• About
  • Shop
  • Work with Me
    • Guest Post on Views!
    • Policies and Disclosure
    • Sponsored Work
  • Tri-State Family Fun
  • The Mommy View
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Views From a Step Stool

Open Minds & Messy Hands

  • Home
  • Learn Through Play
    • Fine Motor Activities
    • Arts & Crafts
      • Toddler Arts & Crafts
      • Preschool Arts& Crafts
    • Sensory
      • Ultimate Collection of Sensory Bins for Kids
      • Toddler Sensory Play
      • Preschool/Early Elementary Sensory Play
      • Mess-Free Sensory Play
    • STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
      • Indoor and Outdoor STEM Challenges for Kids
    • Babies
      • 60+ Awesome Activities for 1 Year Olds! {Tested and Loved}
    • Toddlers
      • Activities for 2 Year Olds
    • Preschoolers
      • Activities for 3 Year Olds
      • 65+ Fun Activities for 4 Year Olds
    • Elementary
      • 55+ Activities for 5 Year Olds
    • Want to Teach Your Kids Through Play?
  • Holidays
    • Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids
      • Free Printable Valentines Cards
    • St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Kids
    • Easter Activities for Kids
    • Memorial Day/4th of July
    • Halloween Activities for Kids
      • Monster Activities for Kids
      • Pumpkin Activities for Kids: Crafts, Science and Sensory Play
    • Thanksgiving Crafts,Sensory Play and Printables for Toddlers and Up
      • Pumpkin Activities for Kids: Crafts, Science and Sensory Play
    • Christmas
      • 30+ Christmas Activities for 1 and 2 Year Olds
      • Christmas Printables for Kids
      • Ornament Crafts for Kids
    • New Years
  • Seasons
    • Spring Activities for Kids
      • March Activities for Kids
      • St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Kids
      • Easter Activities for Kids
    • Summer Activities for Kids
      • 4th of July Activities for Kids
    • Tons of Fall Kids Activities for All Ages
      • Fall Printables for Kids
      • Apple Themed Kids Activities
      • Apple Crafts for Kids
      • Pumpkin Activities for Kids: Crafts, Science and Sensory Play
    • Winter
      • Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids
      • February Activities for Toddlers
  • Sensory Bins
  • Printables
    • Seasonal Printables for Kids
      • Spring Printables for Kids
      • Summer Printables for Kids
      • Fall Printables for Kids
      • Winter Printables for Kids
    • Holiday Printables for Kids
      • Valentine’s Day Printables for Kids
        • Free Printable Valentines Cards
      • St. Patrick’s Day Printables for Kids
      • Easter Printables for Kids
      • 4th of July Printables for Kids
      • Halloween Printables for Kids
      • Thanksgiving Printables for Kids
      • Christmas Printables for Kids
    • Free Printable Board Games for Kids
      • Printable Camping Games for Kids
    • Printable Bookmarks for Kids
    • Free Printable Playdough Mats for Kids
    • Book Lists
    • Printable Lego Challenges for Kids
  • Exclusive Content for Subscribers
How to Help an Angry Child Calm Down: 5 Tips

How to Help an Angry Child Calm Down: 5 Tips

April 10, 2016 By Katie Chiavarone 19 Comments

Sharing is caring!

568.7Kshares
  • Facebook1.3K
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest567.4K

Here are some tips on how to help an angry child calm down gently. Plus, 8 tools they can use to calm down anywhere. Grab a printable reminder.


 

Regulating emotions can be difficult for any child, those with more of a natural inclination to anger can have an especially difficult time. It is our job as parents to find ways to not only help them calm down when becoming upset, but to help them learn to calm down anywhere and in any given situation.

Let’s face it, a large part of parenting is preparing our kids to be on their own in school for a majority of the day.

Here are some tips for gently helping your angry child calm down, plus 8 ways they can calm down anywhere! Grab your free printable reminder!

Tips for Helping an Angry Child

Here are my tips for calming an angry child, followed by some ways you can help your kids calm themselves down ANYWHERE.  These tactics will give them not only the skills, but also the confidence, to navigate their anger on their own.

The 5 Tips

Here are some tips for gently helping your angry child calm down. Plus, 8 tools they can use to calm down anywhere. Grab a printable reminder. #positiveparenting #calmdown #angrychild #calmingtools #attachmentparenting #gentleparenting

1. Be sympathetic.

What seems unimportant for you might be hugely important for them. When your toddler cries because she wanted blue socks and you gave her red, we think to ourselves, “what’s the big deal?”.

It is important to always validate their emotions, not negate them. If they find value and importance in something, it won’t do any good to tell them that their understanding of importance is incorrect.

2. Give space, but don’t isolate. 

Children with an inclination toward anger will sometimes have an inclination toward physical aggression. Providing outlets for this such as punching a pillow or squeezing a blanket can help relieve this tension.

A calm down corner provides an appropriate outlet for this aggression. Your child might not like to feel isolated from the family or from you when upset, but a bit of space can be a good thing.

3.  Remind them that anger is ok.

Emotions are a normal part of our development, and we experience a range of them every day. It is perfectly fine to get mad, to become angry. Any consequences that you provide for your child while they are upset should always be for behaviors, not for the emotion.

4. Don’t over-react.

Model a calm voice and a calm demeanor. (Yes, easier said than done.) The calmer you are, the better chance you have of your child calming down. Conversely, any yelling or aggression will most likely be matched by your child.

5. Listen with eye contact. 

Children need to feel heard, especially when upset. Eye contact dramatically helps them feel that way. Allowing them to talk about how they are feeling will help make leaps and bounds toward calming down.

 

8 Ways Kids Can Calm Down Anywhere

These are tools that kids an angry child or one having a difficult time regulating emotions can use anywhere. The idea with these tools is that kids don’t need any physical items, so can therefore carry these out in the heat of the moment.

Pro Tip: Practice these when kids are already in a state of calm, before they are upset. This way they can practice these and begin to learn what they feel like. This way, in the heat of the moment, they will have them in their toolbox to fall back on.

 

Here are some tips for gently helping your angry child calm down. Plus, 8 tools they can use to calm down anywhere. Grab a printable reminder. #positiveparenting #calmdown #angrychild #calmingtools #attachmentparenting #gentleparenting

The tips include: 

  1. Count to 5
  2. Take a deep breath.
  3. Blow into your hands.
  4. Place hands in pockets.
  5. Make a fist, then relax.
  6. Do a body scan.
  7. Ask for a hug.

Want to print these calming tools? Head here to do that, and keep a copy with you or hang it up on the wall in your calm down corner.

You can also get these calming tools in a handy little book made from just one sheet of folded paper!

Head to this post on the calm down tools mini book to print this for free! 

social story pin 2

 

RELATED: WHY SAYING CALM DOWN DOESN’T ACTUALLY WORK (seems like it would contradict this article? it’s all about the language, not what is happening πŸ™‚

 


Here are some tips for gently helping your angry child calm down, plus 8 ways they can calm down anywhere! Grab your free printable reminder!

 

Sharing is caring!

568.7Kshares
  • Facebook1.3K
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest567.4K

Filed Under: Gentle Parenting, Parenting Tagged With: aggression, attachment parenting, calm down, dads gentle parenting, kids, mad, moms, parenting

April #TAKETIME Link Up! Spring is in the Air
Why Outdoor Play is Crucial in Childhood: What Psychology Says

Comments

  1. Kristen Hewitt says

    April 10, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    This is SO good! I love this post and found it SO incredibly helpful! Pinned & stumbled, thanks. After an extremely challenging day this really helped!

    Reply
    • kchiavarone@gmail.com says

      April 10, 2016 at 9:50 pm

      Thank you so much Kristen!!! My little guys has provided me with ample experience… πŸ˜‰

      Reply
    • sikiti.toga says

      March 11, 2017 at 11:32 pm

      Thanks for the tips .as for me i have this new enroll child in my class that doen

      Reply
  2. Shannon says

    April 11, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    Nice useful tips for controlling public outbursts.

    Reply
  3. Tiffany says

    April 11, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    All of these tips are spot on! I love the listen with eye contact! Oh I am so guilty of not doing this! Thanks for the great reminders! Scheduled to share!

    Reply
  4. Tricia says

    April 11, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    I love this one! This is such a helpful graphic too. I’ll definitely be sharing. It’s so hard to know how to handle when your child is angry.

    Reply
  5. twithetts.com says

    April 12, 2016 at 8:23 am

    These are great tips… I think I could use them to calm my self down from time to time too!!

    Reply
  6. Jules Ruud says

    April 12, 2016 at 2:09 pm

    I can’t tell you how helpful this is. Anger is an emotion that I struggle with because frankly, it’s a trigger. I love what you said about giving space, but not isolating. This is brilliant. Thank you.

    Reply
  7. Melinda says

    April 15, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    Thank you! My 2 and half yr old grand daughter has a temper! I’ve been looking for ways to help her calm.
    You’re a life saver!

    Reply
    • kchiavarone@gmail.com says

      April 17, 2016 at 10:10 am

      Thanks so much for reading! Glad you found it helpful πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Angela Padilla says

    April 22, 2016 at 12:43 am

    These are wonderful ideas. I love the idea of giving a safe way to channel anger and frustration. This is much more realistic than expecting a child to not feel a certain way. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • kchiavarone@gmail.com says

      April 22, 2016 at 9:16 am

      Thank you! Yes expecting them not to be mad or react is just unrealistic πŸ™‚ thanks for reading

      Reply
  9. Emily says

    June 9, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    Great post and infographic! I think that not overreacting is key. A calm parent is more useful than an angry parent. Personally, meditating every morning helps me to stay calm. I think that every parent could benefit (and in turn each child) from meditation.

    Reply
  10. Ranny says

    July 24, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    Hi there, im so exciting read this article! And very useful to me..
    I want to save this infographis, I already put my email to subscribe but when I want to download, I must put some pasword πŸ™
    Is there any other ways for me to save this infographis?

    Thank you ^^

    Reply
    • kchiavarone@gmail.com says

      July 24, 2016 at 3:11 pm

      If you send me an email, katie@viewsfromastepstool.com I’ll send you the password

      Reply
  11. Savannah says

    May 23, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    Give space, but don’t isolate – that is SO incredibly important. Time-ins work very well with my 2-year-old, and taking the time to talk through those feelings, acknowledging and recognizing the emotion makes a big difference. Thanks for the awesome tips <3

    Reply
  12. Katie Chiavarone says

    July 13, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    There should be a signup form to get it delivered to your email πŸ™‚ if you don’t see it you can contact me at katie@viewsfromastepstool and I’ll send it to you!

    Reply
  13. ChaRlotte kinG-fehr says

    July 21, 2017 at 6:40 am

    THank you For sharing it was very helpful.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Best Positive Parenting Discipline Techniques - Parenting From The Heart says:
    January 25, 2017 at 11:07 am

    […] coach your child through their anger with these strategies from The Mommy […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Views From a Step Stool!

Welcome to Views From a Step Stool!

I am a mom to three little ones and love to create and explore every day with them! We have open minds and messy hands, come join in our adventures!

Search the Site

What’s New

  • Summer Olympics Bingo Game Printable
  • Constellations for Kids: Constellation Coloring Pages, Flashcards and Science Experiment Printable
  • St. Patrick’s Day Scavenger Hunt Printable
  • St. Patrick’s Day Printable Favor Toppers
  • Drawing Garden Game to Print for Kids: Roll and Draw!
  • Printable Valentine’s Day Lunchbox Jokes

What’s New:

  • Summer Olympics Bingo Game Printable
  • Constellations for Kids: Constellation Coloring Pages, Flashcards and Science Experiment Printable
  • St. Patrick’s Day Scavenger Hunt Printable
  • St. Patrick’s Day Printable Favor Toppers
  • Drawing Garden Game to Print for Kids: Roll and Draw!
  • Printable Valentine’s Day Lunchbox Jokes
  • Valentine’s Day Color by Number Printables
  • Pin the Carrot on the Snowman Printable Game
  • Printable Christmas Puzzles for Toddlers
  • Christmas Tic Tac Toe Printable Game
  • Christmas Charades Printable Game
  • Printable Coffee Gift Card Holder for Christmas
  • The Gift of Christmas Printable Board Game
  • Christmas Countdown Printable
  • Santa Says Printable Christmas Game
  • Christmas Tree I Spy Printable for Kids
  • Thanksgiving Picture Charades Printable Game for Young Kids
  • Christmas Countdown Dollar Store Craft
  • Roll a Gingerbread Man Christmas Board Game
  • Winter Color by Number Printables

Copyright © 2023 · Hello Sweets by Hello You Designs

Copyright © 2023 Β· Hello Sweets On Genesis Framework