Build Your Social and Emotional Skills
If you would like to start building social emotional skills at home here’s some activities and stories for you to get the conversation started.
Social and Emotional Resource Links
Social-emotional learning has a lot of benefits for students. It develops the skills needed to live a healthy and productive life — like regulating emotions, building resilience, making responsible decisions, and preparing the students to collaborate well with others. The websites below can give some more information on how to build these skills.
- An introduction to social and emotional skills and practical approaches for dealing with modern problems. Social Skills Resources for Parents
- Centervention has tons of free Social-Emotional Learning Activities. Lessons, activities, & printables are available in the following skill areas: Communication, Cooperation, Emotion Regulation, Empathy, Impulse Control, and Social Initiation. Social Emotional Learning Activities
- Entertaining, educational books, videos, games and songs can help young children become better listeners, learn important life lessons and feel good about themselves. The We Do Listen Foundation has a great website dedicated to engage young learners.
Applications
Mindfulness exercises can help your child get in touch with their thoughts and feelings. Whenever your child is more aware of how they are feeling in the moment, they are better able to listen and communicate. Here are some applications that you can use to introduce mindfulness to children.
- Calm is a mindfulness app/website with free options and paid subscription for premium access.
- Smiling Mind is free mindfulness app/website designed for children and the whole family (age 7+)
- Keep active by using the Down Dog app which is being offered for free right now. They have a variety of yoga, barre, HIIT, and 7-minute workouts - click here.
- Headspace for kids, want children to be healthy and happy for the rest of their life. It’s about understanding that thoughts and emotions don’t have the rule of our mind
- Breathe Think Do from Sesame street, tries to calm children down in situation in order to solve problems
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Mindful Powers aims to help kids calm their thoughts, help them focus and to be more mindful in situations.