Zones of Regulation

Social skills and self-regulation go hand in hand. At Camp Amicus, we teach campers about the Zones of Regulation to help them be more aware of how they are feeling and learn strategies to get themselves to the green "good to go" zone. 

Our goal is to coach campers to become aware of their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs and develop strategies to problem solve. Each Amicus staff member carries visual aids that campers can use to identify which zone they are in so that they can work with the counselor to get back to green. 

Reinforcing these concepts at home with your child will help them use these skills far beyond camp. Check out the resources below to help you use the Zones of Regulation at home! 

So what are the zones? There are four main zones, they each have a colour and associated feelings/emotions. 

Red Zone - used to describe heightened states of alertness and intense emotions. A person may be experiencing anger, rage, explosive behavior, devastation, or terror when in the Red Zone. 

Yellow Zone - used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions; however, one has some control when they are in the Yellow Zone.  A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone. 

Green Zone - used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone.  This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.  

Blue Zone - used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings, such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.  

Zone check in's are important throughout the day, not only when emotions are heightened. The visual tracker below helps campers become aware of their emotional patterns during the day. You can use this at home with your child as well! 

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Once a camper is able to identify their zones they are also able to start thinking about strategies and tools that work for them to help move out of negative zones and into the green zone. Each person is different and will have to experiment to find what works best for them to calm down. For example, it might be a quiet space, a special toy or taking a break. 

We find that breathing exercises are effective strategies for calming down and cheering up that work for many people. At camp, we use the two exercises below respectively called "Lazy 8 Breathing" and "The six sides of breathing". We encourage you to try out these tools at home and practice the breathing exercises with your camper when they are in the Green Zone, familiarizing them with the breathing strategies to help if they find themselves feeling like they are in the Red, Yellow or Blue zones. 

Check out this website for more information about the Zones of Regulation. 

Using the Zones of Regulation at home with your camper is a great way to prepare them for what they will be seeing at camp and to continue their development in self-regulation, awareness and social skills after camp is finished. 

Summer 2017

Hello from Camp Amicus!

Welcome back to our blog and thank you for visiting!

This year we are launching Amicus social media and we are so excited to stay connected with you. We plan to use Facebook, Instagram, and this blog to provide camp updates, program information, and resources for our camp families and community!

Although camp does not start until July, the preparation and planning process has been going on all year! In May our Leadership Staff Team started working in the office and the rest of the staff will be joining them in a few weeks for staff training before camp begins. We are very excited to have a mix of fabulous returning counselors. And, we are thrilled to be welcoming some new faces to the Camp Amicus staff roster as well. Check back with our social pages over the next few weeks where we will be posting staff profiles so you can get to know them all!

Staff training gives staff the opportunity to further their knowledge of ADHD and Learning Disabilities in order to fully support our campers. During the first week, staff trains at our Calgary facility. They get to hear from psychologists, teachers, and camp parents about the best to work with our campers and teach social skills. As a group, staff learns all of the camp games, songs, and traditions to make sure everyone is on the same page and delivering the true Camp Amicus experience to our campers.

During the second week of training, our staff heads up to our overnight camp facility near Nordegg AB called Goldeye Centre. There they live like it's really camp. They canoe, hike, climb the ropes course, take a ride on the giant swing and much more. They also practice teaching social skills, running programs and familiarizing themselves with the daily schedules of camp.

The energy around here is high and we cannot wait to get going with our whole staff and more importantly CAMP 2017!



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See you soon!