Zones of Regulation

The Zones of Regulation is a framework, created by Leah Kuypers MA ED, OTR/L, designed to “foster regulation and emotional control.”
The programme aims to teach children about self-regulation by categorising all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete coloured zones. The framework provides strategies to teach pupils to become more aware of and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs, and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts.

What Are The Zones?

The zones are a self-regulation approach to behaviour that categories all the different ways we feel into different colours, which helps children to identify the way they are feeling.

Emotions in all of the zones are natural to experience, but by using the framework children will learn how to recognise and manage feelings from all zones, as well as further understand how those around them may be feeling.

The framework also provides strategies to help children understand how they can control their emotions and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts. The goal of introducing children to the framework is to help them move towards independent emotion regulation. This is a lifelong skill that they will not only be able to transfer to future educational settings but also use in their relationships and situations they encounter outside of school.