Giving children clear choices for calming down can make emotional regulation practice much easier to talk through. These printable sorting cards help children compare helpful coping strategies with unhelpful reactions, making them useful for anger management work, PSHE lessons, therapy sessions and home support.
When a child is upset, angry or overwhelmed, choosing what to do next can be hard to practise in the moment. Helpful or Unhelpful Ways to Calm Down Sorting Cards gives adults a visual, child-friendly way to explore coping skills, self-regulation and behaviour choices before difficult feelings take over.
The pack is designed as 48 sorting cards, with illustrated examples of calming strategies and less helpful responses. Helpful cards shown include taking slow deep breaths, counting to 10, blowing bubbles, drinking water, talking to a trusted adult, asking for a hug, using a calm corner, reading, drawing, listening to calming music and going for a walk.
Unhelpful examples include hitting, throwing things, shouting, slamming doors, breaking things, calling someone names, saying mean things and continuing to argue. The contrast makes the activity practical for children who benefit from concrete visual prompts, including many primary-aged pupils, children with additional needs, and kids working on anger, frustration or anxiety.
The cards can be cut out and sorted into helpful and unhelpful piles, used in small groups, added to a calm-down toolkit, or discussed one-to-one with a parent, teacher, counsellor, therapist or social worker. They also work well as prompts for role play, choosing a personal coping plan, or reviewing what could be tried next time after an incident.
