This is a 5 day challenge on being kind to yourself. This is suitable for anyone to do whether you are 5 years old or 15 years old.

This gratitude jar will help children look for the positives in their lives. Gratitude according to Positive psychology is strongly linked to being happy. I have done lots of jar activities but think that gratitude is such an important one so deserves its own post. This resources has a jar with and without lines. It also has a long list of suggestions/prompts to encourage children to reflect on things they are grateful or thankful for. The jar without lines can be decorated with pictures, photographs and words. Make it colourful. It could also be used each day and the child adds just one thing for that day they are grateful or thankful for. Of course you could make an actual jar with a lovely label and ask the child to fill it each day with things they are grateful for.

The child can have fun with this by colouring a section of the rainbow each day. I wonder what it will look like when finished. Which mood will be the most popular mood? Great for home learning

This is a memory wheel for transition and can be used for any age group. Pupils can draw their memories of the past year. This offers a multitude of benefits for their personal and emotional development. This creative exercise allows children to visually express their experiences, enhancing their ability to recall and articulate important moments. By drawing their memories, pupils engage in a reflective practice that fosters self-awareness and helps them appreciate their achievements and growth over the year. Artistic expression through drawing can also be therapeutic, providing a safe outlet for pupils to process and communicate their emotions. This can be particularly beneficial for those who might find it difficult to express their feelings verbally. Additionally, the memory wheel serves as a visual diary, capturing a snapshot of their year that they can look back on, reinforcing positive experiences and milestones. Sharing their memory wheel for transition with peers and teachers can strengthen social connections and build a sense of community. It encourages pupils to listen to others’ experiences, fostering empathy and understanding. The activity can boost confidence as children take pride in their artwork and the memories they’ve chosen to highlight. Overall, the memory wheel activity is a powerful tool for promoting emotional well-being, enhancing memory retention, and encouraging a positive outlook on personal growth and achievements.

This is an ‘unwind the mind transition mat. Perfect for the end of term when pupils needs some calm time. Pupils will enjoy the mindfulness of colouring and answering simple prompts. There is a class version and a school version included in the pack. Print in A4 for older pupils and by using your print settings you can print on A3 for younger pupils. Benefits of the unwind the mind transition mat These offer calming activities that can help children relax and unwind after a busy day or during stressful times. Engaging in these activities encourages deep breathing and fosters a sense of peace and tranquillity. Working on one of these mats offers effective stress-relief techniques for children. By focusing their attention on the task at hand, children can temporarily shift their focus away from worries and anxieties, promoting a sense of calmness and emotional well-being. Mindful colouring allows children to express themselves creatively and explore their imagination through colours and designs. It provides a non-verbal outlet for self-expression, allowing children to convey their emotions and feelings in a safe and therapeutic manner. Successfully completing creating beautiful artwork through mindful colouring can boost children’s self-esteem and confidence. Accomplishing challenging tasks and seeing tangible results can instil a sense of pride and accomplishment in children, reinforcing their belief in their abilities.

The wrist bands or bracelets are a lovely reminder to pupils to be kind. They can use mindful colouring to colour in their wrist bands. I would recommend printing them on card so they are a bit sturdier. Benefits of Mindful colouring with our Kindness wrist bands. Colouring promotes relaxation and helps children unwind after a busy day, reducing stress and anxiety levels. Engaging in mindful colouring requires concentration, which can help improve attention span and focus in children. Colouring allows children to express themselves creatively, experiment with colours, and explore their imagination. Colouring involves precise movements and coordination, which can help develop fine motor skills in children, including hand-eye coordination and pencil grip. Mindful colouring encourages children to focus on the present moment, promoting mindfulness and awareness of their thoughts and feelings. Completing a wrist band gives children a sense of accomplishment, boosting their self-esteem and confidence. Engaging in a relaxing activity like colouring can uplift children’s mood and provide a sense of happiness and satisfaction. Colouring allows children to express themselves freely, conveying their emotions and thoughts through art. A paper wristband focusing on kindness serves as a visual reminder for children to practise compassion and empathy daily. It promotes positive behaviour, and cultivates empathy. Empowering children to make a difference, it sparks conversations, serves as an educational tool, and encourages self-reflection. By wearing the wristband, children become ambassadors of kindness, spreading positivity and uplifting others.

This is our Transition Mixed Feelings pack. Transitioning to a new school, class, or group brings a mix of excitement, anxiety, and sadness. Excitement stems from the prospect of new beginnings, learning opportunities, and potential friendships. The idea of a fresh start can be exhilarating. Anxiety, however, often accompanies this excitement. The fear of the unknown, concerns about fitting in, and pressures to perform academically and socially can be daunting. Sadness is another common feeling, arising from leaving behind familiar faces, routines, and environments. The sense of loss and nostalgia for past experiences can be emotionally challenging. Missing old friends and known comforts adds to the difficulty of the transition. To manage these mixed feelings, it’s good to recognise them. This resource will help your pupils do just that. It’s important to acknowledge and validate all emotions. The transition mixed feelings pack has a visual ‘face’ version and a ‘word’ version so you can adapt to the capabilities of the pupil. Despite the challenges, with time and support, pupils can navigate these emotions and successfully adapt to their new environments. This activity is fun and engaging. Pupils will enjoy cutting out and sticking their emotions onto the jar.

This is our little book of summer. It is on of our little books that is one sheet of paper folded to make 4 sides. So easy to prepare and suitable for all primary children. These could be given out for summer or done when the children return to school in September.

This is our ‘Excited or Worried Tab Booklet’ perfect for transition. Transitioning to a new school, or class brings a mix of excitement and anxiety. Excitement stems from the prospect of new beginnings, learning opportunities, and potential friendships. The idea of a fresh start can be exhilarating. Anxiety, however, often accompanies this excitement. The fear of the unknown, concerns about fitting in, and pressures to perform academically and socially can be daunting. This booklet gives pupils a voice to say what is exciting for them and what is worrying for them. It also gives lots of opportunity for them to talk to you about their worries or excitement. Simply print onto A4 paper and cut out the pieces. Staple together at the top.

This self esteem booster wheel will help children to reflect on their Strengths, talents and personal characteristics. There are so many things they are good at. A star stands out and shines brightly in the dark sky so thought I would use this for the centre of the wheel. There are two coloured versions and a black and white version. Pupils of any age can draw or write their strengths, talents or personal characteristics.

This is great to have alongside your Worry Monster. There is space to write the worry and/or draw a picture. Children can project their anxieties onto the worry monster, externalising their worries and making them feel less overwhelming. Talking to or sharing worries with the worry monster can provide comfort and reassurance to children, helping them feel understood and supported. Worry monsters create a safe space for children to express their fears and concerns without judgment, fostering open communication and emotional expression. By feeding their worries to the monster or placing them inside, children regain a sense of control over their anxieties, empowering them to manage their emotions more effectively. Interacting with the worry monster becomes a coping strategy for children to deal with their worries in a constructive and tangible way, promoting emotional resilience and well-being.

This is an odd socks design activity for anti bullying. A lovely ELSA activity. Can your pupil design their own unique pair of odd socks?

This is a ‘My voice matters pupil leaflet’. It is written in a child friendly way so pupils will understand. This is a special leaflet for children’s mental health week. Focus on expressing yourself and how their voices matter. We have lots of other Pupil Leaflets on our website. Our leaflet comes with its own holder for displaying on the wall. Included in the ‘My voice matters pupil leaflet’: Mental wellbeing? – How talking about thoughts and feelings can help your brain feel better and is the first step to a healthy mind. Emotions matter? – How emotions are normal but sometimes need to be talked about. Boost confidence – How expressing yourself in different ways can boost confidence. Whether that is writing, drawing, body language or talking. Community – How belonging to a community with help boost self esteem and create safety. Respecting everyone’s opinions and ideas and having yours respected too. Strength- How communication makes a difference and makes the world a better place. There is an editable part for you to put your contact details or just your name. Simply type in the blue box. Don’t worry the blue box doesn’t show when you print. You can of course just print it and handwrite your details. There is also a BLACK AND WHITE version included in the pack. Important information This leaflet is meant to be used as part of ELSA Sessions or some other therapeutic session and shouldn’t just be given out to children without some input. Please DO NOT just give these out without that important input. They are purely reminders for the pupil to take away and for parents to get involved. It is your responsibility to decide whether the information in this leaflet will be helpful to your pupils. Under our terms and conditions these leaflets must not be put onto school websites. They are for printing and giving to pupils at the end of a session or you could use them as a basis for your session. Work through each part with the pupil.

This is an interactive ‘Would you rather’ PowerPoint game for teaching on a computer/IPAD, through zoom or google classroom. Pupils pick a card and the card will flip over to reveal a ‘Would you rather?’ Question.

This is a ‘Building confidence pupil leaflet’. It is written in a child friendly way so pupils will understand. Included in the ‘Building confidence pupil leaflet’: What is confidence? – A description of what confidence is and how you can cross the bridge from self doubt to self confidence What is self doubt? – Description with examples and a chance for the pupil to write down what their little voice might be saying. Confidence knockers – What sort of things knock confidence and a chance for pupils to write down what knocks their confidence. Confidence boosters – Ways to build confidence. Setting yourself a goal – Steps to set a goal – success breeds confidence. There is an editable part for you to put your contact details or just your name. Simply type in the blue box. Don’t worry the blue box doesn’t show when you print. You can of course just print it and handwrite your details. There is also a BLACK AND WHITE version included in the pack. Important information This leaflet is meant to be used as part of ELSA Sessions or some other therapeutic session and shouldn’t just be given out to children without some input. Please DO NOT just give these out without that important input. They are purely reminders for the pupil to take away and for parents to get involved. It is your responsibility to decide whether the information in this leaflet will be helpful to your pupils. Under our terms and conditions these leaflets must not be put onto school websites. They are for printing and giving to pupils at the end of a session or you could use them as a basis for your session. Work through each part with the pupil.

This is a ‘Looking after my mental health’ tab booklet for world mental health day on the 10th October 2023 This resource is to help remove the stigma of mental health and help children to understand what they might need for good mental health. This booklet is here to show that it’s okay to talk about feelings and to help children  know what they can do to have happy and healthy minds. It is aimed at primary and lower secondary. This resource is to support World mental health day. Included in the pack How important are feelings? Who can I talk to? How can I relax? What makes me happy? How can I look after me?

This is a pupil anger trifold leaflet with information on the emotion of anger. An ELSA contacted me asking if I had any leaflets for pupils so I created this. If you like this and think it would be useful do let me know and I will look at creating leaflets for other emotions. The leaflet takes the pupil through what anger is, triggers, body feelings, labelling the feeling, scaling, and coping skills. I would suggest you give this leaflet out at the end of your sessions on anger or if you are just talking through anger with a pupil you go through the leaflet and explain everything in more detail with them. You will find instructions for printing and folding the pupil anger trifold leaflet within the download. You can add your contact details to the leaflet by typing in the BLUE box. The font is set to the same as the leaflet and the text auto adjusts so you can write a bit more than just your name. You might want to write where the pupil can find you. The blue box does not show when you print.

This leaflet gives a general idea of what an ELSA works on with children. It shows how a lesson may be run which includes and emotional check in, main activity, relaxation and a review. It looks at the aims of the ELSA programme such as building your child’s emotional development and to help them cope with life’s challenges. Also helping children to find solutions to any problems they may have. It covers the areas an ELSA may help with such as loss and bereavement, emotional literacy, self esteem, social skills, friendship issues, relationships, managing strong feelings, anxiety, bullying, conflict, emotional regulation, growth mindset and social stories. It is helpful to give one of these leaflets out to parents when you first start working with them.

The four basic emotions are covered – happy, sad, angry and scared You will find that most other emotions have a base here. For example worried can come under scared, excited can come under happy, upset can come under sad and furious can come under angry. Learning these 4 first can help develop other emotions in time. Print out a copy for each day. Ask your child how they are feeling today? Ask them to colour the relevant picture, chances are it will be ‘happy’ most of the time initially and this is fine. You are helping them get into the habit of talking about feelings. Ask them to draw their face showing that emotion, use a mirror to help them see their face and have fun making different expressions. Then ask them to talk about it and draw a picture if they want to. If they don’t then just jot down what they have said. You want them to articulate their feelings and talking about it is a great way to do that! In time you will find your child becoming more open and talking more about their feelings. Please make sure you model this too e.g. ‘I feel sad today because it’s raining outside’. ‘I feel happy today because I talked to my friend’. Also make sure you verbalise their emotions too and give a reason. ‘I see you are feeling sad today because…’ ‘I see you are feeling angry today because…’ and so on. Great for home learning

A free self esteem poster for teens and young people.