Social Emotional Learning Activities Elementary
Social emotional learning activities elementary are simple, yet incredibly meaningful! No matter what your standards and objectives are during the school year, first and foremost, you have to focus on social emotional learning ... this year more than ever. To begin, our elementary kids need a lot of love, whether they are learning online or in-person this school year. Overall, these social emotional learning activities for elementary will help your kids have a strong year, helping them to build a positive mindset and good character.
Providing social emotional support in the classroom is so important. Our students need us now more than ever. Many of our students experience harsh living conditions and school is their safe place. Use your classroom and school as an opportunity to strengthen students emotional health and teach them how to deal and process emotions and build healthy relationships. Building relationships with students is so very important. Take these social emotional learning activities for elementary and start implementing right away!
Social Emotional Learning Activities Elementary
Daily Check-ins
Student check-ins are EVERYTHING! Please, please check-in with students. I started implementing this during the pandemic and it was a total game changer. Our students are dealing with so much and sometimes they jut need someone to check on them. However, most do not know how to ask or may even be embarrassed to ask. This is a great way to check on students and hopefully knock down the barriers that are negatively impacting student achievement.
One of my favorite social emotional learning activities elementary that I recommend for any age is a daily check-in. This is especially important for distance learners that you aren’t seeing in-person. A daily check-in can absolutely be done digitally! These activities for social emotional learning can be delivered within your students’ social-emotional learning journal. On the daily journal slides, students can indicate their current emotional temperature. This is a great, easy option when looking for social emotional learning activities.
Your students let you know how they are feeling that day and if they need additional support by choosing one of the following statements:
I am GREAT
I am OK
I am M-E-H
I am SAD or MAD
Check on me; I need to talk
These options are all valid feelings and may vary from day to day. Give your kids a chance to let you know when they need some extra help with this daily social emotional activity. I don't know about you, but this would have made an impact on myself as a student. Offer this to students and make a difference!
Social Emotional Learning Activities Elementary
Understanding Emotions
Another social emotional learning activity within the daily journal helps students understand what different emotions look like and how to properly express different emotions.
The digital journal includes slides for the following emotions:
Happy
Excited
Self-Control
Angry
Worry
Sad
Scared
Stress
Teach your students how to identify the different emotions on the slides and reflect within their journal space.
Social Emotional Learning Activities
Calm Down Corner
Next, give your students a social-emotional learning activity that will help them navigate and define their own emotions when things get tough. Welcome to the "Chill Spot." Having a calm down corner or a "chill spot" in your classroom gives your students a chance to think about consequences for actions before they react in anger.
The calm down corner is also a place to take a break. Even as adults, our emotions can get the best of us. It's OK to say, "I need a break." This is a key component to social emotional learning in the classroom.
This calm down corner bundle comes with all the materials you need to help your students manage their emotions and get back to learning. Honestly, I can think back when I was a student in school and if the Chill Spot was available at my school, I know it would have made a difference. This is a great feature in your classroom that can make a huge impact on student.
Social Emotional Learning Activity Challenges
Daily social emotional learning activities can also come with calls to action! Challenge your students to do something positive each day. For example, these social-emotional learning journal slides include challenges for students to do something that makes them happy or makes someone else happy! These social emotional learning activities for elementary students are simple, yet highly effective!
Take it another step and ask your students to participate in random acts of kindness. Truly, doing something for someone else without expecting anything in return will not only make someone else feel good, but it makes YOU feel great too! Something as simple as leaving a positive note for a teacher or classmate or holding the door for someone can make a huge impact.
Social emotional learning activities for elementary students is not just the latest trend. Using social emotional learning activities to support elementary students is the right thing to do every year. Helping our students understand what they are feeling and owning their own emotions not only improves mental health, but it helps them be ready to learn academic content in the classroom!
