Description
Navigating The Zones is a cooperative game that expands on the teachings of The Zones of Regulation curriculum. It encourages students to collaboratively build different “Zones Pathways”—visual, sequential, and concrete road maps that help participants practice the process of social problem-solving that’s required for emotional self-regulation. This three-step process involves thinking about a situation (where are we, who are we with?), exploring a feeling that may be experienced in response to the situation, and considering different tools or strategies that may be used when experiencing this situation and feeling.
Group collaboration is a significant part of the journey in Navigating The Zones. Participants work together, under the guidance of the Adult Facilitator, to support each other and reach a shared goal. They can offer each other help, ask questions, suggests tools and strategies, and more—so that as a team, everyone is successful and the learning is rich! Navigating The Zonespurposefully avoids competitive play. This flexible teaching tool can be used in a therapeutic or nontherapeutic setting, in a classroom or a living room, by parents, educators, aides, counselors, clinical therapists, behaviorists, psychologists, social workers, etc. Materials are adaptable to the learning needs of participants.
Targets for Learning
- Reinforce teaching the Zones of Regulation framework to encourage the development of a self-regulation skill set
- Use a system to categorize feelings and emotions into four colored zones for improved self-awareness
- Recognize and communicate the internal feelings, levels of arousal, and sensory states that one experiences in different zones
- Reflect on how various situations impact feelings and states
- Practice identifying tools and strategies to regulate one’s internal feelings, states, and sensory needs within specific Zones
- Reinforce a more concrete linear sequence (Zones Pathway) in thinking through and problem solving how to self-regulate in specific Zones and in given situation
- Reinforce COLLABORATION: participants work together in a group to enhance and support each other’s learning experiences
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Advanced Pack: Cards to Extend Play with Navigating The Zones
IMPORTANT – Please Note! – This product requires the use of Navigating The Zones, sold separately.
About the Advanced Extension Pack
If you’ve been using the game Navigating The Zones, integrate the Advanced Extension Pack and Game Cards to help more sophisticated thinkers (age 10+) further develop their problem solving and self-regulation skills. Add these advanced cards to the Navigating The Zones cooperative game to introduce three additional levels of play—including competitive game play! The Advanced Extension Pack provides more complex and nuanced Situation and Feeling Cards and encourages more flexible, strategic thinking by introducing Wild Cards, Trade-A-Cards, and more.
Levels of Team Engagement: Use Navigating The Zones plus the Advanced Extension Pack to access four levels of team engagement, each advancing in complexity to help students practice and develop stronger self-regulation skills as they move from collaborative to competitive game play. These levels are sequential and should be taught in order:
Level 1. Learning through the Zones Pathway. Use Navigating The Zones. Participants become familiar with the navigation board, the basic Zones Pathway, the Situation, Feeling, and Tool cards, and actively reflect on the process of self-regulation within each Zone through the Checkpoint process. Participants work together to obtain Destination Regulation! packets.
Level 2. Advanced situations and feelings added. Use Navigating The Zones plus the Advanced Extension Pack. Explore the four Zones Pathways using new and more sophisticated Situation and Feeling Cards. Engagement remains team-focused
Level 3. Competitive game play begins. Use Navigating The Zones plus the Advanced Extension Pack. Players now work individually to navigate the Zones Pathways and try to earn Destination Regulation! packets to win, introducing a moderate level of competition. Starter Cards are introduced: Wild Cards and Trade-A-Cards. These encourage flexibility, critical thinking, and deeper problem solving
Level 4. Full competitive game play. Use Navigating The Zones plus the Advanced Extension Pack. Players practice self-regulation through strategic and competitive game play. Three new Challenge Cards are added: Stuck in Your Zone Cards, STOP, OPT, and GO cards, and Pathway MY Way Cards. These cards present players with advantages, unanticipated challenges, and roadblocks that require stronger self-regulation, additional thought, reading the intentions of others, and problem-solving.
Getting Started
- 1-6 players plus an adult Facilitator
- Visual cues on cards included in Navigating The Zones (colored dots indicating possible zones; feeling illustrations) are no longer included in the Advanced Pack. Players are expected to use their social minds and problem-solve in a deeper way.
- Adaptations and modifications are included to accommodate different levels of learners.
What’s in the Box
- 300 Advanced Situation Cards (100 of each: Home, School, Community)
- 100 Advanced Feeling Cards
- 40 Tool Cards (10 per Zone color)
- 30 Starter Cards
- 25 Challenge Cards
- Plastic card deck tray and labels
