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Social & Emotional Development
Developing Self-Regulation
WiseTip: SE-REG-M2436-E01B

Set up the environment for your child to successfully complete certain tasks on their own, for example, shelves that are low enough for your child to reach and use pails for returning dirty dishes if the sink is not accessible at their height.

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  1. Fiese BH, Tomcho TJ, Douglas M, Josephs K, Poltrock S, Baker T. (2002). A review of 50 years of research on naturally occurring family routines and rituals: cause for celebration? J. Fam. Psychol. 16:381–90 (Level III)

24-36 months
Environment
WHY IT MATTERS

Play has also been shown to be effective in helping children develop self-regulation. To sustain play, children must act deliberately, inhibiting behaviour that is not part of the specific role. This inhibiting action supports the development of intentional behaviour. Pretend play is a mature form of play which requires planning and

symbolic thinking

Symbolic Play - Play that occurs when a child transforms the physical environment into a symbol. In the symbolic play, children use a variety of objects in symbolic play.1 They learn to transform objects, substituting them for other objects and acting toward them as if they were those other objects.2 For example, a broomstick is a horse, and a paper plate is a steering wheel.

1. Santrock, J. W. (2011). Child Development (14th ed.). New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill Education.

2. Smith, P. K. (2007). Pretend play and children’s cognitive and literacy development: Sources of evidence and some lessons from the past. In K. A. Roskos & J. F. Christie (Eds.), Play and literacy in early childhood. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

and has been shown to help develop self-talk, which is beneficial for helping to regulate the child’s own emotions and behaviours.
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  1. Elkonin, D,B., Psychologija Igry (The Psychology of Play). 2005a. preface to “The Psychology of Play” (Ot avtora: biografia issledovanni), trans. Lydia Razran Stone. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology 43:11- 21. (Level III)

  2. Bodrova, E., Germeroth, C., & Leong, D.J. (2013). “Play and Self-Regulation: Lessons from Vygotsky.” American Journal of Play 6:111–23. (Level III)

Having opportunities to practice expected behaviours independently through daily routines helps create and maintain appropriate child behaviours as they give children consistency and helps with planning abilities.

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  1. Fiese BH, Tomcho TJ, Douglas M, Josephs K, Poltrock S, Baker T. (2002). A review of 50 years of research on naturally occurring family routines and rituals: cause for celebration? J. Fam. Psychol. 16:381–90 (Level III)

Consistent routines are associated with less impulsivity, aggression, and oppositionality among children.

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  1. Koblinsky, S. A., Kuvalanka, K. A., & Randolph, S. M. (2006). Social skills and behaviour problems of urban, African American preschoolers: Role of parenting practices, family conflict, and maternal depression. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 554. (Level IV)

  2. Lanza, H., & Drabick, D. (2011). Family routine moderates the relation between child impulsivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(1), 83–94. (Level IV)

Researchers suggest that routines may even protect against developing externalising behaviour disorders by providing impulsive children with predictable consequences they can learn to work around and the ability to learn coping strategies.
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  1. Bater, L. & Jordan,S. (2017). Child routines and self-regulation serially mediate parenting practices and externalizing problems in preschool children. Child & Youth Care Forum, 46(2), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-016-9377-7 (Level IV)

Children need adults who are sensitive to their cues, responsive to their needs, and able to provide a soothing presence and create an environment for them in times of distress. Having a quiet place with reduced sensory inputs and comforting and familiar objects helps the child to find ways to self-soothe and emotionally regulate.

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