The feel good game – is a game about self-esteem. The game will promote discussion on positive aspects of the child’s life and will use affirmations and character traits to reinforce self-esteem. The game could be played on a one to one basis or a group basis. My suggestion is no more than four children. To make the game Photocopy or print the game board onto A3 paper then laminate Print all the cards, laminate and cut into separate cards Print the ‘I am board’ and laminate, print 4 of each so that you have enough for girls or boys. The game consists of: Affirmation cards Character trait cards ‘I am’ boards A game board You will also need counters, dry wipe pens and a die to play. How to play Choose the person to go first by each throwing the die and the highest number thrown goes first. Go clockwise from that person. The first person throws the die and moves their counter that number of spaces. They must answer the question they land on, however, if they land on affirmation then they must read this out to the rest of the group. Ask the child if they agree with the statement. They may or may not. If they land on a ‘character trait’ they must read it out and explain what it means. If they cannot explain it then ask if anyone else can help? If they think they have this character trait they can write it on their ‘I am board’. The aim is for each child to have 5 character traits on their board at the end of the game. Continue going round the board until each child has their five character traits. There isn’t a winner as such with this game as the aim is for the children to learn about their positive traits When they have all filled their ‘I am’ board then they are all winners! You can photocopy each ‘I am board’ before erasing the writing for the next game.

These emotion work cards will help children to learn more about their emotions. They will help them learn new vocabulary and to really use and think about their emotions. Learning about emotions is incredibly important for all children and this resource is perfect for that. This is a set of 30 cards, 2 on each page. Each card has a task to do related to emotion cards. A set of emotion cards has been included with this resource but the cards which match this resource is available in my TES store. The cards can be printed on A4 or A3 and laminated. Children can use dry wipe pens to write or draw. You can then photocopy what they have done to keep it or you can just print them as worksheets.

Name – child writes their name in a colourful way – they could write in bubble writing or decorate it anyway they wish. Why do they like their name? How did they get their name? Do they know of anyone they admire with the same name? Do they have a nickname? Picture– either take a photo of the child to stick here or ask them to draw themselves. What do they like about their body? Is there anything they don’t like? What amazing things can they do with their bodies? How do they take care of their bodies? Talk about exercise, eating, drinking, washing, going to doctors if ill etc. What about their minds? How do they keep themselves happy? Content? Relaxed etc.? Front cover title – What is self esteem? Do they know? Have a discussion about what having a healthy self esteem is. Make sure they are aware that the things you are going to be working on will help their self esteem. Family pocket and hearts – think about their family members and write one on each heart shape. Reinforce that sense of belonging to the child. They belong to their family. They are part of a family. That family maybe an adopted family but they still BELONG. Keep all the family members safe in the little pocket. ‘I can’ can – think about all the things the child ‘CAN’ do. Focus on the positive with this activity. What can they do? Think about their school work, their homes, their friends, and anything at all that they can do. It could be the tiniest thing but if they can do it then it is written on the little cards and put into the ‘I can’ can. This can be added to over the time you are working with the child. Tell the teacher to help the child realise what they ‘CAN’ do. Reinforce this at all times. Thank you for – Being grateful and thankful can really boost happiness and self esteem so this activity is about thinking of all the things the child is thankful for. Each day there will be something, no matter how small, Are they thankful for family? friends? that they are a fast runner? that they have a lovely home? that they get food everyday? that they are in good health? Focus on being thankful at all times. Write all these things on the little strips and pop into the pocket. Keep adding to this over your sessions. Treasure chest – This has several sheets which fold up like a little booklet. The child can decorate their face at the top and you can choose which one to do – there is ‘Things I am proud of’, ‘Things I have achieved’, ‘Things I like about me’, ‘Things I tried hard to do’. You could put anything in the treasure chest that is special and is something to keep safe. Wheel – you could use this with strength cards Look through the strength cards together and ask the child to pick 8 things they are good at. 8 strengths. Obviously they may come up with ones that are not in the pack and that is fine. Write one strength on each section of the wheel. Glue the bottom section to the top of the lapbook and

This is an emotions poster set with 20 bright and colourful posters all set up for A3 Printing. The quality is excellent so you could make them bigger with your ADOBE print settings. These are useful in so many ways: Use them during circle-time to open up discussion. Display one each week in your classroom and discuss. Refer to the poster often to reinforce how important it is to try your best. Create lesson plans around one of the posters.

Here you have a PowerPoint file of editable names. You can click on the name and change it. It will go to two lines if you want to add a surname too. The box is set to stay the same but your writing will be smaller or bigger depending on how many letters you put in. There are 15 hand drawn backgrounds included in this pack all great for mindful colouring. Some are more complex than others so choose one that you think the pupil will like. The font is embedded into the file. Once you have chosen from the 15 backgrounds, click on the name and change it. Click ‘Save as’ and save the PowerPoint first. Click ‘Save as’ again and choose PDF from the drop down list. You can then print that page from your PDF. You can duplicate one design if you want to by right clicking on the slide on the left hand side of your screen and choosing duplicate. This pack is great for an opening session or just to catch up with the child after the long holiday. They can take it away with them and finish it at home if they want to.

There are 48 Friends cards in this pack. Each showing a positive aspect of friendship. These are great for reading through with older pupils to discuss and work on. They print 8 to an A4 page. Help your pupils to make more friends by using these bright and colourful cards often.

This is a ‘Falling out with friends pupil leaflet’ (conflict) which was an ELSA request. It is written in a child friendly way so pupils will understand. Included in the ‘falling out with friends pupil leaflet’: Understanding Conflict – Explanation of what conflict means and the emotions around conflict. Causes of conflict – examples of situations that lead to conflict. Win win – What is a win win situation? Compromise – What it means to compromise along with traffic light reminder. Test yourself – Questions to check understanding. 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.

Here is a lovely calming game to play on the run up to Christmas. How to play our Christmas Calming Bingo game: Give each pupil a base board and some counters. Pick one of the calming cards and read through it with the pupils. The pupils can close their eyes so they can imagine the scene you are setting for them. Once they have all done this they place a counter on their base board over the appropriate exercise. Repeat until someone has a row vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The first person to get a row vertically, horizontally or diagonally is the winner of the game. They need to shout out ‘I am calm’ if they win. Included in the pack: 9 Calming activities 9 base boards with the images mixed up. You can play with up to 9 players.

Interact is a game about communication. It is aimed at non-verbal communication skills. The game will teach children about gestures (some by touch), expressions, eye contact and voice (expressions, pitch and volume). It does not cover space and personal space although that could be addressed by the person leading the game. The game could be played on a one to one basis or a group basis. My suggestion is no more than four children. The game consists of: Say it cards Expressions cards Eye contact cards Gesture cards A game board Bingo type boards You will also need counters and a die to play. How to play Choose the person to go first by each throwing the die and the highest number thrown goes first. Go clockwise from that person. The first person throws the die and moves their counter that number of spaces. They will land on either ‘say it’ ‘gestures’ ‘eye contact’ or ‘expressions’. They must pick that card and do what is on the card. They may need help with the gestures as you may need to model to them what it means but they will soon begin to learn them. When they have done this they get a counter to put on their bingo board. The first person to fill their bingo board is the winner. If someone has reached the finish star but still hasn’t filled in their bingo board then they must start again.

Activities consist of: Creating a superpower to help people Creating a superhero name Designing your superhero How it makes you feel to use your superpowers to help someone Comparing your favourite superhero to yourself – same and different The Superhero emotion characters have all been drawn by myself.

Included in the pack: Banner 15 Posters Speech bubbles with and without lines 68 Display words

he crafts are very simple. It is the process that is important. Children relax when they are working on a craft and to be honest I do not know of a child who does not enjoy crafts especially when it is with someone who is interested in them and interested in what they say. They will open up to you and talk freely whilst enjoying themselves. These activities are also perfect for an ELSA or Teaching assistant who has to do a one off session with a child or who has to work reactively to a situation. When children succeed in an activity then their self efficacy increases. They begin to believe in themselves. Along with your encouragement and praise they will begin to have a ‘can do’ attitude. It takes time but if anyone ever says to you that what you are doing is just ‘crafting and having fun’ WHAT are they learning? You can tell them. The resource includes: Card crafts (20 activities) Templates (13 templates or resources) Front cover, contents sheet

This EBSA workbook School difficulties has been created with valuable help from the members of the ELSA Support Facebook Group who provided some of the difficulties their pupils face. It relies on real life situations that pupils have found difficult about coming to school. ELSAs are often on the front line trying to help pupils back into school and to work on their difficulties. The booklet is aimed from Year 3 to Year 6 but could also be used with Year 2 with support. We also have EBSA workbook school thoughts and feelings and EBSA Workbook Coping with school worries on the website. EBSA is Emotionally based school avoidance. Pupils who struggle to come to school or are non attenders. This might have an emotional cause or a mental health cause. The activity consists of a sorting board, cards with suggestions, cards for pupils to write their own, an exploration board, a feelings board with scales and changes and what they want to happen to make things feel ok. This activity will help pupils to identify what is bothering them at school and how to reduce that feeling by changing the situation. Start by printing out the base board and cutting up the cards. Print out a blank sheet so the pupil can add their own if they want to. Help the pupil sort the cards between things that are ok, things they are unsure of and things that are not ok. Once you have done that choose one of the things that are not ok and look at it further. Help the pupil break it down to see if you can find out what the actual issue is. Example might be ‘seating plan’ that is not ok. What is it about the seating plan that is not ok? Is it that they are sitting next to someone they don’t like? Perhaps they can’t hear the teacher? Perhaps they are uncomfortable and there might be a draft or a bright light bothering them. They might prefer to be sitting with a friend. Perhaps someone copies off them or talks to them and they don’t like that. Try and help the pupil to break down the difficulty. Once they have the root cause of their difficulty, help them to identify how it makes them feel. Can they put a name to that feeling? How big is that feeling? There is a sheet for pupil voice to say what changes need to happen for them to be ok. They can write it or you can write it for them and they can tell you what needs to change. There is also a daily sheet for pupils to write down anything that they think of or that crops up for them. There are also some additional supporting resources included in the pack This is the first workbook in the EBSA Workbook Range.

Strength cards are a brilliant way of raising self-esteem in children. Please see below for lots of ideas on how to use them. There are lots of ways of using them to help boost a child’s self esteem. They help children to name and recognise their inner strengths. Great for the child who is shy or doesn’t want to speak out in front of others. Lay all the strength cards out and ask the child to pick five strengths that represent them. In a group situation, ask one child to sit in the centre of the circle and the rest of the children have to pick five strengths that represent that child. In a group situation, give each child a white board and pen and go through the strength cards. The children can write five on their whiteboards. Pick one of your strength cards and decide how you are going to use that strength – today, tomorrow, next week, next year? Pick one of the strengths that you want to be. For example if you decide you want to be a good team player. How can you achieve that? Make a plan. Pick someone you admire, it might be a footballer, a singer, a film star, a family member or a friend, what strengths do they have? Put the cards face down, ask a child to pick one. Discuss the card. Does he/she know anyone with that strength? Do they have that strength? Would they want that strength? Ask the child to design their own strength card. What image would it have? What would the strength be? Use the strength cards as affirmations. Use the five cards the child has chosen and get them to say ‘I am strong, I am thoughtful, I am wise, I am musical, I am kind’. Put them in a little box and the child must look at them daily and repeat the affirmations. Pick one strength card such as ‘affectionate���. Who do they know who is Affectionate? Discuss. This could also be a group discussion.

There are 40 brightly coloured cards showing ways to be a good friend. Perfect for KS1 and Lower KS2. Use these as discussion or teaching points on how to be a good friend.

This resource can be used in many different ways. Laminate the ‘face sheet’ and then laminate all the expression and vocabulary cards. Cut out the expression and vocabulary cards. Use a blob of bluetac to stick items onto the face. Add a whiteboard pen, a mirror and some playdough to extend the use of this resource. All images have been drawn by myself. I have also included different skin colours.

This is ideal to play with groups of up to 8 children. Children will learn about good listening skills through playing this game and it will constantly reinforce those essential skills. Included in the pack: One poster for display in the classroom/ELSA area 8 bingo boards with the images in different places 1 set of calling cards

Jigsaw Resource Pack Includes: 5 banners an example lesson plan 10 plain coloured jigsaw pieces 10 coloured jigsaw pieces with vocabulary 15 jigsaw templates and suggestions list on how to use them

The crafts are very simple. It is the process that is important. Children relax when they are working on a craft and to be honest I do not know of a child who does not enjoy crafts especially when it is with someone who is interested in them and interested in what they say. They will open up to you and talk freely whilst enjoying themselves. These activities are also perfect for an ELSA or Teaching assistant who has to do a one off session with a child or who has to work reactively to a situation. Also can be used for whole class activities at Christmas time. When children succeed in an activity then their self efficacy increases. They begin to believe in themselves. Along with your encouragement and praise they will begin to have a ‘can do’ attitude. It takes time but if anyone ever says to you that what you are doing is just ‘crafting and having fun’ WHAT are they learning? You can tell them. The resource includes: Card crafts (20 activities) Templates (17 templates or resources) Front cover, contents sheet

These separation cards are perfect for touching base with your ELSA children. Once an intervention is finished it is important to keep contact with your children. Great relationships occur during ELSA interventions. Some children do build a strong bond with the adult that they work with and these little cards will ensure that they know they are still being thought about and are not forgotten. Of course these were created for the ELSA/Child relationship. These would also work well for Teacher/Child, TA/Child, Learning Mentor/Child or anyone who works either on a one to one basis or small group basis with children. Parent’s may even find them useful to pop in their child’s lunch box for example, or put one under their pillow to remind them about how amazing they are. There are 22 different cards altogether These cards can be printed on A4 card and there are 4 to each A4 sheet. Have a stack of them printed and ready to give out to your children. There is a mixture of ‘thinking of you’ type cards, ‘inspirational cards’ and even Birthday, Christmas cards.