5 Incredibly Fun GAMES to Teach Self-Regulation (Self-Control) | Social Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-regulation, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. People with strong social-emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges and benefit academically, professionally, and socially.

Teaching kids to have self-regulation is one of the most important character traits we can teach. Experts believe that kids who master self-regulation become masters of their learning, are more critical thinkers, and make healthier choices; and the benefits are life-long.

As parents, I am sure we have observed that little kids have very minimal self-regulation and older kids have some! We adults have developed this self-regulation over time. While it is something that develops as we mature, should we leave the ability to self-regulate up to nature alone, or is there something we could do at home to help kids develop or strengthen this important skill? Some exciting research says self-regulation is something kids can learn. And the best part? It can be taught through play.

Note: I've interchangeable used the terms self-regulation and self-control only for the sake of understanding. As Dr. Stuart Shanker says, "There is a profound difference between self-regulation and self-control. Self-control is about inhibiting strong impulses; self-regulation, reducing the frequency and intensity of strong impulses by managing stress-load and recovery. In fact, self-regulation is what makes self-control possible, or, in many cases, unnecessary. The reason lies deep inside the brain."

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OTHER AWESOME GAMES TO IMPROVE SELF-REGULATION (SELF-CONTROL)

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