How To Teach Emotional Awareness To Elementary Students: 5 Tips and Activities To Try At School
As an elementary teacher or school counselor, you see it all the time - a young student struggling to manage big emotions. Maybe it’s frustration bubbling up over a tricky math problem, sadness after a disagreement with a friend, or overwhelming anxiety before a test. You can see the tension build in their small shoulders, their breathing quickens, and then, it happens. A meltdown, an outburst, or silent withdrawal.
Now, imagine if that student had the tools to handle this moment differently. What if they knew how to pause, take a deep breath, and put their feelings into words? What if they could recognize their frustration, use a simple strategy to calm themselves, and ask for help instead of shutting down?
That’s where emotional awareness and self-regulation come in. When kids learn to recognize their emotions and develop healthy coping skills, they gain the ability to deal with emotional challenges in any situation. And you, as their teacher or counselor, play a key role in helping them build these essential skills!
Key Takeaways Ahead:
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Why Emotional Awareness and Self-Regulation Matter
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10 Practical Strategies For Teaching Emotional Awareness
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- Help kids name their feelings
- Model emotional awareness yourself
- Teach simple breathing exercises
- Introduce grounding techniques
- Set up a calm down corner
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Your Next Steps
Why Emotional Awareness and Self-Regulation Matter
Naming feelings is just the first step to emotional awareness. The goal is to teach our students what to do with those emotions - we’re giving them self-regulation tools they’ll use for a lifetime. When young children learn emotional awareness, they can:
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Handle Challenges Better: Having fewer meltdowns and stronger self-control.
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Build Stronger Friendships: Learning empathy and better communication skills.
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Stay Focused in Class: Managing frustration and staying engaged in learning.
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Develop Resilience: Bouncing back from setbacks with confidence.
You might be thinking, “but it’s the parents’ job to teach kids these skills, not mine” or “I barely have time to teach my full curriculum, let alone emotional skills”. I get it. But (just like we should be teaching our students) we need to realize that we can’t control what others do. Kids are going to come to school without proper emotional education from their parents whether we like it or not.
So, as school professionals, we can either continue to ignore this problem and deal with the consequences in our classrooms, or we can address it head-on.
Consider it this way - if spending a few minutes here and there each day could dramatically improve your students’ emotional skills, which means better behavior, reduced impulsivity, and longer attention spans, would you do it?
If you answered “yes”, here are 5 simple (but very effective!) strategies to teach emotional awareness and self-regulation to your elementary students.
5 Practical Strategies for Teaching Emotional Awareness
1. Help Kids Name Their Feelings
Have you ever asked a child how they’re feeling, only to get a blank stare? That’s because they might not have the right words yet! Introduce an emotion chart with words and facial expressions. Instead of just “happy” or “sad,” introduce words like “grumpy,” “excited,” “worried,” and “proud.” The more vocabulary they have, the easier it is for them to express what’s going on inside.
2. Model Emotional Awareness Yourself
Kids are always watching you - so use it as an opportunity! Show them what emotional regulation looks like in action: “I’m feeling a little frustrated right now, so I’m going to take a deep breath before I respond.” You have the chance to demonstrate emotional awareness in real-life, and you can model the appropriate ways to deal with frustration, anger, and stress.
You can even incorporate weekly role-playing scenarios with your students to practice any emotional awareness concept you’ve been practicing.
3. Teach Simple Breathing Exercises
When kids (or adults!) get overwhelmed, breathing exercises can help them reset. Seriously, these techniques can feel like magic! Just be sure to teach and model before a meltdown occurs. The more your students practice when they are calm, the better they’ll be able to do these techniques when they’re upset.
Here are some of my favorites:
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Rainbow Breath: Place your ginger on the left cloud under the red arc. Take a deep breath through your nose as you trace the red arc to the right. Exhale through your nose as you trace the red arc to the left. Repeat this process for the rest of the six colors.
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Dandelion Breath: Imagine you’re holding a fluffy dandelion flower in your hand. Take a deep breath in for 3 seconds. Then, blow out gently through your mouth, picturing the dandelion’s seeds drifting away into the air. Do this three times.
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Bumble Bee Breath: Find a comfortable place to sit (on the floor or a chair). Place your palms gently over your eyes and close your eyelids. Breath in slowly through your nose. Hold the breath for a count of 4. Exhale slowly through your nose, making a soft humming sound like a bee for a count of 5.
→ Grab all 32 Breathing Cards for kids here.
4. Introduce Grounding Techniques
When emotions run high, grounding techniques can help bring kids back to the present moment. “Grounding” simply means feeling connected to the present moment (helping kids to regulate their emotions).
It usually helps to incorporate the five senses in order to have kids bring their attention to something tangible in a stressful moment.
Some of my top recommendations:
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5-4-3-2-1 Technique: Ask kids to name five things they can see, four things they can hear, three things they can feel, two things they can smell, and one thing they can taste.
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Star Stretch: Stand up and stretch your body to look like a star, reaching your arms and legs out as far as they go. Hold this pose for 10 seconds and then shake it all out. Take deep breaths as you go. Repeat 3 times.
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Rainbow Grounding: Ask the child to look around at their surroundings and find an object of each color of the rainbow.
→ Grab all 32 Grounding & Mindfulness Activity Cards for kids here!
5. Set Up a Calm Down Corner
A calm down corner gives kids a safe space to reset when emotions get overwhelming. You can easily designate a space in your classroom or office to be the calm down corner. You just need a few sensory items and helpful tools for your students to self-regulate.
Items I recommend including:
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Soft pillows or a cozy chair
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Fidget toys
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Breathing exercise prompts
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Journals or drawing materials for self-expression
Grab the posters you see in these photographs here.
→ This post shares a deep-dive on setting up a calm down corner at home. Check it out for some tips that apply to classrooms as well!
Your Next Steps
Teaching emotional awareness is one of the best gifts you can give your students. When kids learn to recognize their emotions and develop regulation strategies, like breathing exercises and grounding techniques, they build confidence, resilience, and stronger relationships.
With just a few small changes in your classroom, you can make a huge impact on a child’s ability to understand and manage their emotions. Start small, be consistent, and watch your students thrive!
→ Don’t forget to check out these helpful resources that you can bring into your classroom TODAY!
