Social emotional learning is essential for students’ daily success, just like reading and writing. Whether at home or in the classroom, students need key social skills to make each day better. The goal is to get students ready to learn, and if they aren’t, we won’t get far. Imagine your space is full of students who help each other, regulate emotions, and solve problems independently. Sounds too good to be true? It’s not! In this post, you’ll discover easy, must-teach social emotional learning activities you can use all year to create a thriving, zen classroom environment.
Social Emotional Learning Starts the Day on the Right Foot
When it comes to social emotional learning activities, they can be super simple and make a big impact. Start the day off right with morning greetings! This morning routine is an easy way to establish a positive tone each day. You may be the first smile a student has seen for the day, so be sure to check-in. We love using THESE greetings to give students autonomy on how they are greeted in the morning. Some students may want a high five, while others may need a big hug.
Connection Circles are an amazing way to….you guessed it- CONNECT! They only take ten minutes and make such a big impact on the day. You can have targeted questions that align to specific social emotional learning topics or silly questions to build connections. They also give students the opportunity to know that ALL of their voices are valued. It also sets the expectation for communication and collaboration.
Students in need of a little extra support and motivation? Have them say their affirmations! This is an easy support for students who need a little extra encouragement for their day. Whenever they need it, have students stand in front of the mirror and say their affirmations loud and proud!
Problem Solving Skills
These social emotional learning activities teach students how to solve problems independently! Undoubtedly we know a lot of students don’t come into the classroom already knowing how to do this. It’s up to us to teach them how to do it… unless we want to deal with it ALL YEAR LONG. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be hard! Pair some great read alouds with some explicit activities like sorts, anchor charts, modeling, and practicing, and don’t worry about the little problems again!
Students will quickly become independent problem solvers who thrive without your intervention. Even more, they will know big vs little problems, how to solve conflicts, what tattling vs telling is, and more!
How to Be Kind
Just like with anything else, students need to be taught HOW to be kind. Bucket Fillers is a wonderful way and easy metaphor to help students understand the difference between adding positivity to someone’s day vs what happens when we dip into their buckets. This is also a lesson that can be used at any point during the year and a reminder when needed!
Kindness is Cooler is a great activity for teaching kindness! Start by reading the book Kindness is Cooler Mrs. Ruler and then give the students the same assignment that Mrs. Ruler gives out! It’s a fun way to engage students in kindness activities at home. Each student gets 5 hearts on Friday afternoon and as they bring them back in, have them share their acts of kindness. Ultimately we create an anchor chart with the class’s kind acts. They LOVE showing off and it spreads even more kindness!
Part of being a good friend is being kind to them. Explicitly teach them how with examples and nonexamples. Furthermore, have them discuss what a good friend is to them. Finally, students can learn how to communicate with peers effectively. THESE hands-on social emotional learning activities are all fun ways to keep kindness at the forefront of our friendships!
Social Emotional Learning About Feelings and Regulation
When it comes to social emotional learning, feelings are a big thing and learning to regulate them needs to be just as big. Teach students how to recognize their feelings and understand what emotions they have! A great activity for this is to start by reading, “Howard B. WiggleBottom Learns it’s Ok to Back Away.” This helps students understand the feelings we experience and how to tell when our bodies need to calm down. Create an anchor chart and have students practice recognizing different feelings!
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It’s important to provide a space for students when they need to calm down. We’ve taught them how to recognize those big feelings and now they need a safe place to regulate. This will be one of the best spaces you create in your classroom for students. Once they learn HOW to use the space, it is a great area for them to go when they need a break.
Having a Growth Mindset
Teach growth mindset the first week of school with these social emotional learning activities! You will not regret adding the word YET to your student’s vocabulary. There are so many great tools to teach a growth mindset to help when students are struggling and stuck. A great place to start is with The Class Dojo mini series! These are 5 short videos that can be watched over a week’s time that leads to some great discussions about having a growth mindset. Additionally, we create this anchor chart pictured below to help with this skill, along with goal setting. The two topics really go hand in hand and help students recognize that we are ALWAYS learning and growing.
Use Read Alouds for Social Emotional Learning
There are SO many phenomenal read alouds that can support students with various social emotional skills. From managing emotions to growth mindset, there’s a book for that! Of course I have to share my favorites so check them out below!
Storytime Strategies: Using Books to Tackle Classroom Behavior
20ish Awesome Read Alouds to Foster Social Emotional Learning
Revisit These Social Emotional Learning Activities When Needed
Sometimes we’re not given the tools we need or are not sure how to implement these values into our classrooms. That’s where I’ve got you covered! Check out the growing bundle of engaging, hands-on, valuable tools, lessons, and resources to support your students, while they learn these important life skills in a fun way! These lessons are easy to implement, engaging, and quick! Spend just a few minutes a day to create a thriving classroom full of students who know how to take care of their needs!
The best thing about the bundle is that it’s GROWING which means any resource that’s added after you purchase, you get to download AT NO EXTRA COST!
Social Emotional Growing Bundle
I really hope you enjoyed learning more about social emotional learning activities you can use all year long! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… you’ll also get more fun FREEBIES including the Emotions Board Game FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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