Visual Supports
Have you ever been really sad or angry but did not know how to verbalize it? Sometimes children feel that way too. That’s why visual supports throughout our classroom are important. At the beginning of the year we tried these bracelets that are different colors. The colors symbolized different emotions. The idea behind their purchase was each day we would do a check in and each child would decide what they were feeling at that time. As teachers, that would help us know which children needed different support throughout the day. Our goal would be to move children up the ladder to “happy.”
This project ended up being a little too complex for our little guy’s minds. They really just liked to wear in the bracelets. And even if they weren’t angry but liked the color red that is what they would choose. 🤷🏻♀️ Finally , I just set an aside as a project that did not work.
The other day one of friends came and sat beside me with the basket and said “which of these means sad?”
I said “ I believe we decided Blue is sad.” She took a blue bracelet out.
I said are you sad? Her lip quivered and she said “yes I am.” She put the blue bracelet on and claimed her feeling of being sad.
I just sat with her. As the adults it’s not always our job to fix a feeling of sadness but just to let the child know they aren’t sad by themselves
I guess our little project was not a failure after all.