Emergency Calm Down Kit DIY

As I have talked about in the 5 ways to deal with a meltdown, an emergency calm down kit is one of those ways. This DIY can be helpful not just for ASD but also for anyone suffering from anxiety or panic disorders. As a person who has suffered from those, I have in the past put together a kit of my own to use when I was having a particularly hard time. You can read more about my story here.

The elements of your calm down kit should always be meaningful and helpful to you. This is all about de-escalation and the ability to regain composure. It is not about getting rid of feelings but allowing yourself to not be overwhelmed by them. So if the things I mention are not going to be helpful to you or your child that is okay. Find the things that you know work and figure out a way to make them more mobile. This is just a useful guide.

Drawing

This is one of the things that I used when I was having the hardest time in my life. I constantly had a sketch pad and markers with me. It was very helpful at giving me something to do with my hands that was productive and not destructive. My daughter now does the same but uses a smaller kid-friendly version.

Sensory Bottles

I use sensory or calm down bottles in my daughters calm down a spot at home. This is the same idea a calming movement of glitter and color that can help slow down breathing. I am a fan of putting in glitter, and glitter glue in the bottles I make. To have it be more mobile friendly use a small plastic bottle.

Some other ideas for a sensory bottle are look and find rice sensory bottles or oil and water sensory bottles that mix and look kind of like a lava lamp kind of thing. Whatever you materials you have and whatever works will be just fine.

Fidget Sets

Some things that help my daughter a lot are fidgets. She loves her spaghetti fidget that’s in her calm down spot. The ones that I use in her emergency calm down kit are from the set I bought online below. I threw in one of her spaghetti fidgets also, but she would’ve probably been fine with just those if she had to. Fidgets keep your hands busy and help give tactile stimulation as well.

Calming Music

For this, you can have something as big as an iPod or as little as a calming music box. I prefer a cheaper Mp3 player. That way it won’t matter if it happens to get broken in the middle of a meltdown. As opposed to something very expensive. Load it up with calming meditation music, relaxing rain sounds, or waves. Whatever your child finds to be calming use. Make sure to put in a little pack of ear buds just in case.

Weighted Stuffed Animal

As a weighted blanket or vest would help someone with a sensory processing disorder, anxiety, or autism a weighted stuffed animal might just do the trick. The ability for it to be small is difficult but I found a very cool tutorial on making them out of stuffed animal pencil cases. You basically buy a pencil case and stuff it with rice, glass beads, or pellets. Add some lavender essential oils or Epsom salts to make it smell nice and calming. Then there you have a small lap-sized weighted animal.

All of the ones I have made end up being about 2 pounds. So, they are not quite the same weight as a blanket but they are heavy enough to give proprioceptive input.

Body Sock

A weighted blanket is just impractical when talking about an emergency calm down kit, but a body sock is much more manageable. My daughter has not used this yet, so I am unable to talk about the effectiveness of it, but I have heard great things from other special needs mom’s and professionals. It also helps if your child is very energetic and need to get out some energy.

Headphones

The very first thing I purchased for my daughter, even before having a calm down spot was quieting headphones. Some kiddos love noise and others have an aversion to it. My daughter becomes easily overwhelmed by sound and will put her hands over her ears. So these have been instrumental everywhere. We now have 3 pairs of headphones one for on the go, on for at home, and one for at school or daycare. They also come in adorable colors and patterns. We have both of the “girly” patterns of this brand of headphones.

Bags

With all of these lovely items to help calm you or your child down, you will need someplace to put everything. If you are using items that are on the smaller side like the fidgets and Mp3 player you will be able to use a little pouch or wristlet. Something that just fits in your purse or in the car. If you are including all of the items listed, you might want to look into a backpack. We got a reverse sequin back for my daughters calm down kit. She picked it out in her favorite color (purple) and because it’s reverse sequin the whole backpack becomes a fidget itself. Can’t get any better than that!

If your child is not potty trained you might already be carrying around a backpack or diaper bag of sorts anyway. So adding this little pouch will not be any different then what you already have to carry.

These are the things that we have put into our emergency calm down kit. If you are already doing something like this let me know what you have in your bag. If you are making one and found this for ideas let me know what you are planning on putting in yours and don’t forget to tag @mamaofthedrama.

I hope that these ideas help you or your little one calm down in situations where overwhelming feelings cannot be helped or leaving the situation is not practical.

Until next time…