t bad behaviour. They’re a sign your child’s brain needs help.

When a child can manage their emotions, they:

• Are more likely to be able to ground themselves when they experience big emotions.
• Are more likely to feel good about themselves. In fact, lack of self-regulation often contributes to a sense of shame, anxiety that some emotions are “out of control”, and other complex emotions.
• May thrive within friendships and relationships.
• May do better academically at school, because overall they feel more in control.

Co-Regulation: Why Your Support Makes All the Difference

When your child is upset, they need your calm to find their own.

This process is called co-regulation. It’s about staying connected and steady so your child feels safe enough to begin calming down. Over time, they internalise those skills – but first, they learn from you.

These five emotion regulation activities are all about co-regulation. They’re tools you can practise together, especially during calm times. That way, when emotions run high, your child has a stronger foundation to rely on.

Let’s explore them.

5 Emotion Regulation Activities for Kids

1. Mood Cards: Helping Children Understand Their Feelings

If your child can’t name what they’re feeling, it’s almost impossible for them to manage that emotion.

Mood cards are a brilliant way to help children recognise and understand different feelings – especially in calmer moments. I use them in my counselling practice and they’re fantastic.

Mood cards are also known as feelings cards or emotions cards.

You can grab our free emotions cards to print and cut out!

Each colourful feelings card has a different emotion written on it, using clear, child-friendly language.

These are perfect for a fun game called “Act it Out”, which helps children understand emotions through movement and imagination.

Here’s how to play:

• Cut out the cards and place them in a small pile face down.
• Take turns picking a card and acting out the emotion – using just your face and body, no words!
• The other person guesses the emotion.
• Then ask: “Can you remember a time you felt that way?” or “What do you think could help someone feeling like that?”

This game is a brilliant way to help your child notice how emotions look and feel – and it gives you an easy opening to talk about tricky feelings in a playful, low-pressure way.

Tip: You can keep the cards in a visible place and use them for regular check-ins too – “Which card matches how you’re feeling today?”

But remember: this is a learning activity for calm times – not a tool for in-the-moment meltdowns.

2. Breathing Exercises: A Simple Way to Calm the Body and Brain

When a child is in full meltdown, breathing exercises won’t work. At that point, their brain is in “survival mode” – fight, flight or freeze.

But when taught and practised regularly in calm moments, breathing techniques can become a powerful calming habit. They’re especially helpful when used early – when your child is just starting to feel overwhelmed or agitated.

Try this calming breathing technique:

• Lie on the floor together with a pillow under your heads.
• Place one hand on your tummy.
• Breathe in slowly through your nose, noticing the tummy rise.
• Breathe out slowly through your nose.
• Repeat together three more times.

Your child is more likely to use these techniques later if they’ve practised with you and felt the difference in their body.

Like all emotion regulation tools, breathing is most effective when introduced gently, during calm times, with your full support.

3. Use Picture Books to Spot and Talk About Feelings

Pick a picture book with clear facial expressions (you probably already have some on the shelf). As you read together, pause and ask:

• “What do you think this character is feeling?”
• “Why might they feel that way?”
• “What do you think they could do next?”

Don’t worry about right answers – you’re building your child’s confidence in noticing, naming and talking about feelings.

You can also model this by sharing your own reactions: “I think I’d feel nervous if I were them.” This shows your child it’s okay to feel things and talk about them.

4. Play Simple Board Games to Practise Taking Turns and Managing Frustration

Games like Uno, Snap, or Connect 4 are great for teaching patience, resilience and flexible thinking.

Here’s what to do:

• Choose a short, easy game and explain the rules clearly.
• As you play, gently name feelings as they come up. For example: “You look disappointed – it’s hard when we don’t win.”
• Praise effort, not outcome: “I noticed you stayed calm even when you were losing. That’s brilliant self-control.”

This isn’t just a game. It’s real-world emotion regulation practice – and your child is learning by doing.

5. Try the Incredible 5-Point Scale to Help Your Child Recognise Rising Emotions

Often when children are over-stimulated and emotionally dysregulated, they switch to “survival mode”.

At this point they may experience being in full fight or flight mode.

This may present itself as anger or a panic attack or extreme distress. It is almost impossible to manage emotions in a healthy way when you are in this state of mind.

Designed by Kari Dunn Buron, The Incredible 5 Point Scale can be personalised to situations and emotions that your child might be finding difficult and when they don’t know what to do or how to feel better.

Level 1 is always little and 5 is always big. It is not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

Once you and your child establish their scale, you can take action!

For example, perhaps my excitement is a 4 but it needs to be a 2 or a 1, because I am on stage in my school concert and I need to be calm.

Perhaps I could:

• Engage in deep, slow breathing (which I have practised regularly at home).
• Do some repetitive, rhythmic movements – such as rubbing my hands – which calm the brain stem.

The incredible 5 point scale can also be used preventatively.

Prior to the concert, activities to help bring excitement down to a 2 or a 1 might include:

• Intense exercise to release pent-up adrenaline and cortisol.
• Listening to calming music.

Your Child Can’t Do This Alone – But You Don’t Have to Either

You’re already doing the most important thing: showing up with love and curiosity, trying to understand your child’s world.

But if you’re still stuck in a cycle of explosive behaviour and constant firefighting, you don’t have to stay there.

End Emotional Outbursts is my short, practical online course designed specifically for parents of 7–13 year-olds with big emotions. In just five days, you’ll learn:

• What’s really behind your child’s outbursts
• How to spot the signs before things boil over
• What small changes you can make right now to reduce emotional explosions

You’ll get videos, simple worksheets, and clear step-by-step guidance based on everything I’ve learned in 20+ years as a psychologist.

“I feel I actually understand my child now and what is going on for her. I feel I have been equipped in so many ways to help her, instead of just getting exasperated.”
– Course Participant

If this sounds like the support you’ve been looking for, I’d love to welcome you inside.

👉 Click here to join End Emotional Outbursts for just £30 and start feeling more in control within days.

You don’t have to wait for a referral or a diagnosis to get support. You can start helping your child feel calmer and more confident today.

FAQ: Emotion Regulation for Kids

Q1: What is emotion regulation in children?

Emotion regulation is a child’s ability to manage and respond to emotional experiences in healthy ways. It develops over time, especially with adult support through co-regulation.

Q2: What causes emotional outbursts in kids?

Outbursts often happen when kids feel overwhelmed, tired, or unsafe. Their brains aren’t fully developed yet, especially the parts responsible for emotional control.

Q3: How can I help my child during a meltdown?

Stay calm and connected. Your presence helps them feel safe. Don’t try to teach in the moment — instead, practise emotion regulation tools during calm times.

Q4: When should I seek extra support for emotional outbursts?

If outbursts are frequent, intense, or impacting daily life, it’s worth getting extra support. You can start with the End Emotional Outbursts short course by Dr Lucy Russell, or seek direct guidance from a local child clinical psychologist.

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Hayley Vaughan-Smith is a Person-Centred Counsellor accredited by the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society. She is the founder and counsellor at The Ridge Practice in Buckinghamshire, and counsellor at Everlief Child Psychology.

Hayley has a special interest in bereavement counselling and worked as a bereavement volunteer with Cruse Bereavement Care for four years.

Hayley is mum to 3 grown up girls, and gardening and walking in nature is her own personal therapy. Hayley believes being in nature, whatever the weather, is incredibly beneficial for mental health well-being.

Source: TheyAreTheFuture.co.uk