The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan
The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
[Link]
Calmers
Published in 2009 by:
Positive Press Ltd
28A Gloucester Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire BA14 0AA
Telephone: 01225 719204
Fax: 01225 712187
E-mail: positivepress@[Link]
Website: [Link]
Text © Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan
Re-printed 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
ISBN 9-781904-866268
The right of Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan to be identified as the authors of this work has
been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of
trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior
consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published andwithout
a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
Illustrator: Mark Cripps
Printed in the U.K. Heron Press, [Link]
The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Calmers
Contents:
Page Page Page
Introduction 1-4 Sensory Calmers 46 Interactive Calmers (cont’d)
Activities involving sensory
Physical Calmers 5 experiences 77. Half empty or half full? 85
Activities using breathing 78. The art of peace 86
and stretching techniques 41. Calming touch 47 79. Calm haiku 87
42. A focused moment 48 80. How calm feels inside 88
1. Shoulder pull 6 43. Relaxing aroma 49 81. Pass it on 89
2. Climb the ladder 7 44. Soft ball soothers 50 82. Calm verbs 90
3. Lunges 8 45. Calming music 51 83. Calm objects 91
4. Tall as a tower 9 46. Treasure box of happiness 52 84. Worry beads 92
5. Upper arm stretch 10 47. Think steady 53 85. Flag it up 93
6. A piece of string 11 86. Recipe for calm 94
7. Handy calmer 12 Attentive Listening Calmers 54 87. Chunking 95
8. Temple massage 13 These activities use 88. Mrs Brown’s rabbit 96
9. Slow dancing 14 visualization techniques 89. Colours and emotions 97
10. Long-distance looking 15 90. Drawing to music 98
11. Fingertip to wrist 16 48. Self-esteem booster 55 91. Positively calm 99
12. Slow breathing 17 49. Before a test 56 92. Getting to know an atlas 100
13. Calming facial muscles 18 50. The garden 57 93. Calm water 101
14. Slowing the pulse 19 51. Preparing for social 58 94. Calm sounds 102
15. Foot rub 20 situations 95. Button box 103
16. Sixty-second siesta 21 52. Blow your worries away 59 96. Picture postcards 104
17. A minute’s peace 22 53. The shower of light 60 97. Colour hunting 105
18. Relaxing letters 23 54. Relaxing place 61 98. Balmy weather 106
19. Amusing movement 24 55. Goal-setting visualization 62 99. Pass the squeeze 107
20. Stop, flop, drop 25 56. Flying 63 100. Boundary walk 108
21. Slow blow 26 57. Big bottle of calm 64 101. Magical squares 109
22. Dog pant 27 58. The snowmen are here 65 102. Into the unknown 110
23. Stretch up, stretch down 28 59. The tree 66
24. Rabbit breathing 29 60. Just imagine 67 Artistic Calmers 111
25. Smile yourself calm 30 61. Affirmative calm 68 Wind down with drama, music
26. Self-head-massage 31 62. Indoor country walk 69 and stories
27. Thumb massage 32 63. Ice age 70
28. Sand-timer moment 33 64. Feel the weight 71 103. First and last names 112
29. Calm a tension headache 34 104. Humming walk 113
30. Whole body de-stresser 35 Interactive Calmers 72 105. Follow me 114
31. Stretch wide 36 Children interact with 106. But the cat came back 115
32. Just like a bird 37 familiar things or friends in 107. Different outcomes 116
33. Catch a ray of sunshine 38 peaceful activities 108. Pretend bedtime story 117
34. Wag your tail like a dog 39 109. Send a ripple 118
35. Push the wall 40 65. Pass a smile 73 110. Cool in the hot seat 119
36. Bouncing frog 41 66. Calming support 74 111. I’m a character, get me 120
37. Twist your fist 42 67. The happy hat 75 out of here
38. Take a walk 43 68. Heads down, thumbs up 76 112. Floppy dolly 121
39. Lift your fingers 44 69. Five spots 77 113. Hand jive 122
40. Holding a very big ball 45 70. Down the line 78 114. Snowflakes 123
71. Write yourself calm 79 115. Wind-up robot 124
72. Focusing on solutions 80 116. Cross cat, calm cat 125
73. Growing calm feelings 81 117. Mirror, mirror 126
74. Can do, can’t do 82 118. Sleeping lions 127
75. Support the supporters 83 119. Fill the space 128
76. Don’t fret about the 84 120. Act calm 129
future
The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Introduction - Calmers
What are Calmers?
You will all be familiar with classroom moments when you feel the atmosphere becoming charged with
negative energy. We experience these moments when children are overexcited or anxious and the bad
feeling seems to catch on until everyone is restless and you know that you urgently need to find a way
to settle them down and get them working calmly again. The big book of Calmers is a toolbox of
activities which you can use with individuals, groups or a whole class to relieve stress and tension, or
even as a quick pick-me-up. Many of them you can use yourself, whenever you feel your own stress
levels rising.
How can Calmers help?
A calm classroom has an ethos in which children feel more secure and can concentrate on their work. A
calm classroom is, therefore, likely to be a happy classroom and a productive one, where children
experience a sense of well-being. Calmers are designed to turn around negative thinking and build
children’s self-esteem. They promote emotional self-awareness, teach anger management, and improve
children’s ability to interact positively with each other.
Learning is hard work and, sometimes, it can be taxing and challenging. Children often express anxiety
in physical ways and their tension becomes visible. You know when this is happening because they start
to fidget and disrupt other children. They can also become emotional and get upset or angry or
withdraw into themselves and refuse to interact in their usual ways. When you notice these behaviours
starting to take over your setting, you need to do something quickly so that everyone gets a chance to
calm down and settle themselves back on task. You can do this by offering a complete change of scene
that helps them to forget about whatever it was that was making them overwrought. In other words,
you need to give everyone a break: a time of relaxation or positivity that calms everyone down but
doesn’t take too long or interfere with your timetable.
It is worth noting that The Energizers book works in a similar way by orchestrating a mental change of
direction. With Calmers, children are being redirected away from anxiety or over-excitement and
towards calm alertness, where as with Energizers children are being redirected away from listlessness
and into focused alertness. In other words, the same result is achieved but the starting points are very
different. This is why, sometimes, Energizers and Calmers can appear similar.
When can you use Calmers?
Calmers are quick: you can use them to start the day, end the day, to calm children down after a rowdy
playtime, to steady their nerves before a test – in fact, at any time when the emotional temperature is
rising. They can be fitted in at any time. They are not part of your direct teaching programme, although
many of them can add an extra dimension to art, language work, or physical education. In particular,
they will fit in well with Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL). At the end of the day, you will
all go home feeling far less tired and more fulfilled. However, when children need a boost of energy to
wake them up we recommend you use an energizer from The Big Book of Energizers.
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The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Introduction - Calmers
Who can use Calmers?
Anyone who facilitates a group of learners can use Calmers. We have designed this book for use in
primary and secondary schools. Some activities will suit younger children, some will suit older children.
Many can be adapted for use in Early Years settings and for children with special educational needs. You
can teach children to use some of these techniques independently, whenever they feel themselves
getting anxious.
Weary staff and enthusiastic parents can benefit from Calmers too!
What types of activities do we include in our Calmers?
A wide range of activities can be used to calm children down. Some activities calm children by calming
their physical bodies, while others harness their imagination or calm them by changing negative
thoughts into positive ones. Some activities set out to change the atmosphere of the whole room and
others are suited for use with small groups or individuals. Activities include:
G stretches and relaxation techniques
G sensory stillness
G singing together
G music, rhythm and rhyme
G stories and poetry
G self-esteem boosters
G positive thinking
Each chapter of Calmers is grouped in a particular order. You will find them by the following symbols:
1. Thumbs up = activity can be played quickly and easily
2. Index finger on the chin = game will take a bit of organising by
the teacher
3. Pointing outside = game will need a large space
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The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Sensory Calmers:
42. A focused moment
This calmer helps the children to understand that concentrating on our
senses is very soothing.
What you need: nothing
What to do:
Sit very still and concentrate your senses on the little details that are usually ignored.
What sounds can you hear?
Which colours can you see?
How do your feet feel in your socks?
Can you feel the softness of your clothes on your shoulders?
You don’t need answers, just direct everyone’s attention to the small sensations of the
moments and they will be instantly calmed.
Tip: Go outside and listen to the range of sounds and colours you find in the
environment.
48 The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Interactive Calmers:
89. Colours and emotions
This calmer will help your children to make associations between colour
and emotion.
What you need: paper; paints, or coloured crayons
What to do:
Discuss emotions with the group. Make a list of the different emotions and list how these
emotions make us feel inside and how they show up in our behaviour.
Ask the group to choose either the emotion of anger or the feeling of calm and draw or
paint what this emotion feels like.
Tell them to try to feel the emotion as they paint or draw – a picture about anger will look
spiky and hot whereas a picture of calm will look more floaty and fluid, perhaps. Ask
them to think carefully about the colours they choose.
When the pictures are finished, group them so that the same emotions are put together.
Ask everyone to compare these pictures and to look for similarities in the way that the
emotion has been portrayed.
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The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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Artistic Calmers:
108. Pretend bedtime story
This is a lovely, snugly way to calm everyone down.
What you need: a suitable story
What to do:
Tell the group that you are all going to have a lovely little rest.
Turn off the lights.
Shut the blinds.
Ask the group to put their head in their arms and rest on the table.
Read them a bedtime story.
Now ask them to yawn and stretch and join in a group finger wiggle that will wake
everyone up.
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The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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When children become over-excited, stressed or fractious, do you ever wish
that you could wave a magic wand and create an atmosphere of
peace and order?
This book is what you need to do just that!
It is bursting with ideas to create calm whenever and wherever you see that
calm is needed. The activities have been carefully chosen so that they can be
used instantly and effectively almost anywhere in your setting. A very wide
range of strategies are included to suit different groups and situations. Most
require no equipment or preparation and are quick and easy to learn.
Wherever your setting, you find just what you need to de-stress your
children and cheer everybody up.
A must-have book for anyone working with children of all ages.
Jenny Mosley has written the circle time guidance for S.E.A.D.
(Social & Emotional Aspects of Development – DCSF 2008) and S.E.A.L.
We have written The
Big Book of Energizers
to create a balance!
follow Jenny Mosley Consultancies on
01225 719204
positivepress@[Link]
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The Big Book of Calmers, by Jenny Mosley and Ross Grogan.
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