my 8 year old has some emotional regulation difficulties, and I've done my best to help him with those.
unrelated, I gave him a shovel a couple of days ago and told him to go have fun in the field because I was tired.
He suddenly seemed happier, having less trouble breathing through disappointment and just being generally all around more cheerful and able to focus in school better. Sure, my partner had to pull him out of a six foot by three foot hole today, but he was stoked about it!