Book Nook - The Self-Regulation Workbook for 3- to 5-Year-Olds: Play-Based and Creative Activities to Build Coping Skills and Handle Big Emotions

 Discover play-based activities and coping strategies to help children ages 3 to 5 with social and emotional functioning, attachment patterns, and how to handle anxiety and other strong emotions.

The Self-Regulation Workbook for 3- to 5-Year-Olds: Play-Based and Creative Activities to Build Coping Skills and Handle Big Emotions by psychologists Dr. Abbré McClain and Dr. Jacqueline Salazar offers caregivers, parents, and educators play-based activities designed to help young children manage big emotions like anxiety, anger, and sadness.

This hands-on resource provides a roadmap for helping young children develop critical self-regulation skills while fostering a healthy self-image and strengthening caregiver-child bonds. The workbook is perfect for those interested in creative, playful methods to support children's emotional well-being during their rapid developmental phase.

I loved seeing the book. Even though my kids are much older, I still do work with younger kids on a regular basis. Some of these strategies were things I already did, but there were a lot of activities that I wouldn't have thought of to help encourage self-regulation in young kids.

I had a chance to learn more in this interview.

Why is it important for families to teach kids self-regulation from an early age? 

Social-emotional development is one of the five major domains of childhood development and plays a pivotal role in the outcome of overall development. Regulation is the foundation of social-emotional development. Why families are so important to fostering these skills is that it cannot be done without a helper! We are not able to regulate our own without the regulation of someone important to us.

How does play fit into emotional growth for kids? 

Play is a child's most important job and is essential to optimal development. Play teaches children a variety of sustainable developmental skills that translate into the real world. In our book, we discuss all of the detailed ways that play fosters growth across a variety of developmental competencies!

Why do caregivers need to be aware of their own emotional responses? 

Oftentimes, parenting, caring, and educating young children is not always understood as an important and significant relationship in the way that we understand them as having relationships with adults. All relationships that are meaningful (especially those with children) require patience, self-regulation, awareness, and adaptation when learning new things about the children in our care.

How can adults give kids the tools to handle big emotions, like anxiety and anger? 

In our book, we provide education, resources, and tools to help parents and other caring adults give children the tools they need to handle big emotions and engage in problem solving!