Fidgets for Focus: Creating a Calming Counseling Space
Jory Lawson
ID-2004
School Name:Big Cypress Elementary
Grant Request Grade:Pre-K K-5
Grant Request Subject:Other
Additional Details
The fidgets will be available for students participating in individual counseling, small-group counseling, crisis support, emotional-regulation breaks, problem-solving sessions, and social-emotional learning activities.
Students will learn that fidgets are tools, not toys. They will be taught how to choose a tool that helps their body remain calm, focused, and ready to communicate.
Fidgets may also be incorporated into lessons on coping skills, self-regulation, identifying the size of a problem, managing anxiety, perseverance, and making responsible choices.
Elementary students are still developing the skills needed to recognize emotions, manage impulses, communicate their needs, and return to learning after becoming upset. Some students enter the counseling office feeling anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, or unable to focus.
Fidgets can provide an appropriate outlet for movement while allowing students to remain engaged in a conversation or counseling activity. Rather than viewing movement as a distraction, these tools allow students to channel that need for movement in a productive way.
Funding would allow our counseling office to provide students with a selection of tools such as:
Stress balls
Sensory poppers
Tangle fidgets
Therapy putty
Marble mesh fidgets
Stretchy sensory strings
Quiet hand fidgets
Textured sensory items
Breathing and calming tools
Small sensory manipulatives
Having different options is important because a tool that is calming for one student may not meet the sensory needs of another.
hese materials will serve students across multiple grade levels throughout the school year and can be reused year after year. Students visiting the counseling office will have access to developmentally appropriate tools that make the environment feel welcoming, calming, and supportive.
The ultimate goal is not simply to give students something to hold. It is to teach students how to recognize what their bodies and emotions need and select healthy strategies that help them return to a state where they are ready to learn and lead.
With support for this project, our counseling office can become an even stronger place for students to pause, regulate, problem-solve, and return to the classroom feeling successful and ready to learn.
