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25 SEL Activities to Build Social Skills for Different Age Groups

SEL activities to build social skills 2

July 8, 2022 //  by Seda Unlucay

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is the foundation for emotional health and healthy relationships throughout students' lives.

This series of engaging and creative lesson plans can be easily adapted for distance learning and are designed to teach students responsible decision-making, mindful self-awareness, conflict resolution skills, positive self-talk, and emotional self-regulation.

1. Practice Yoga and Meditation as a Class Lesson

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Practicing yoga and meditation can help students to develop their emotional awareness through breathing and mindfulness while enhancing their body confidence and mental calm. Meditation is also a wonderful way to foster a growth mindset as it encourages students to stay in the present moment and take on challenges one step at a time.

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School

Learn More: Super Healthy Kids

2. All About Me Writing Exercise

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This self-awareness development activity challenges students to create a list about themselves, with a different strength, talent, or quality for each letter of the alphabet.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Brainwaves Instruction

3. Take a Mindful Moment

Mindfulness is the capacity to pay attention to the present moment as well as one's own thoughts and emotions with acceptance and non-judgment. Thus, it's an essential skill for students to cultivate in order to learn emotional self-regulation.

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School, Highschool

Learn More: Class Dojo

4. Practice Goal Setting with SMART Goals

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Setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) goals is a wonderful way to empower students to reach their personal and academic potential.

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School, High School

Learn More: Creative Educator

5. Try a Fine Motor SEL Lesson

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This fine motor emotions activity teaches students the helpful RULER acronym for cultivating emotional intelligence: Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating.

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary

Learn More: Forward With Fun

6. Practice a Read Aloud 

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Practicing reading aloud helps students develop confidence in their communication and public speaking abilities, skills that will serve them well in their daily lives.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: The Colorful Apple

7. Teach Kids How to Apologize

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Knowing how to apologize graciously is an important emotional skill for developing positive relationships.

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School

Learn More: Pinterest

8. Read a Book About Managing Anger

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This popular book teaches kids how to deal wisely with anger instead of reverting to aggressive behavior. Why not have a whole-class discussion to reinforce student learning about this important common goal?

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary

Learn More: Amazon

9. Create a Calm Down Corner

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This collection of resources teaches students how to self-regulate their emotions and provides them with strategies for calming down, including taking a brain break and practicing balloon breathing. Why not create a calm-down corner in your classroom to support students with these core lessons?

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

10. Create a Worry Box

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A Worry Box is a place where kids can store away frustrations, challenging emotions, or fearful thoughts. It's a wonderful way to develop students' emotion management skills by helping them express their feelings and take control of stressful situations.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Very Special Tales

11. Teach the Zones of Regulation

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This free Zones of Regulation printable package includes lessons on expected versus unexpected behavior, how to determine the actual size of a problem, and how students' actions can affect what zone other people are in. Learning about the four zones is an evidence-based way of practicing healthy emotional expression and building strong relationships in the classroom.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: He's Extraordinary

12. Practice Mindful Coloring 

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Mindful coloring has been shown to reduce stress, improve sleep and develop attention skills. Try putting on some relaxing music and turn it into a class-wide activity!

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School

Learn More: Truth Be Told

13. Play a Game of Emotion Charades

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Playing a game of emotional charades is a perfect cooperative learning opportunity that encourages elementary students to develop social awareness, eye contact, and social competence skills.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Education

14. Learn About Forgiveness Through Song

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Learning to forgive is an important social-emotional skill that will serve children throughout their entire lives. This video, song, and drawing activity helps young learners develop healthy decision-making skills when faced with social conflicts.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Education

15. Feeling Playdough Mats

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By replicating the emotions on these vibrant mats with playdough, students can develop emotional learning skills that will serve them well in skillfully expressing their feelings throughout the school day.

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary

Learn More: Fairy Poppins

16. Watch a Collection of Youtube Videos

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This curated collection of videos comes with Thoughts and Feelings Cards, which offer concrete and visual anchors for students to identify their own feelings.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Adventures In Speech Pathology

17. Develop Friendship Skills

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This engaging list of social skills activities helps familiarize students with the qualities of a good friend, features a friend scavenger hunt for them to get to know their classmates, and challenges students to perform acts of kindness for others.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Proud To Be Primary

18. Play an Emotions Board Game

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What better way to learn about emotions than with a fun board game? This s'mores-themed game also promotes social development, listening skills, and a deeper discussion about emotional wellbeing.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Life Over CS

19. Read and Discuss The Color Monster 

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By associating colors with emotions, this internationally best-selling book helps students to identify them more easily. It's also an excellent way to develop active listening skills and features a whole host of extension activities for preschoolers.

Age Group: Preschool

Learn More: Virtual Book Club For Kids

20. Develop Awareness of Feelings Through Observation

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Kids can learn to interpret emotions by paying careful attention to the body language and gestures of the characters in this short animated film. Why not challenge them to see how many different feelings they can identify?

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Ahmed Elshraby

21. Practice Social Skills with Task Cards

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By teaching kids about anti-bullying, conflict resolution, and positive self-talk, this series of task cards encourage kids to be more mindful of their behavior at school and at home.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Whimsy Workshop Teaching

22. Read and Discuss In My Heart: A Book of Feelings 

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This beautifully illustrated story is told through the whimsical eyes of a child and teaches kids how to verbalize their feelings by describing how they feel physically.

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary

Learn More: Amazon

23. Give Back With a Class Service Project

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Why not encourage kids to become school leaders by guiding them to participate in one of these community service projects? Ranging from writing Thank You notes, and reading to seniors to packing lunches, there are a variety of excellent ideas for making empathy and service an engaging part of your classroom curriculum.

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary, Middle School, Highschool

Learn More: Sign-up Genius

24. SEL Journal Prompts

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This collection of journal prompts features questions o to encourage students to express their feelings and ideas while building their self-confidence.

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School

Learn More: Journal Buddies

25. Encourage Positive Self-Talk

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Positive self-talk is a critical skill for developing healthy self-esteem. This series of activities encourage students to have a deeper discussion about ways to be kinder to themselves.

Age Group: Elementary, Middle School

Learn More: Counselor Chelsey

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50 Awesome Physics Science Experiments for Middle School
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An Informative List Of Comparative And Superlative Activities 

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