This printable PDF poster explains a key principle of child development – children learn emotional regulation by first being calmed by a safe and supportive adult. It helps adults understand why young children cannot simply “calm down” when they feel overwhelmed, angry, frustrated, or scared.
The resource explains the concept of co-regulation, showing how children rely on calm, responsive adults to help them settle during big emotions. It describes simple and practical ways adults can support children, such as staying close, speaking calmly, helping a child name their feelings, offering reassurance, slowing situations down, and guiding children to pause or breathe. These supportive responses help a child’s nervous system settle and gradually build self-regulation skills.
The poster also explains how emotional regulation develops over time through repeated experiences of safety, connection, and guidance. As children begin to understand their feelings and hear adults put emotions into words, they slowly develop coping skills and learn to manage their behaviour and reactions. This child development and emotional wellbeing poster is useful for parenting courses, behaviour support training, and professional learning about children’s mental health, emotional development, and behaviour. It can support parents, carers, foster carers, adoptive parents, therapists, counsellors, early years practitioners, and family support professionals who work with children experiencing big emotions, behavioural challenges, or difficulties with self-regulation.
