LESSON 1:

• Check out this Feelings Wheel to help you learn the different feelings we have every day.

• Now fill out your own Feelings Wheel! Draw a picture of a memory or things that make you have each feeling. For example, under "happy" I drew a picture of puppies because I'm always happy when I get to pet a dog! Under "sad" I drew a picture of my favorite earring because I was so sad when I lost it at a restaurant!

• Hang your feelings wheel somewhere in your home where everyone can see it. Use it to show your family how you are feeling. They can use it, too!

• Additional Activities:

  • Reading option: "The Way I Feel" by Janan Cain. Listen to it here.

  • Play Guess the Feeling with Daniel the Tiger.

  • Act out the different feelings with someone at home. How do you look when you have that feeling? How do you sound? How do other people look?

  • How does your body feel when you are happy, sad, angry, scared, excited and disgusted?

  • Use the feelings wheel when reading a book or watching a movie to label how the characters are feeling.

  • Sing a favorite song in the voice you would have for each feeling.

Think about a rose bush. I love smelling beautiful roses in bloom, how about you? Have you ever gone to touch the rose bush and "ouch!" you get pricked by a thorn? Or notice that there are small rose buds waiting to bloom?

Use this image of a rose bush as you think about your day or week, and grab some markers or crayons to draw them!

• Use a red marker or crayon to draw out your "rose" or something good that happened to you during your week.

• Use a brown marker or crayon to draw your "thorn" or something that you need help with tomorrow or this next week.

• Use a green marker or crayon to draw your "bud" or something that you are looking forward to tomorrow or next week.

Share your drawings with someone and talk about it! Think about who can help you with your thorn. How you can turn your thorn into a rose?

LESSON 2:

Picture a time you felt angry-- how did your body feel? Did any of this happen to your body when you were angry?

• Mouth was frowning

• Hands were in tight fists

• Head was dizzy and hard to think

• Eyebrows furrowed

• Stomach hurt

• Breathing fast

• Pacing around the room

• What else happened to your body?

• Here is an example of how my body reacts when I am angry. When I notice my body starting to feel this way it helps cue me into how I'm feeling and that I should probably start using my calming corner or other strategies (more on that to come!).

• Now it's your turn! Pick an emotion and use this worksheet to show how your body feels.

  • If you can, think about the severity or level of your feeling using the thermometer on the 2nd page of the worksheet.

• Inside Out Coloring Pages (scroll down the page until you see the Inside Out characters)

• Don't forget to do a Rose, Bud, Thorn journal entry or use this worksheet, and then think about how you can turn your thorn into a rose.

Lesson 3:

Now that we have our feelings wheel and body charts to help show how we are feeling, it's time to start thinking about how to calm ourselves when feeling big emotions that cause us to lose control such as anger, sadness, worry, excitement, etc.

Your teacher may have a calming corner in your classroom or you may have seen the calming areas in Ms. Kelly's gym or Ms. Correnty's art room. Your task for this week is to create your own calming space in your home!

First, think about what you want in your calming area. Not every strategy works for everyone, so think about what will work for you! Pick 3-5 activities for your calming space, more than that is too many options for you to pick from when feeling upset!

Some ideas:

• Feelings check-in Form

• Do breathing exercises. Here are a few visuals you could use:

  • Smell the Flower, Blow out the Candle

  • Blow bubbles. Notice if you blow too hard or too soft you won't get any bubbles. Focus on big belly breaths when you blow your bubbles.

    • If you don't have bubbles at home, make your own!

    • If you don't have a wand to blow the bubbles you can use anything that forms a plastic hole and can get wet, like the top of a soda bottle.

  • Blow on a pin wheel. Notice how smooth breaths from you belly make the pin wheel spin!

• Sing along with one of these Mindfulness Songs

• Do a muscle relaxation exercise, here's an example of one!

• Coloring Pages - only do one during your time in the calming corner!

  • You can use the Inside Out Coloring Pages from last week, or have a parent help you find others using Google.

• Stress ball - you can roll, squeeze and push on the ball. It shouldn't be to toss around, this is a tool not a toy!

  • Include a stress ball you have at home

  • Make a stress ball with a balloon and flour. If you don't have a funnel I usually can get flour in with someone else helping to keep the balloon open and spooning the flour in. It can get a little messy!

• Make a glitter jar to focus on when breathing.

  • Watch this video to help understand the glitter jar before making it!

• Squeeze playdoh - focus on how it feels in your hands. Like the stress ball, it shouldn't be tossed around, this is a tool not a toy!

  • Make your own play doh.

• Smell a satchel - this can be a calming experience.

  • To make your own, place your scent in a small jewelry bag or ask an adult to help you sew one.

  • Some things you may have in your home that you can place in your satchel: a tea bag, rice scented with fragrant oils, fragrant soap bars, potpourri, pine needles, mint leaves, cinnamon sticks, cotton balls sprayed with perfume.

Now talk with your family about where your calming corner will be in your home and what the family rules are for when someone is using it. Here are the rules I created for the calming space in my office and some of the teachers at HES use. Make your own rules with your family so everyone understands how to use it in your home!

Lesson 4:

Deep belly breathing uses the muscles in our stomach and diaphragm so that air travels in through your nose and into your lungs. You know you are doing a good deep belly breath if both your chest and belly move. If it's just your chest moving you need to take a bigger breath! Deep breaths help to make our heart beat slower and our bodies feel calmer.

Here are some ways to practice your breathing this week:

• Lie down on the floor and put a stuffed animal on your belly. As you practice taking deep breaths can you see your stuffed animal rise up and down? If you do then you're doing it right! If not, keep practicing, you'll get it!

• Imagine as you breathe in that a big balloon is filling with air! Now slowly breathe out and imagine the air being released from the balloon.

• Watch how Daniel the Tiger calms down when he needs to slow down, and how he feels calm when he's excited

• Watch how Elmo uses deep breathing to calm down when he's angry

Lesson 5:

Do you ever find it's hard to control your body? When that happens I bet it's also hard to concentrate! Sometimes our body needs a quick movement break to re-focus. Not only do movement breaks make it easier to focus and learn, it also makes us feel happier! Here are some ideas for movement breaks:

• Create your own wiggle jar using these cards (from homeschoolshare.com). Pick out a card when you need to take a movement break!

• Use one of these movement ideas from Ms. Kelly and Ms. Sintros

• Walk quickly up and down the stairs 3 times

• Do 50 jumping jacks

• Have a 5 minute dance party break

  • Have a dance break with PBS

• Play catch for 5 minutes with a parent or sibling