ZigZaggle - Overwhelm - Top Tips and Support

💫Core Emotion: Overwhelm

👾🧚 Species: Flare Sprite

🎂 Age: Timeless

🏠Home: The edge of The Mind Forest, where thoughts tangle and spark

Who is Zigzaggle?

ZigZaggle is the feeling of overwhelm—that jittery, tangled-up energy kids (and adults!) sometimes feel when everything is too much. He’s not bad, he’s just buzzing too hard. But he can feel scary.
With your help, your child can learn to name and tame their Zigzaggle.

How can we help our Children learn about Zigzaggle?

🤔Start With Curiosity

Try asking your child:

  • Where do you feel ZigZaggle in your body right now?

    (Tummy? Chest? Head? Hands?)

  • If Zigzaggle had a colour today, what would it be?

    (fiery Red? Flashy yellow? Cool blue?)

  • What do you think your ZigZaggle is trying to tell us?

🧰Use The ZigZaggle Toolkit

Let your child help create a real or imaginary kit to calm Zigzaggle. Include:

  • A squishy toy or putty

  • A soft object (blanket, bear, scarf)

  • Noise-reducing headphones or calming music

  • A post-it note for “just one thing”

  • A picture of Ziggy, Zigzaggle’s calmer side

🗨️Then say:

‘let’s help turn your ZigZaggle into Ziggy’

  🌈 Secret Soft Side

Remind your child that underneath all the spikes, Zigzaggle is talking to us as best he can and really he just wants peace.

Ask:

  • What helps your Zigzaggle soften?

  • What does your Ziggy like to do?

This could be drawing, snuggling, Taking a deep breath, laying under a pillow fort, or something else unique to your child.

 👇  Dr Nat’s Top Tips for parent, carers and Teachers:

When Zigzaggle is around…

·        Stay calm, even if they can’t yet.
Your nervous system is the model. Breathe slow, soften your voice, and co-regulate.

·        Name the feeling, not the behavior.
Try: “I think this might look like a Zigzaggle moment. That makes sense. Let’s ride it out together.”

 

·        Get rid of fixing.
Overwhelm doesn’t need a solution. He needs connection, coregulation, presence and space.

 

·        Don’t force calm, invite it.
Give options: “Would you like to have a cuddle, listen to a soft song, or hide in a blanket cave?”

 

·        Zigzaggle can often be sensory based:

Too much or too little of a sensation (e.g. noise, crowds, smells or light) it can be too much for us to manage at times. Head over to my YouTube channel for more information and tips on sensory needs in children. 👉 @TheEmps.

 

·       Reflect later, when the storm has passed, NOT whilst it is still happening:

Remember some children take longer than others for emotions to pass and can easily be retriggered, give it time. It’s not about fixing the behavior or making Zigzaggle go away it about connection, calm and regulating their nervous system and yours! It’s ok to be kind to both of you.


After Zigzaggle has passed you could say:

“Zigzaggle got really big today, I think you were really overwhelmed. You did your best. Let’s talk about what helped.”

  📔 Take Away

Zigzaggle isn’t a problem. He’s a signal.
And every child and adult has the power to learn what helps theirs soften, settle, and become Ziggy.

🧠Remember

We are all human. This means that  sometimes we are not sure how to calm our own Zigzaggles. It happens, that’s a fact. So when it does press pause, and remember you can ALWAYS start again, no matter where you are. So own it, and repair it with your child. Sometime this might mean saying sorry.

A good parent/ carer/ educator is NOT one who gets it right all the time it is one who teaches their children how to be human and navigate the wonderful world of their emotions with kindness AND self compassion.