Description
Help children discover their personal path to calm with this thoughtfully designed Butterfly themed Calming Card Deck. It is a powerful tool for teaching self-regulation through personalized, strengths-based strategies. Whether used in therapy sessions, classrooms, or at home, this resource empowers kids to explore five calming styles that support emotional wellness in a holistic, engaging way.
Created by a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, the 15 page PDF will be available electronically immediately following payment.
What’s Included in the Calming Card Deck PDF:
- 45 illustrated calming strategy cards
– 9 cards in each category: Playful, Spatial, Creative, Mindful, and Social - 9 “Create Your Own” blank cards for customization
- Mini card size: 3×2.5 inches (ideal for little hands, travel, or calm-down kits)
- Front & back design for visual clarity and guided prompts
- 1-page calming category overview handout with definitions
- Full-page infographic poster featuring sample strategies & benefits per category
- Instruction sheet with 5 interactive games + bonus ideas for group and solo use
Why You’ll Love the Calming Car Deck PDF:
This resource makes it easy to teach children that calm doesn’t look the same for everyone—and that’s okay! From solving a puzzle or creating art, to giving a hug or going outside, these cards highlight strategies that speak to different needs and personalities.
Each calming category is rooted in therapeutic principles and encourages:
- Emotional regulation
- Sensory awareness
- Social connection
- Self-expression
- Mind-body integration
Play-Based Learning + Games:
Includes 5 engaging card games for 1–2 players with group variations, such as:
- Break the Ice: Read each card and answer the questions on the card. Questions are meant to spark discussion, get to know each other and reflect on the different strategies.
- Categories: Collect your favorite cards from each category and be the first to collect all the categories to win.
- Act it out: Act out the card and see if other players can guess. Can also do this activity with word association, without saying the words on the card.
The Calming Card Deck is Perfect For:
- Counselors, therapists, and school psychologists
- Special education and SEL classrooms
- Mindfulness and mental health corners
- Homeschool and family use
- Calm-down kits and behavior support
What makes this resource unique?
Most calming tools focus solely on mindfulness or quiet time. But not all kids calm down the same way. This card deck introduces five calming “types”—so kids can explore and discover what works best for them. It’s also one of the few tools that supports externalizers and internalizers alike, with movement-based options, sensory strategies, and creative outlets right alongside reflective practices.
This isn’t just a deck of calming ideas—it’s a hands-on tool for building self-awareness, language around regulation, and flexible coping skills that grow with the child.
Use it to:
- Help kids choose personalized calming strategies
- Teach about the nervous system in playful ways
- Offer consistent co-regulation tools across settings (home, school, therapy)
- Normalize different styles of calming and support neurodiversity
Whether you’re supporting a child with anxiety, sensory needs, trauma responses, or emotional outbursts, this resource meets them where they are—and helps them get where they need to go.
More About the Categories in the Calming Card Desk:
This deck organizes calming strategies into five unique types to support kids in discovering what kinds of calming actually work for them. Each type offers a different path to regulation—whether through mindfulness, creative expression, play, or connection with others.
🧘 Mindful Calming
Mindful strategies support emotional regulation from the inside out by building awareness, presence, and intentional focus. These cards invite stillness, reflection, and grounding.
🎨 Creative Calming
Creative strategies use art, music, writing, or the imagination to help children express and process emotions that may be hard to verbalize. These options make space for big feelings in safe, expressive ways.
🏡 Spatial Calming
Spatial strategies involve using the environment to promote calm—like creating cozy spaces, or taking space to reset. These cards help kids associate certain places or activities with safety and regulation.
🤝 Social Calming
Social calming brings co-regulation and emotional safety through connection with others. These strategies encourage modeling, support, and shared moments of calm to build self-esteem and reduce isolation.
🧸 Playful Calming
Playful strategies use movement, laughter, and imaginative distraction to help kids burn off excess energy, reset focus, and shift emotional states. These activities promote emotional processing in an engaging and developmentally appropriate way.
More About the Cards
Each card features:
- A strategy title
- A kid-friendly description
- A short explanation of how the strategy helps
- 1–3 reflective or playful discussion questions
These questions are designed to promote conversation, emotional awareness, and self-expression. They invite kids to connect the skill to their personal experiences in fun, low-pressure ways.
For example, the “Stretch it Out” card includes:
- Description: Gently stretch your body. Reach for the sky, touch your toes, and stretch side to side.
- Why it helps: Stretching releases built-up energy and helps bring awareness back to the body.
- Questions:
• What are some of your favorite stretches?
• How does your body feel after stretching?
CHECK OUT ALL THE RESOURCES CREATED BY THIS MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR HERE
