Impulse control is a struggle for everyone. From that cookie that’s calling your name from the kitchen cupboard to the student who just can’t stay in his seat during class, all of us have impulses that challenge our self-control.
Some children struggle with impulses more than others.
Children with attention difficulties have trouble stopping and thinking out their actions.
Children with sensory processing challenges have trouble pulling out the important information from the sensory “background noise”.
Children with executive functioning struggles may not problem solve, utilize working memory effectively, or demonstrate cognitive flexibility in order to maintain self-control.
Some children struggle with impulse control more than others.
These impulse control free printable sheets are a guide to addressing issues with self-monitoring and restraint in daily tasks. Use these strategies to improve impulse control in the classroom, at home, or in the community to improve learning, social interaction, safety, confidence, attention, and independence.
When you sign up for the free executive function email course, you will get access to a free email course on executive functioning skills. These three printable sheets, along with tons of information and additional resources will arrive in your inbox.
Impulse Control Red Flags
Stop and Think Sheet
Daily Reward Chart
These emails should be resource for anyone who struggles with a child with impulse control difficulties.
In the email course, you will receive the free packet on impulse control strategies, along with 5 full days of information related to impulse control and executive functioning skills.
This free email course is a HUGE (free) resource!
More information about the free printable pack
This pack is three pages and includes:
Impulse Control Red Flags- This is a nice resource to have on hand for teachers and therapists. This list of red flags can be used as an informal checklist for identifying impulse control issues.
Stop and Think Sheet- This printable sheet offers techniques for children to use to “stop and think” in the classroom or at home. This is a handy page that can be cut and fit into pencil boxes or folders. Use the blank section to fill in custom strategies for guiding impulse control issues.
Daily reward Chart- This printable page is a great tool for helping kids work on their self-control challenges. Kids can color in the stars to monitor progress. Write individual goals down the left side of the page or break the day into time frames. The reward sheet is open-ended to best suit each individual child.
A child jumps up from his seat in the middle of a classroom assignment. again.
A student acts out as he tries to make his classmates laugh. A play date friend hits and kicks other kids during play. A peer grabs toys from her friends hands. A child interrupts his mom while she’s on an important call with the pediatrician.
All of these situations are signs of impulsiveness. They are developmental stages that children go through as they grow in their social and emotional abilities. But sometimes, this developmental stage gets “stuck” and the impulsiveness just doesn’t stop despite working on impulsivity with the child. The ability to self-monitor one’s actions, or impulse control, has underlying reasons for the behaviors you see in the classroom or play dates.
Many times, impulsive actions are a brain-based result of modulation.
What is modulation?
Modulation is the ability to adapt or respond to circumstances. On a cellular basis in the brain, modulation refers to responses to neural activity that occurs as a result of sensory input being processed and interpreted by peripheral and neuronal cells in the central nervous system.
Modulation of sensory input is a crucial ability of our brain and body. The ability to filter out sensations and attend to the important information allows us to maintain an optimal level of arousal.
When we attend to the important information, modulation occurs. If that ability to modulate information is inadequate, our attention is distributed among all of the many changes of sensation bombarding our systems from the environment.
We’ve also covered affect modulation in detail, which is another resource you’ll want to check out.
Modulation and Impulsivity: What we see
Because the ability to receive and detect (or process) sensory information occurs at the neurological level, we can only infer what is happening based on outward behaviors. These observable performance occurs as sensory information is then integrated.
Behaviorally, modulation is reflected by how we respond or don’t respond to our environment. Responses are typically seen as sensory-seeking or sensory avoiding. Poor responses can also be expressed as distractibility, attention level, disorganization, anxiety, and impulsivity.
So, it might just be that the child who can’t control their impulse to have the last word is also hypersensitive to sensory input. The child who can’t stand in their place in line and needs to shove and push may be also be hyposensitive to sensory input. The underlying reasons might not be obvious, but they are there.
That’s why I created The Impulse Control Journal. The Impulse control journal is a printable journal for kids that helps them to identify goals, assess successes, and address areas of needs. The Impulse Control Journal is a printable packet of sheets that help kids with impulse control needs. Read more about The Impulse Control Journal HERE. The Impulse Control Journal has been totally revamped to include 79 pages of tools to address the habits, mindst, routines, and strategies to address impulse control in kids.
More about the Impulse Control Journal:
30 Drawing Journal Pages to reflect and pinpoint individual strategies
28 Journal Lists so kids can write quick checklists regarding strengths, qualities, supports, areas of need, and insights
8 Journaling worksheets to pinpoint coping skills, feelings, emotions, and strategies that work for the individual
Daily and Weekly tracking sheets for keeping track of tasks and goals
Mindset,Vision, and Habit pages for helping kids make an impact
Self-evaluation sheets to self-reflect and identify when inhibition is hard and what choices look like
Daily tracker pages so your child can keep track of their day
Task lists to monitor chores and daily tasks so it gets done everyday
Journal pages to help improve new habits
Charts and guides for monitoring impulse control so your child can improve their self-confidence
Strategy journal pages to help kids use self-reflection and self-regulation so they can succeed at home and in the classroom
Goal sheets for setting goals and working to meet those goals while improving persistence
Tools for improving mindset to help kids create a set of coping strategies that work for their needs
This is a HUGE digital resource that you can print to use over and over again.
These free impulse control printable sheets and MORE information on modulation as it impact impulsivity and other executive functioning areas can be found in my free executive functioning skills email course. Join us for 5 lessons that will explain executive functioning and change how you think about impulse control.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Kids struggle with impulse control. It’s natural. In the classroom, impulsive actions can mean trouble for kids. When kids act out in school, attention lags, peers are distracted, and learning suffers. Recently, I shared some strategies to help kids improve impulse control. There was a nice list of strategies to help with self-control in the classroom. It has been well-received with readers so I wanted to share even MORE strategies to help kids with impulse control in the classroom.
Strategies to help impulse control in the classroom
It’s my hope that these strategies can help teachers who are struggling to keep kids on task and focused when impulses are interfering with learning.
Stop and think tasks Use a timer for activities Count to 3 before answering Reduce visual distractions Act out appropriate behaviors Use timer apps Tell someone else your goals Work on problem solving skills Use a daily schedule Prioritize important tasks Work on anger management skills Make a schedule Reduce clutter Play impulse control games like Red Light, Green Light and Simon Says Create a list of rules and post them where they can be seen Break big tasks into smaller portions Provide positive feedback Use a goal tracker Teach listening skills
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This free printable packet may also be of use if you are struggling to address issues with impulse control in kids. You’ll also receive a short email series loaded with information on impulse control and resources and strategies that can really help.
That’s why I created The Impulse Control Journal. The Impulse control journal is a printable journal for kids that helps them to identify goals, assess successes, and address areas of needs. The Impulse Control Journal is a printable packet of sheets that help kids with impulse control needs. Read more about The Impulse Control Journal HERE. The Impulse Control Journal has been totally revamped to include 79 pages of tools to address the habits, mindset, routines, and strategies to address impulse control in kids.
More about the Impulse Control Journal:
30 Drawing Journal Pages to reflect and pinpoint individual strategies
28 Journal Lists so kids can write quick checklists regarding strengths, qualities, supports, areas of need, and insights
8 Journaling worksheets to pinpoint coping skills, feelings, emotions, and strategies that work for the individual
Daily and Weekly tracking sheets for keeping track of tasks and goals
Mindset, Vision, and Habit pages for helping kids make an impact
Self-evaluation sheets to self-reflect and identify when inhibition is hard and what choices look like
Daily tracker pages so your child can keep track of their day
Task lists to monitor chores and daily tasks so it gets done everyday
Journal pages to help improve new habits
Charts and guides for monitoring impulse control so your child can improve their self-confidence
Strategy journal pages to help kids use self-reflection and self-regulation so they can succeed at home and in the classroom
Goal sheets for setting goals and working to meet those goals while improving persistence
Tools for improving mindset to help kids create a set of coping strategies that work for their needs
This is a HUGE digital resource that you can print to use over and over again.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Kids with executive functioning skill challenges may suffer from impulse control difficulties. The strategies indicated in this post are guides to help teach kids impulse control for improved attention, self-regulation, and learning in the classroom.
You might know of a child who just can’t help themselves in the classroom. They are the ones who are speaking out, interrupting, jumping up from their seat, and distracting their classmates. There are underlying reason behind these behaviors and it is important to consider those causes for impulse-related behaviors. It may be there are unmet sensory needs, difficulty with self-regulation, trouble expressing oneself, emotional causes, or other underlying areas.
More than likely, the kids that need help with impulse control are being addressed in some way by the child’s teacher or team in one way or several. But if impulses are something that need addressed, try the impulse control strategies outlined below.
Parents, teachers, and therapists can use these strategies in different ways. Consider that every child is unique and what works for one child may not work for another. Likewise, it is very important to specifically design a strategy based on individualized assessment of the child.
Why is it difficult for kids to manage their impulses?
Children develop controlled impulses as part of their overall development. The very young child does not have these skills. In fact, there are those of us who have difficulty refraining from a second cookie as adults.
Impulse control requires will power, delayed gratification, and self-control. For the child who struggles with development, sensory processing, attention, physical limitations, cognitive delays, or social impairments, the ability to control ones impulses is very difficult.
These individuals are cognitively and automatically focused on the underlying needs. When other needs such as sensory or balance are the primary focus, it can be quite difficult to refrain from impulses.
Impulses seen in the classroom
Impulse control is part of development. Even adults with fully developed executive functioning skills struggle with impulse control skills. Examples include not going into the kitchen to grab a cookie when you know you have a bag of your favorite treats. Another example is controlling your urge to lounge and scroll social media for hours on end. Impulse control is hard!
But for kids, there is developmentally appropriate impulse control, and challenges in this area.
By developmentally appropriate impulse control, I’m talking about the student that knows it’s not appropriate to reach out and hit another student. That requires impulse control. In the classroom, there are many examples of impulse control (and lack of impulse control) that we see day in and day out.
Some of these are more reactive examples that occur in response to specific to situations, and others are common occurrences, simply because we are talking about kids here.
All of these examples of impulse issues in school can impact learning, safety, and education.
Speaking out
Interrupting classmates
Quitting games
Shoving in lines
Cutting in front of others
Jumping up from seat
Asking questions about irrelevanttopics
Physical impulses
Hyperactive behavior
Hypo-active behavior
Personal boundary issues
Blurting out answers without waiting to be called on
Interrupting teachers or classmates during discussions
Difficulty waiting their turn in group activities or games
Engaging in off-task behaviors instead of staying focused on assignments
Acting without considering consequences, such as grabbing items without permission
Difficulty following classroom rules or instructions
Making impulsive decisions without thinking through the options
Talking or socializing excessively when they should be working
Difficulty staying seated during lessons or at their desk
Being easily distracted by external stimuli or other students’ actions
Overreacting emotionally to minor frustrations or setbacks
Engaging in risky behaviors without considering safety, like climbing on furniture
Struggling to regulate emotions, leading to outbursts or tantrums
Being unable to resist the temptation of distractions like toys or electronic devices
Experiencing challenges in transitioning between activities or tasks
Have you seen any of these examples of impulse control in the classroom?
How to teach kids impulse control:
Certainly! Here’s the rewritten list focusing on supporting kids with impulse control challenges:
Reflective Drawing Journal Pages- Provide drawing journal pages for children to reflect on and pinpoint individual strategies for managing impulses effectively.
Checklist Journal Lists- Offer journal lists for kids to create quick checklists focusing on their strengths, qualities, supports, areas of need, and insights related to impulse control.
Coping Skills Worksheets- Utilize journal worksheets to help children pinpoint coping skills, feelings, emotions, and strategies that work best for them in managing impulses.
Task and Goal Tracking Sheets- Supply daily and weekly tracking sheets for children to monitor tasks and goals, emphasizing progress in impulse control-related activities.
Mindset, Vision, and Habit Pages- Incorporate pages focused on mindset, vision, and habits to assist kids in making a positive impact on their impulse control skills.
Self-Evaluation Sheets- Provide self-evaluation sheets for children to reflect on instances when inhibiting impulses was challenging and to identify what alternative choices could have been made.
Daily Tracker Pages- Offer daily tracker pages for children to record and monitor their daily activities, including instances where impulse control was exercised effectively.
Chore and Task Lists- Create task lists to help children monitor chores and daily tasks, encouraging consistent practice of impulse control in everyday activities.
Habit Improvement Journal Pages- Design journal pages specifically aimed at helping children improve new habits related to impulse control.
Impulse Control Monitoring Charts and Guides- Provide charts and guides for monitoring impulse control behaviors, supporting children in building self-confidence through progress tracking.
Strategy Journal Pages- Offer journal pages focused on strategies for self-reflection and self-regulation, empowering children to succeed both at home and in the classroom.
Goal Setting Sheets- Supply goal sheets for children to set targets related to impulse control and work towards achieving them, fostering persistence and self-discipline.
Mindset Improvement Tools- Introduce tools for improving mindset, helping children develop a set of coping strategies tailored to their needs and conducive to effective impulse control.
Executive functions all require the ability to pay attention. Read about the attention and executive functioning skill connection and the impact of attention on each of the executive functioning skills that children require and use every day.
When a child is easily “triggered” and seems to melt down at any sign of loud noises or excitement…
When you need help or a starting point to teach kids self-regulation strategies…
When you are struggling to motivate or redirect a child without causing a meltdown…
When you’re struggling to help kids explore their emotions, develop self-regulation and coping skills, manage and reflect on their emotions, identify their emotions, and more as they grow…
That’s why I created The Impulse Control Journal.
The Impulse control journal is a printable journal for kids that helps them to identify goals, assess successes, and address areas of needs. The Impulse Control Journal is a printable packet of sheets that help kids with impulse control needs.
The Impulse Control Journal has been totally revamped to include 79 pages of tools to address the habits, mindset, routines, and strategies to address impulse control in kids.
More about the Impulse Control Journal:
30 Drawing Journal Pages to reflect and pinpoint individual strategies
28 Journal Lists so kids can write quick checklists regarding strengths, qualities, supports, areas of need, and insights
8 Journal worksheets to pinpoint coping skills, feelings, emotions, and strategies that work for the individual
Daily and Weekly tracking sheets for keeping track of tasks and goals
Mindset,Vision, and Habit pages for helping kids make an impact
Self-evaluation sheets to self-reflect and identify when inhibition is hard and what choices look like
Daily tracker pages so your child can keep track of their day
Task lists to monitor chores and daily tasks so it gets done everyday
Journal pages to help improve new habits
Charts and guides for monitoring impulse control so your child can improve their self-confidence
Strategy journal pages to help kids use self-reflection and self-regulation so they can succeed at home and in the classroom
Goal sheets for setting goals and working to meet those goals while improving persistence
Tools for improving mindset to help kids create a set of coping strategies that work for their needs
This is a HUGE digital resource that you can print to use over and over again.
There are so many strategies to address attention in kids and activities that can help address attention needs. One tactic that can be a big help is analyzing precursors to behaviors related to attention and addressing underlying needs.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
These Back-to-school story stones are sure to help with the ease of getting back into routines of Fall and School. Whether your child is going to Kindergarten for the first time, or returning to school this Fall (or returning to routines of homeschool!), these story stones will help with getting kids used to the steps needed in morning routines. What are story stones? Usually, they are stones with pictures painted on them to use in imaginative play. We made story stones to depict the morning routine for preparation and ordering of tasks for back-to-school.
make Back-to-School routines easier:
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The morning rush and kids do not go together well. Getting kids up, dressed, brushed, polished, and out of the house without forgetting important items can be more than slightly difficult. Add in more than one child and a routine that gets old after the first week, and you have kids that need prodding with each step. Use these story stones to help kids understand, process, and order the steps of a morning routine.
We’ve used rocks in learning and play before, like in word building and sensory play so this was a fun way for us to play and learn about the coming routine’s of Back-to-School.
Back to school routines schedule
We started with a bunch of white river rocks and a permanent marker. Figure out the important tasks that your child must do each morning. These can be jobs that they do on their own, or initiate with prompting. We decided that the important steps of our morning are getting dressed, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, brushing hair, putting on shoes, coat, lunch/backpack, and going to the bus stop. You can add any other important steps in your morning, like making the bed, feeding pets, packing a lunch, etc.
Use the permanent marker to draw a representation of the tasks onto the river rocks.
Using acrylic paints, fill in the outlines of the shapes. You will need a fine point paint brush for the small painting, or you can snip the bristles of a regular paint brush to stay in the lines.
Let the paint dry.
Before the start of school, use the back to school story stones with your child to talk about the routines. You can place the stones in order, move around the order, and talk about each step. Invite your child to use the story stones in imaginative play by pretending to go through the morning’s routine.
Hopefully this idea will help with the hectic mornings before school and Fall’s routines!
and a 
. Figure out the important tasks that your child must do each morning. These can be jobs that they do on their own, or initiate with prompting. We decided that the important steps of our morning are getting dressed, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, brushing hair, putting on shoes, coat, lunch/backpack, and going to the bus stop. You can add any other important steps in your morning, like making the bed, feeding pets, packing a lunch, etc. 
, fill in the outlines of the shapes. You will need a 
for the small painting, or you can snip the bristles of a regular paint brush to stay in the lines.
