“Tune In” time (instead of “time out”) is a part of the evidence-based discipline strategies from No-Drama Discipline by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel (professor of psychiatry) and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson (pediatric psychotherapist). I’ve combined this idea with the Zones of Regulation by giving my patients a place to calm down while sorting through their emotions, the causes of these emotions, and then identifying helpful responses for these emotions and the situations that caused them.
I got this chair that fits perfectly in the nook and folds out to a bed on the rare occasion kids need it. I hung my IKEA leaf canopy over it (it’s no longer available, but this one is similar) & I placed my mermaid pillows on it. I have a shelf of “regulation tools” next to it, including fidgets and sensory supports. I hung a file holder on the side of the shelves and put my “Zones of Regulation” binder into it.
My tune-in corner has sure evolved since I opened!
Back when my patients weren’t vaccinated I hung my IKEA leaf by sewing fishing line loops through the front and back and then suspending the loops from the brackets made for suspended ceilings (here’s a link to a similar product – mine were actually gifted to me). I then added these battery-powered and remote controlled lights by using these butterfly-shaped hairclips.
Here are some more of my favorite Zones of Regulation tools.