Feelings & Calm
Naming big feelings and finding the way back to calm. 3 worksheets to fill in online or print.
Updated
Big feelings can arrive like a storm for a neurodivergent child: fast, loud, and hard to come back from. These gentle, visual worksheets help your child put words to what they're feeling and find their own way back to calm, building emotional skills without lectures or shame. They're a tool for the calm after, and a plan for next time.
Fill them in together on screen or print them. Try any of them in your browser first, and build a calm-down plan side by side.
My Feelings Thermometer
Help kids name how big a feeling is, and what helps.
My Calm-Down Plan
Pick the calming tricks that work, before you need them.
My Worry Scale
Help kids show how big a worry feels, and shrink it together.
Questions about feelings & calm
How do I calm down a child with ADHD?
In the moment, aim for safety and calm rather than lessons: lower your voice, use very few words, stay close, and offer a quiet spot or something to squeeze or hold. Breathing slowly yourself helps them borrow your calm. Talk about what happened later, once everyone has settled, which is where a calm-down plan worksheet comes in.
My child melts down over small things. Is that ADHD?
Big, fast emotional reactions are very common with ADHD (it's called emotional dysregulation). It isn't naughtiness, and gentle tools can help them learn to self-soothe over time.
When should we use these?
Best when everyone's already calm, as a way to name feelings and make a plan together, not in the heat of a meltdown.