Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: 15 November 2021
The balloon technique is a very effective strategy to help children regulate their emotions, promotes relaxation and allows them to develop greater body awareness. It is a simple resource that children can start using from the age of 7 and with which they will gradually improve their emotional intelligence.
None of us want to see our children or pupils gripped by their frustrations, from those attacks of anger that lead them to immerse themselves in excessive tantrums, in the most desperate fits of anger, snot and screams. However, from the age of two it is quite common for their emotional universes, which are still unknown to them, to become a source of family problems and tensions. Let's see how to help them with the balloon technique.
"Prolonged emotional tension can hinder a child's intellectual faculties and thus complicate his learning ability."
-Daniel Goleman-
Our goal as parents or educators is not to eliminate any accumulation of anxiety in the child's life. It is neither logical nor recommended to completely pave the way so that his everyday life is always rewarding and adequate to his expectations; the world, as we already know, does not work that way. The secret is to provide the little ones with the tools they need to manage on their own anxiety, anger or sadness.
The balloon technique is an original, fun and incredibly useful tool which will be of great help for this purpose. Let's see what it consists of.
Respect the child's emotions without enhancing his anxiety
Spesso children use crying, screaming and anger as the only resource to deal with what they do not like or what causes them anxiety. Far from further intensifying the situation by shouting, what we have to do is put ourselves in the shoes of the little ones, to be exact in their brains.
The cerebral cortex has a slow but progressive maturation. Following this, impulse or emotion control usually does not complete before adolescence is over. It is a long time in which there are many inter-individual differences. Some children will be able to manage their emotional world better, other children will be more demanding, restless and sensitive to anxiety.
Knowing this and having these concepts clear will be very useful. We must first be empathetic with them, understand their frustrations and their anger, but also understand that validating an emotion does not mean agreeing with it. Rather, it means recognizing its existence, knowing how to offer tools to the child so that he or she understands it, faces it and manages it. The balloon technique is a good starting point, a very useful tool from 7 years old.
What is the balloon technique used for and how is it applied?
The balloon technique teaches children to relax and control theirs pulses. It can be used when children are feeling nervous or angry. Thanks to it, they will be able to control themselves, keep calm, stimulate psychomotor skills and develop awareness of the body, posture and sideways.
What do we need?
For the balloon technique we need the following:
- A balloon for the child. If we create this dynamic in a classroom, we will try to make the environment comfortable, spacious and without too many stimuli.
- In the classroom there should be mats or mats, so that at a given time the children can lie down.
- It is important to remember that offering a balloon to a child under the age of 7 can be dangerous.
What does the balloon technique consist of?
You have to follow the following steps:
- We will not offer the balloon to children without first explaining what it is. We will explain in simple words that our body reacts in a particular way when we let tension and emotions like anger, anger or frustration take over.
- After that, we can deliver the balloon to the children and ask them to inflate it. As they do, we will continue to tell them that our mind and body are like that balloon. The angrier we are, the more air and negative emotions accumulate ... until it explodes (we'll let that happen).
- Then we will give the children another balloon and we will tell them to inflate it a little and then let the air out. The balloon will then return to its original condition without exploding; now he is calm and relaxed.
- Finally, we will ask the children to lie down on the floor (on the mat or mat) and to imagine being a balloon. A very, very angry balloon that is building up a lot of air: our belly swells, our arms swell, our legs swell… And we're about to explode because negative emotions are controlling us. What do we do at this point? We deflate ourselves by noticing a great relief throughout the body. We now feel lighter, more comfortable and happy.
Suggest that the children remember the balloon whenever they feel full of anger, that life becomes complicated and brings them things they don't like, don't expect, or make them nervous. They will never have to let it explode, because when it happens, they lose everything and get scared.
When we feel nervous, there is nothing better than breathing deeply and letting the air escape from our lungs. Letting the tension escape will help us feel lighter and have more control over ourselves.
