Calm-Down Time (Toddler Tools® Board Books)

I really appreciate whoever created this book! This has been a great book to pull out when my toddler is having a hard time calming down. My husband or I will have my daughter find this book when she is struggling to regulate her emotions. We sit down and read it to her, and practice the tools for deep breathing. I've also made it a point to read this book to her when she's calm so that way she can continue to practice these tools in different headspaces. I would recommend this to any parent with a toddler or young kiddo.

I’m writing a review after owning this book for several months now and can’t tell you how much it has helped our 2 1/2 year old. Whenever she is getting frustrated or upset even sad sometimes, we tell her to take a deep breath just like the book says to do and immediately after doing so she has been able to calm herself down. It has prevented even the worst temper tantrums. This book doesn’t just apply to 2 year olds:) she has even reminded us to take deep breaths when us parents tend to get overwhelmed and it’s a great reminder even for adults 😉 all in all, needless to say this is one of our favorite purchases as far as books go and we own several of the other books in the series by this author. Bravo to them!!

ETA: He is using the tactics in this book-- specifically, he prefers to be held when upset. He's now almost 4 1/2 and he still pulls this book out now again. I recommend this book highly to anyone reading this but also recommend it often to other parents/teachers/etc. I think this book is fantastic! I wanted a book that really would help with my child's meltdowns and emotional regulation. This book is perfect for that! He has attention issues and is a bit delayed and, at 3 1/2, this book is perfect. I'd say it'd be good for 18mos-4 easily. It is concise and very clear. My child understands what the intentions of the book are, what to do when upset, etc. I feel like it's really helped him work through what's going on when he gets so upset. I will say that he hasn't used these tactics yet but these things take time. I would recommend this book to anyone -- mindfulness is a wonderful thing to teach from as early as you can. Thanks to the author for a job well done. (From a Developmental Specialist with a background in Early Childhood Ed and Psychology with over 20 years in the field)

My 2.6 year old son picked out the "Bye Bye Time" book at the local library, and when I read it to him, we absolutely fell in love with it. We immediately bought the "Calm-Down Time" text for the very same reasons I listed in my review of "Bye Bye Time": When I read to my son, I try to make it interactive by having him identify objects and by acting out some of the actions. For example, when the dad says (in the "Bye Bye Time"), "First, hugs and kisses. Squeeeze, smooch", I have him hug, kiss, and squeeze me and mom. He loves that. Then, mom says to "take a deep breath and let it out", and all three of us breathe in deeply and exhale with an audible "ahhhhhhh". Definitely a fun exercise that we all love because it's like a game, stress relief (for us parents after a long day), and a tool for him to learn how to deal with emotions. For "Calm Down Time", it teaches the toddler to also take a deep breath and to acknowledge that he or she is upset and that it is perfectly okay to be so. Then it coaches the little one on how to deal with the emotion. Make it interactive, and when he screams, we simply tell him to "Calm down" until he does, then teach him how to relax further by incorporating the techniques listed in this book. Absolutely recommended.

This is one of a couple of books I purchased recently to emphasize the idea to our son, who is 5 and has some specialized needs, that self-calming is something he can do when he gets overwhelmed or upset. My main reason for taking off the star is that the expressions are very subtly drawn on the faces of the kiddos who are feeling sad or mad. This isn't a big deal for many children, but for our son, who is considered lower functioning on the Autism spectrum, it really is. He needs to see more obvious facial expressions associated with emotions in order for him to connect the pieces on it. As with the other book we purchased, Little Monkey Calms Down (which I totally, totally loved and it did a great job with having very "readable" emotions on Monkey's face), some of the calming strategies are useful for him, some are not. I do like that as an alternative to hugs, it mention that he can give himself a squeeze around the chest. Currently we provide squeezes to help calm him down, but I think its a great way to open the door to helping him realize he can do that for himself too. I like that it mentions having a quiet space, because sometimes he needs to get away from noise to calm down, and I like also that it mentions it's ok to rock back and forth to self calm. Generally when you have a kiddo on the spectrum, people like to discourage the rocking. But I've got to tell you, the rocking is better then a massive melt down, and definitely much better then the self-harming, so in this house, that's not a hill I'm personally wanting to die on at this time. But if you do have a kiddo on the spectrum, you can mention rolling back and forth on a yoga ball as a rocking type substitute that may give a similar soothing input. Our little man generally prefers that one himself, actually. Overall, I think this is a well done book, but I think it would be more effective for kiddos who have certain disorders or disabilities if the emotions were less subtly portrayed. And many of these kiddos are going to be in the target market for this kind of book, as they often have greater difficulty regulating themselves then a normally functioning child of a similar age. I am personally thinking about using some felt tip pens and marking up the expressions a little to make them more readable to him, since we've already purchased this book. But if you haven't purchased it, and your kiddo has trouble reading emotions, you may wish to start with something different.

Great book to teach children about their feelings and healthy coping skills!

10/10 purchase for my 2 year old!

Great for toddlers and learning strategies to calm down! Cute visuals and great price!

Super recomendable! Los tips para papas super utiles! Los pague dos veces, ojalá me los pudieran volver a mandar para regalo.

bellissimo libro per il mio piccolo di 2 anni. insegna al bimbo come calmarsi quando e' un po' nervosa. belle anche le immagini. .lo consiglio

Great book i love it it also rethms so it is goood

A must for all parents and children. For an extended review for book and others, pls check out @sonalisaigalkapur.noni on Instagram

Really well written to help you with a toddler who finds it hard to calm down. Engaging and fun way for them to learn how they can calm themselves down.