Calm-Down Time (Toddler Tools)

We have the whole series of these books. Simplistic for a toddler, this, naptime, feet not for kicking, tails not for pulling, biting are all excellent and helpful. All books have helpful types for parents and caregivers/babysitters.

My boys love this book. I only wish they would actualy calm down....ever. The book is made out of sturdy material and can handle a real shelacking. Mildy water resistant the book can handle sippy cup spillage and the occational colateral damage from a water fight gone askew.

This is a great book for toddlers and children. My toddler son LOVES books and has had a little issue at daycare with being a little aggressive, he's a big boy and so when he's aggressive then it's a bigger deal than when a smaller kid is aggressive. He's very sweet and gentle and nice but also a little moody at times (he must get that from his dad LOL!) Anyway, we ordered a small collection of board books to help him understand better ways to control his emotions and redirect that negative behavior into something positive. This book is great and I'm so happy that I got it for him. I love that it's a board book because it's easy for him to turn the pages and the book has simple words and offers positive choices for my toddler.

This is a great addition to his library and I'm pleased that we have it!!

I LOVE this book series. My granddaughter loves books and these are always her first 'go to' when she wants to read. Thanks to the author for a very well written series that actually teaches toddlers!

I love this book.
I love how it is written and my daughter just looooves this book.
Now everytime she has a fit I count to 3 and do some breaths with her and she is good. Of course it doesn't work all the time but still the book is too cute!

My 2yo has a terrible temper and has trouble controlling his emotions, so this book has been very helpful. When he gets upset, we use the tactics in this book. We also read it every night at bedtime. Highly recommended!

In attempt to order this book...the real thing, I accidentally bought the Kindle version. However my son is 3 and he enjoys swiping through the pages and reading it to himself. It has been a good addition to our book collection.

We buy books in this series as needed when my daughter needs a little work on her skills. It's great! when it's bed time and she's in a good mood we read about doing things the right way and it works WAY better than just correcting her when she is making bad decisions. She even knows most of the words just because we read them so much and they're easy for a 2 year old to comprehend. LOVE THEM!!!

My toddler was having tricycles with his tantrums and sometimes is loose my cool as well we started reading this book every other day and its really helped him to look for comfort in other things rather then hitting or screaming I'm looking forward to ordering more books for him

I have read other boks by Free Spirit publishing and I really like this one. It focuses on what is the right thing to do without emphasising what a chiuld can do wrong. Amazing! I used it with my son who is 3 and it worked for him.

I think this is a great book to use at home or in a day-care/pre-school setting. I think outside of an immediacy setting (places where kids often act out or have difficulty calming down for nap-times or circle times) these skills fall on deaf ears with small children. There are some great skills to be learned in here, and if the book was used as a signal to help kids transition from a rowdy time to a quiet time, it could yield some great skill-learning in small children.

I attempted to use this book in my therapy practice, and it seems that my little kids struggled to remember the skills from the book. I don't recommend it for other child therapists.

My child HATES this book. I don't know what it is. We have other titles by the author that he is fine with, likes even, but He Hates This Book. So now I make him say the little rhyme before he can get out of time out and threaten to make him read the book if the crime recurs.

Wonderful book, and appropriate for a wide variety of ages! My 2yo enjoys it and practices his Calm-Down time! Its wonderful to have a book about emotional regulation that's accessible to such little ones!

IT IS A GREAT LITTLE BOOK FOR VERY ACTIVE CHIODREN ALSO GROWNUPS. IN FACT I AM TRYING TO ORDER A FEW MORE.I LIKE THE BOARD BOOK. THE CHILD I GAVE IT TO KEPT GOING BACK TO IT. HIS ATTENTION SPAN IS ABOUT THREE SECONDS. I CONSIDER THE BOOK A SUCCESS.

i love this book..we use calm down time whenever my son is getting overstimulated, frustrated, or too whiny..it is great to use the technique in the book to give your kid a little "me" time, without the upset involved with time out. we use time out less now, and mostly only a few times a week since we have the option of calm down time too. we have had this book for over a year now, and still enjoy it at least once a week. the book is simple and straight forward, with cute illustrations and caring language. i love it!

My 18-month-old granddaughter picks out this book to be read to her nearly every day. When she gets angry if things do not go her way, we use the techniques in the book such as taking a deep breath and giving a big hug, and they really do help to calm her down. I highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with toddlers.

Toddlers are basically small terrorist/dictators. Telling them to calm down is like trying to tell a liberal that Hillary is a liar, cheater and a horrible choice for president. You can't get a word in edge wise.

I love these books!
We've taken a cue from the books and differentiated nap time, bed time, and "calm down time". My son still naps in the morning, but has given up his afternoon sleep. However, he still gets tired and needs to rest in the afternoons. The "calm down time" book has helped demonstrate what it means, to have alone time and rest (without having it be punishment or "time out".

Somehow, my 2 year old takes the lessons less personally when we read about it in the books. We have the sharing, calm down time, hands are not for hitting and nap time. The books are simply stated so that a 2 year old can understand. They are vague enough that they apply to most children and situations. A bonus, the colors and patterns are vintage/nostalgic and fun to look at.

When I tell him it's calm down time, he gets very defensive and argumentative. So, my strategy has changed. Now, we sit down to read this book. The mommy in the book tells the boy calm down time. My son can see how the little boy in the book responds and sits or plays nicely. I can then leave him on the floor of his room to play solo for a bit. It may only last 5 minutes, but it's a positive start! I like the idea of teaching him to recognize when he needs to take a break and how to handle that. "1, 2, 3, taking care of me." (Mommies can learn from this lesson, too:)

I love the cute cover! And each of the pages are solid and has a glossy feel, plus the illustrations are just too awesome and creative! The size of the book is just nice, not too big, not too small.

If you look closely, the characters and objects illustrated are not only hand drawn, they are also actual textures used to replace the clothings, toys, even the wallpapers in the book are from the actual thing! It's very cute and has that added touch!

With this book, I'm trying to teach Ben that yes, there are times we get sad, mad and angry and that we want to vent out the frustrations, but we can also take steps to calm ourselves down. And there are easy, positive and healthy choices we can take to calm down such as taking a deep breath, relaxing and taking a break in a quiet place, or even just a nice little hug!

In my opinion, the Toddler Tools series are a good choice for parents to use with their children because of the positive message they brings! No wonder this book is the "Gold Mom's Choice Award® Winner"!

We use this book with my 2 1/2 year old boy/girl twins and have since they were at least a year old. They love using this book during their own "calm down times" now and in the beginning they completely understood the concept and definitely understood why it helps to calm down. If you have a toddler or two or more this is a great purchase. Follow through with it and use the helpful hits in the back if you get stuck. What a wonderful Resource of books!

This is a great go to book for when your kid is having a hard time relaxing. It can be anytime. Not just to calm before rest or calm down during a tantrum, but it really can be used anytime. It helps me to calm down too so I like it too!

My daughter is almost 5 and she has special needs/Autism.
This book has been very helpful for her to understand "how" to calm down. I love the page, "one, two, three...I'm taking care of me (breathe...)"
It is written at a toddler level, but it is a great book in our home.

Seriously, one of the best books for helping my daughter manage her feelings/emotion. We starting reading this at bedtime and now she repeats phrasing and breathing throughout the day when she's having a hard/emotional time.

My daughter loves 'reading' books and story time. This has really helped her learn to calm down when she she gets upset.
I would try to get her to breath before we got this book but she really didn't pay attention. Now when she gets upset and I mention Calm-Down Time she will actually take deep breaths and calm down.

Such a great book to teach little children how to take deep breaths and calm down. Young children, especially need to learn that if you take a few minutes to calm down, you can resume your normal activities with fewer problems. If children would learn this concept when they were young, teaching relaxation to children and adults would be so much easier!

my child and I read this book often
It is good for a toddlers understanding of what anger means
My toddler is normally calm by the time the book is read all the way through
Now she is 5 she see says that calm down time is her favorite book
It is nice to travel with

Every Elizabeth Verdick book is amazing at helping get messages across to toddlers and so forth. I worked as a children's therapist for 10 years and these books are perfect for helping with life skills.

Results and value. This book has saved hours of time and sleep and already paid for itself ten times over within the first month. 3AM potty battles won. Clothing tantrums averted. Shopping trips salvaged. Bravo.

This book does a really nice job of explaining the range of feelings kids can have and giving kid-friendly ideas of calm ways to express those feelings. The last pages also provide some tips for parents about ways to help their toddlers and preschoolers calm themselves. The pictures are great--nice colors, calm, multicultural. I'd recommend it!

I love this series so bought this book for my 3 1/2 year old, who usually responds well to these teaching tools books. However, she does not connect with the hug-yourself while-saying "1-2-3 I'm taking care of me" refrain (nor do I). Seems like these authors could have come up with something better. This is nowhere near as good as Hands are Not for Hitting or even Mealtime. Would not recommend.