Taking Control of Your Anger

1. Welcome Song – as in previous sessions
2. Sliding Board yoga / seat push-up – from Session Three
3. Visual Schedule (welcome, puppet show, game, story, calming activities, goodbye song)
4. Puppet Show
   Bumble: I’m getting madder! (throws a toy)

   Mrs. Panda: Why, what happened?

   Bumble: First, I was last in line coming inside. Then, I was playing cars and Johnny hit me.

   Mrs. Panda: I guess since you were already a bit mad about being last in line, getting hit made it worse. Do you remember how we use our traffic light to calm down?

   Bumble: Yes, I guess I need it now.

   Mrs. Panda: You seem like you’re in the red light. You need to stop before you hurt someone. Let’s go to the yellow light and slow down. Smell the chocolate and blow out the candles. Hug yourself tightly. You look calm enough now to figure out what to do. You’re at a green light.

   Bumble: I feel much better. I’ll pick up the toy I threw and find something else to do.

   Mrs. Panda: Maybe next time if you feel like you’re getting really mad, you can smell the chocolate and blow out the candles. This will make it easier if anything else goes wrong.

5. Okay Angries Dice
6. Read Put the Brakes on Your Anger book
7. Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light – play the game in the usual way, adding “slow down” for yellow
8. Discuss how we can take control of our bodies and calm down:
   • Read “Peaceful Piggy Yoga”
   • Demonstrate a few poses from book (cobra and warrior)
9. “Listening with an Open Mind” activity – draw a face and place it on the front of a large glass jar. “Let’s pretend this jar is a person. Put the lid on and say “when someone won’t listen to new ideas, we say the person’s mind is closed. Pretend these clothespins are new ideas. Do you think the ideas will go in when the person isn’t listening?” After the children guess, try to drop the clothespins in with the lid still on. Remove the lid and drop the clothespins carefully so that they go in. “When we decide to listen, we have an open mind. Then we can hear and understand new ideas. What can we do to listen with an open mind?” Discuss staying quiet, thinking about what the person said, asking questions to clarify, look at the person talking, say back what you heard, and think about how the person might be feeling.
10. Hurray Song