Welcome to a curated collection of supplemental Social Emotional Learning (SEL) activities, designed to enrich your teaching resources. As educators dedicated to fostering the holistic development of students, we understand the critical role SEL plays in academic success and overall well-being. This page features a diverse range of engaging and practical SEL activities and lesson plans, many of which highlight characters from Centervention’s game-based social emotional learning interventions. These activities are crafted to reinforce the valuable skills learned through interactive gameplay in our online programs, ensuring a comprehensive and immersive learning experience for your students.
These supplemental Social Emotional Learning Activities are thoughtfully designed to address key SEL skill areas, mirroring the focus of our online programs. We cover essential competencies including:
- Communication: Enhancing students’ ability to express themselves clearly and listen effectively.
- Cooperation: Building teamwork and collaborative skills for group success.
- Emotion Regulation: Helping students understand and manage their feelings constructively.
- Empathy: Fostering the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
- Impulse Control: Developing self-control and thoughtful decision-making.
- Social Initiation: Encouraging proactive and positive social interactions.
Appropriate for both elementary and middle school students, these activities are versatile for classroom integration or small group sessions. We prioritize convenience and practicality; therefore, most activities require materials readily available in any classroom or office setting.
Note: For an extensive library of activities with advanced filtering and sorting options, we invite you to log in to your Centervention Educator account and explore the Supplemental Resources page. If you’re new to Centervention and wish to access these resources, you can easily sign up here for a free educator account.
Explore a Range of Social Emotional Learning Activities
To support your SEL curriculum, we’ve compiled a variety of activities, each designed to target specific skills and age groups. Below you’ll find resources ranging from emotion identification tools to group activities fostering cooperation and empathy.
Understanding and Expressing Emotions
Developing emotional literacy is fundamental to SEL. These activities help students expand their emotional vocabulary and recognize feelings in themselves and others.
List of Emotions: 135 Words that Express Feelings
While younger children might start with a basic understanding of emotions like happy, sad, angry, and scared, it’s crucial to broaden their emotional vocabulary as they mature. This comprehensive list of 135 emotion words helps students develop a nuanced understanding of their feelings and communicate them effectively.
Feelings Wheel
Created in 1982 by Gloria Wilcox, the Feelings Wheel is a valuable tool for teenagers and adults to deepen their emotional understanding. Its circular design allows users to navigate from broad emotion categories to more specific feelings, enhancing emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
Emotion Faces Worksheet
This worksheet is an excellent resource for helping students identify and understand different facial expressions associated with emotions. It includes a list of emotions and corresponding facial expressions, ideal for younger learners developing their emotional recognition skills.
Emotional Awareness: What Makes Me Happy
This activity encourages students to reflect on sources of happiness in their lives, fostering emotional awareness and positive self-perception. It prompts students to consider personal experiences and identify what brings them joy, contributing to emotional regulation skills.
Building Communication and Social Skills
Effective communication and positive social interactions are vital components of SEL. These activities focus on enhancing these skills through interactive and engaging methods.
Morning Meeting Questions
Morning meetings are a fantastic way to start the day with a focus on community and connection. These questions are designed to foster conversation, sharing, and a sense of belonging in the classroom. Incorporating greetings, sharing, activities, and housekeeping, morning meetings set a positive tone for the day.
Would You Rather Questions For Kids
Based on the classic icebreaker game, “Would You Rather” questions are an engaging tool to facilitate interaction and get to know students better, especially in remote learning environments. These questions encourage students to share preferences and learn about their peers in a fun, lighthearted way.
Active Listening Exercises
Active listening is a crucial communication skill. These exercises are designed for elementary, middle, and high school students and provide practical ways to practice attentive and empathetic listening. Small group activities and educator instructions make it easy to implement these exercises in various settings.
Word Association Game
This game is a fun and effective way to improve communication and cooperation skills. Using word association cards, students work together, enhancing their ability to think creatively and communicate their ideas within a group.
Body Language Mirroring
Understanding body language and mirroring is essential for empathy and communication. This activity helps elementary and middle school students practice cooperation and nonverbal communication through mirroring exercises.
Agree to Disagree: A Lesson About Perspective
This lesson emphasizes the importance of perspective-taking in communication and cooperation. It teaches elementary students to appreciate different viewpoints and communicate respectfully even when disagreements arise.
How to be a Good Friend
This lesson helps elementary and middle school students identify the qualities of a good friend. Through discussions and activities, students learn about social initiation and communication skills necessary for building and maintaining positive friendships.
How to Apologize
Learning to apologize sincerely is a critical social skill. This lesson, designed for elementary and middle school students, guides students through the process of offering a meaningful apology, fostering empathy and responsible communication.
Voice Inflection
Voice inflection is a key element of effective communication. This activity, suitable for all grade levels, helps students understand how tone of voice can change the meaning of words. Audio clips and examples are provided for practical learning.
Pass It On Game
This simple yet effective game promotes communication and cooperation. Students in elementary and middle school work together to “pass on” actions or messages, enhancing teamwork and nonverbal communication skills.
Indoor Recess Activity: Pass The Hoop
An energetic indoor recess activity using hula hoops to promote cooperation and communication. Elementary and middle school students learn to work together physically to pass a hoop, enhancing teamwork and coordination.
Eye Expressions: How We Communicate With Our Eyes
This activity focuses on nonverbal communication through eye expressions. Students learn how eyes convey emotions and practice interpreting different eye expressions, improving their understanding of social cues.
Enhancing Self-Awareness and Self-Management
Self-awareness and self-management are crucial for emotional well-being and responsible decision-making. These activities support students in developing these essential skills.
Self Esteem Worksheets
These worksheets are designed to help students explore and build their self-esteem. They encourage self-reflection and positive self-perception, essential for mental well-being and confidence.
SEL Check In
A quick and easy online SEL check-in tool for elementary and middle school students to monitor their emotional state. This tool helps students develop emotion regulation skills by encouraging daily reflection on their feelings.
Cool Down Corner
The Cool Down Corner is a designated space or online tool for elementary students to practice emotion regulation. It provides a safe and accessible resource for students to manage their emotions constructively when feeling overwhelmed.
Anger Iceberg
The Anger Iceberg activity helps upper elementary and middle school students understand that anger is often a surface emotion masking deeper feelings. It promotes emotion regulation and impulse control by encouraging students to explore underlying emotions.
Coping Skills For Anxiety
This resource provides lessons and worksheets to help students and adults develop coping skills for anxiety. These activities equip students with strategies to manage anxiety and promote emotional well-being.
Impulse Control Activities for Kids
These activities are specifically designed for elementary students to practice impulse control. Through engaging exercises, students learn strategies to manage impulses and think before acting.
All About Me Worksheet
The “All About Me” worksheet is a great tool for students to express themselves and develop self-awareness. Suitable for elementary and middle school students, it encourages self-reflection and sharing personal information, enhancing self-understanding and communication.
50 Positive Affirmations for Kids
Positive affirmations are powerful tools for overcoming negative thoughts and fostering a positive mindset. This list of 50 affirmations is perfect for students and educators to start the day with hope and positivity, promoting emotional resilience.
Brain Breaks For Kids
Brain breaks are essential for maintaining focus and managing stress. These activities provide quick and effective breaks for kids, helping them refresh and refocus during lessons, thus supporting emotion regulation and attention skills.
Self Care For Teachers
Self-care is not just for students; it’s crucial for educators too. This resource provides self-care tips specifically for teachers, promoting their well-being and resilience, which indirectly benefits their ability to teach SEL effectively.
Responsible Decision Making Lesson
This lesson guides elementary and middle school students through the process of responsible decision-making. Focusing on empathy and impulse control, it helps students consider the consequences of their actions and make thoughtful choices.
Conflict Resolution for Kids
This resource offers tips and lessons to help create a classroom environment that values respectful conflict resolution. It teaches students to see conflict as an opportunity to develop communication and problem-solving skills.
Self Awareness Worksheets
These worksheets facilitate self-awareness in elementary and middle school students. Using activities like “Just Like Me Cards,” students explore their similarities and differences, fostering self-understanding and social initiation.
Think Sheet: Behavior Reflection Exercise
The Think Sheet is a behavior reflection exercise for elementary students. It aids emotion regulation by prompting students to think about their actions and feelings, encouraging self-reflection and responsible behavior.
Dealing with Change
This lesson helps students explore and effectively deal with changes in their lives. It provides strategies for coping with transitions and developing resilience, an important aspect of emotional well-being.
Social Cues and Social Competence
Understanding social cues is fundamental to social competence. This resource offers foundational lessons and activities to help students interpret and process social cues effectively, improving their social interactions and awareness.
Wrinkled Heart Activity
This activity, especially for lower elementary students, uses a wrinkled heart visual to teach about empathy. It demonstrates how hurtful words can impact others, fostering empathetic understanding and thoughtful communication.
SEL Skill Printables
Recognize and reinforce students’ social emotional learning progress with these SEL skill printables. Awards and recognition tools can motivate students and highlight the importance of SEL skills in their development.
Social Emotional Learning at Home
Extending SEL beyond the classroom is vital for reinforcing these skills. We provide resources to support parents and caregivers in fostering SEL at home.
Developmental Milestones for Social and Emotional Skills
Understanding developmental milestones is crucial for parents and educators. This resource outlines social and emotional milestones for preschool children, helping parents support their children’s social and emotional growth at each stage.
Do I have a Sad Child or Could it be Depression?
This article addresses a critical question for parents: differentiating between normal sadness and potential depression in children. It provides insights and guidance for parents concerned about their child’s emotional well-being.
What to do when your child feels left out
Feeling left out is a common and painful experience for children. This article offers advice for parents on how to support their child when they feel excluded, promoting empathy and coping skills.
What are the Warning Signs of ADHD?
This resource helps parents recognize potential warning signs of ADHD in children. Understanding these signs is crucial for early intervention and support, impacting a child’s social and emotional development.
Following Directions: Advice from Experts
Following directions is linked to self-regulation and social competence. This article provides expert advice for parents on helping children improve their ability to follow directions, benefiting their behavior at home and school.
Getting Ready for School: Avoid the Drama
School mornings can be stressful. This article offers tips for parents to create smoother morning routines, reducing stress and promoting self-management skills in children as they prepare for the day.
Impulsive Behavior in Children
Impulsivity can impact social interactions and learning. This article helps parents understand impulsive behavior in children and offers strategies to support their child in developing better impulse control.
Lacking Self-Confidence: Expert Ideas and Tips to Help your Kids
Self-confidence is crucial for children’s well-being and success. This article provides expert advice and tips for parents on how to build their child’s self-confidence and resilience.
Bullied at School: Expert Ideas to Help your Child
Bullying is a serious issue affecting children’s emotional health. This article offers expert advice to parents on how to recognize and address bullying, providing support and strategies to help their child.
Meltdowns: How to Help your Child and Reduce Frustration
Meltdowns can be challenging for both children and parents. This article provides guidance on understanding and managing meltdowns in children, helping parents reduce frustration and support their child’s emotional regulation.
Bored at School and Academically Gifted
Gifted children may experience boredom at school if not challenged. This article addresses the issue of boredom in academically gifted children and offers insights for parents and educators to keep them engaged and motivated.
Making Friends at School
Social connections are vital for children’s well-being. This article offers advice for parents on how to support their child in making friends at school, improving their social initiation and interaction skills.
Growth Mindset for Kids
Developing a growth mindset is key to resilience and learning. This article explains the concept of growth mindset for kids and how parents can foster this mindset, encouraging effort and perseverance over innate ability.
Strategies for Helping Your Child with School Refusal
School refusal can be a sign of underlying anxiety or stress. This article provides strategies for parents to help their child overcome school refusal and address potential anxieties associated with attending school.
Parent-Teacher Relationships to Help Your Child Thrive at School
Positive parent-teacher relationships are crucial for a child’s success. This article emphasizes the importance of collaboration between parents and teachers and offers advice on building strong, supportive relationships.
How to Help Your Child Overcome Negative Thinking
Negative thinking can hinder a child’s progress and well-being. This article provides guidance for parents on how to help their child overcome negative thought patterns and develop a more positive outlook.
My Child Has Difficulty Making Decisions: How Can I Help?
Difficulty making decisions can be frustrating for children and parents. This article offers advice on how to help children develop decision-making skills, fostering independence and confidence.
Angry Kid: How Can I Help My Son be Less Frustrated?
Anger and frustration are common emotions in children. This article provides strategies for parents to help their angry child manage frustration and anger constructively, improving emotion regulation and family harmony.
Additional Resources for Social Emotional Learning
To further support your SEL efforts, we offer these additional resources:
Classroom Management Plan
Our classroom management plan is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for elementary school teachers. It includes proven strategies, tips, and printables, covering four key components for establishing a successful and well-managed classroom conducive to SEL.
Classroom Decorations
Enhance your classroom environment with these free downloadable posters. They serve as both decoration and teaching resources, reinforcing social and emotional skills like emotion regulation, impulse control, and empathy, reminding students to practice these skills daily.
Social Emotional Learning Quotes
Incorporate these curated quotes into your SEL lessons, social media, or classroom posters to inspire and motivate students:
Empathy Quotes
Self Care Quotes
Bullying Quotes
Confidence Quotes
Growth Mindset Quotes
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