Social Emotional Learning During School Closure 6.8.2020

Suggested activities can be repeated and you can choose what to enjoy at any time during the week.

I hope you enjoy them!

Activities to Choose From For All Grades

Mindfulness Activity Mind Bubbles When I think of summer, I often think of bubbles outside on a hot and sunny day. Here is a "bubble" activity to help carry worries away! Combine with real bubbles and chase the worries away! Catch a worry bubble and pop it! (And, don't forget to let yourself giggle! Laughter is the best medicine!)

Animal Breaths For story time on Monday, we practiced "Snake Breath." First, hold your body still and breath slowly paying attention to your breath. Breathe in and when you let the air out, breathe out like a snake with a "SSSSSSSS....." sound. What other animals can you imitate? A honey bee might "HMMMMMM...." What about a lion? or a coyote? or an owl?

Extension: Explore a book about animals in the wild and see if you can do an animal breath with the sound each animal might make. Or, make connections with the Yoga with Animals from last week's list of activities!

Stick And Stone is a simple story about how friends care for each other, kindness and making expected choices. (Even Pine-cone says it’s sorry at the end!) Help your child make connections with similar experiences.

Make a Stick and Stone Friendship Book with this link. Have your child color and help them assemble and read as necessary. It doesn't have to be perfect! Keep as a little reminder about the way friends care for one another just like Stick and Stone.

Here is an easy worksheet for a little extra practice with figuring out expected friendship behavior and what is unexpected. (Students who attended social group may have done this already! However, repeating is actually good and it is ok to know the answers!) Expected vs. Unexpected Friendship Behavior Sort

Flipping A Lid! is an engaging and easy to understand slide show about your brain and what happens to one's brain when people become upset. Practice using a mindfulness exercise to help the wise part of your brain think when facing a problem. Ask, how big is the problem? Make a new Zone Catcher and make up a game to practice when calm.

Happy Right Now is a sweet story about what makes the main character happy (while processing situations that are not so happy.) I encourage you to help your child make connections with personal experiences. This will enhance the learning and make it more meaningful!

Home School Psychologist - Gratitude

Adam Parker leads us in song again! This time, the topic is gratitude. Share with your child about the people and situations you are grateful for. Ask your child, "What are you grateful for? " Or make it a part of your daily family check in? Can you each list five Dr. Chris Willard on Gratitude

Make connections to activities from last week!

Feeling Mad? Worried? or Confused? Here is a poster with fifty "tools" or strategies your child can do (with parent permission) to help their brain and body feel calm.

50 Coping Tools Checklist

Print out the poster and hang someplace where everyone can share! How many strategies do you know or recognize? How many does your child know? Pick "tools" you and your family would like to try? Practice the new "tool" when everyone is calm and focused. The more your child practices, the easier it will be to use the strategy when it is most needed.

Connection to last week's SEL page: Print the "How Are You Feeling?" chart and have your child use it to communicate feelings. You can also ask your child, "what color would the rain be? Or the tornado?..." How Are You Feeling chart

How are you feeling?

Use this chart (see link below) to help describe how you are feeling and from that create an "I message". (e.g., "I feel....when...because...I want..."

Yoga With Animals For Kids