What are The Zones of Regulation?
The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum designed to teach skills in the social-emotional development area. Skills in this area include emotional literacy and self-regulation. These skills are taught by utilizing a model divided into four zones. The four zones are labeled by the following colors: Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red. Each color represents a group of emotions.
The Zones:
Blue: The blue zone consists of negative emotions or low energy levels. Emotions include: Sad, sick, tired, bored, and moving slowly.
Green: The green zone represents emotions related to regulation. These emotions include the following: Happy, calm, feeling okay, focused, and ready to learn.
Yellow: The yellow zone is representative of two types of emotions or states of alertness. One type being silly, wiggly, and excited. The other typer being worried, frustrated, and loss of some control.
Red: The red zone is also related to negative emotions, but a heightened level of alertness. These emotions are elated, terrified, mad, angry, yelling/hitting, and out of control.
How to teach the zones:
Anyone who works with children and adolescents can teach The Zones of Regulation. There are a variety of strategies and tools that have been created to teach the zones. The primary resource the zones are based off of is the Alert Program, also known as “How does your engine run?”. Other tools that exist are A little spot book and toy sets. Whichever strategy or tool is utilized, requires consistency and repetition.
Resources:
- The Alert Program – “How does your engine run?”
- A Little Spot (book & toy sets)
- Mad Dragon (card game)
- Emotional Roller Coaster (board game)
- Social stories
