Zones of regulation at Whitley Park 

Emotional regulation and communication tools for every child. 

At Whitley Park, we have adopted Zones of Regulation as a way to support every child to have tools to support their emotional regulation and communication, whatever their age or ability, throughout their time with us. 

What are Zones of Regulation? 

The Zones of Regulation was created by occupational therapist Leah Kuypers and is widely used in educational and therapeutic settings. It aims to teach self-regulation and emotional control by helping individuals recognise their feelings and the corresponding strategies to manage them. The framework categorises emotions and states of alertness into four distinct zones, each represented by a colour: Blue, Green, Yellow and Red.  

It focusses on how emotions affect our body and behaviour and what we can do about it rather than just learning to name our feelings.  

Zones of Regulation are in every classroom.

Zones of Regulation displays can be found in every classroom, and children are encouraged to ‘check in’ with their adults regularly. A big part of Zones of Regulation is that all zones are okay, it’s what we do to help ourselves and others in each zone that matters most! Children who engage positively with Zones of Regulation by showing engagement, communication and effort with the tools and strategies available are celebrated as Zones Champions each term. Teachers can nominate them, and a certificate/note is sent home acknowledging their efforts in all zones.  

We use visual aids and adaptations to make Zones of Regulation as accessible as possible for all our learners. If you would like to print any of our resources to use at home, you can do so here: