Peace Place

How does a peace place support student’s needs? The peace place provides a space for students to regulate and offers interventions focused on emotional regulation, thought processing, behavior, and gives students a sense of ownership and power over their actions.

Classroom Location

It’s important to consider where the peace place will be located in the classroom or home. If possible, it’s suggested the peace place be positioned near a window for students to receive natural sunlight and be able to look at nature. Additionally, it’s important to make sure your space is open or can be opened (like picture on left) to avoid students feeling enclosed or trapped. Feel free to get creative. Rather than using a traditional chair, consider using a bean bag chair or some options that allows the student to twist, turn, bounce, or relax.

Activities

The activities in the peace place should be well organized and students should feel empowered to utilize them while in the peace place. They should be able to easily read directions or understand the purpose of the activities. The main goal of the activities can either be personalized for a specific student / child or can be more universal to meet multiple student’s needs. Feel free to switch up activities on a regular basis. For example, rather than having 15 different activities for a student to choose from, consider only using four activities in the space for a few weeks and then phasing out an activity before introduce a new activity. By monitoring the amount of activities available in the space students won’t become overwhelmed or spend too much time trying to decide what activity they would like to use. If you limit the amount of options, student will choose more quickly and regulate at a faster rate.

Here are a few examples of what you could include in the peace place: a stress ball to squeeze or fidget, sand timer to remind students not to stay too long, notebook, book to read, pencils and crayons to draw or write about feelings, small stuffed animals to hug or weighted blanket, silly putty or play doh, mirror to see their emotional expression, emotion chart or poster, reflection poster with positive quotes, reflection cards with positive self-talk or questions, and “How Are You Feeling” charts. For more suggestions please visit the Classroom Strategies section of Resource Center.

Less is More

It’s been found that classrooms are often over stimulating for students (Sporleder & Forbes, 2016). Therefore, we recommend being specific with the decorations you choose as to not over stimulate the child. Furthermore, it’s recommended you keep the space very organized and structured so students can easily find the activities and relax in the space. Consider adding more natural elements such as plants, animals (i.e. fish bowl), or draping lights throughout the peace place for calmer lighting (Sporleder & Forbes, 2016).

Establishing Peace Place Rules

  • Maintain consistent language regarding this space. One suggestion is to have students help think of a fun name for the space rather than peace place.

  • Teachers should refrain from using this space as a “time out” or as a punitive measure for behavior. Students should feel this space is a safe alternative or way of expressing and communicating their needs. Teachers should use the peace place to help students learn how to regulate or be educated about emotion regulation to develop a student’s social-emotional skills.

  • Utilize consistent and strong rules in the space. Because students could ask to use the peace place as a means of avoiding academic work, it’s encourage that teachers set strong boundaries regarding the purpose of the space. For example, when the space should be used and how the space should not be used. One recommendation is to put a stop watch or timer in the peace place, so students can set the timer for 5 minutes (or whatever time the teacher feels necessary) and return to class after their 5 minute break.

References:

Sporleder, J., & Forbes, H. T. (2016). The Trauma-Informed Schools: A Step-by-Step Implementation Guide for Administrators and School Personnel. Boulder, CO: Beyond Consequences Institute.