The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Yellowstone County is to “enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.” Some might think that this only involves helping students with their homework or making sure they get their one hour of exercise each day. While Club does focus on academic success and physical wellbeing, we are also focused on the social-emotional wellness of Club members.

Jase and Karla, two Club professionals at the Bair Family Clubhouse, had a personal goal of creating a safe space in the Club for kids to work on their physical and emotional regulation. This goal brought to life the Cool Down Zone! The Zone provides members with a comfortable place to go inside the Clubhouse when they need a break.  The Cool Down Zone is an area where members can take their time to recognize and process overwhelming, strong emotions. Each member who uses the Cool Down Zone starts with a five-minute timer. They can sit on the foam floor, a wobble cushion, or a comfy bean bag and use any of the Zone’s many amenities. These include the texture wall, fidgets, a building block wall and a binder full of mindfulness activities such as mazes and coloring pages and noise cancelling headphones. After five minutes, a staff member will check-in with them to see if more time is needed, or a different approach to emotional regulation might be better.

Karla has a background in Occupational Therapy and is currently working on her Doctoral Capstone and Jase is a long time Club Staff who has seen the positive impact of learning how to regulate emotions. The Zone has been in place for nearly a month and they both agree that it has been a great addition to the Bair Family Clubhouse. The first week was filled with curious members eager to explore the new feature, but they have seen the kids learn to respect the Zone for its intended purpose. They are both especially grateful that Club members are learning when they need to use it and go out of their way to request time in the Cool Down Zone. Both Karla and Jase knew that there was no way to create a room or office for this Zone, so they looked at the facility and made the most out of a small corner! With the right supplies and a bit of creativity, they created a great space to help Club members navigate their emotions!