Brain Break cards and fans. Great for children who need a break. 8 cards and 4 fans included

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.

Suggested benefits include: Concentration and attention span – it is so easy to get completely engrossed in your design Thinking skills – thinking what pattern to do next, what will look good! Mindfulness – a sense of mindfulness and being completed absorbed in the activity Relaxation – a true sense of relaxation as you are only thinking about your patterns Hand eye co-ordination – speaks for itself, try it! Self-esteem – creating something beautiful that looks amazing! Stress relief – if you feel stressed give it a go. You will be amazed Self soothing – it is such a soothing activity and if you feel upset or anxious it will make you feel better Ok to make mistakes – your mistakes can be incorporated into your design Problem solving – how can you incorporate your mistakes into your design? Fine motor skills – making those tiny patterns Nurturing creative abilities – allowing everyone to be creative Expanding your imagination – let your imagination go and just create! Creative expression – allows you to create your own design and express yourself Great fun! Simple to learn – each stroke of the pen or pencil is simple No planned outcome – you don’t know yet how your design will end up. Included in the pack: 35 shapes all sectioned off 32 of those shapes all blank for pupils to section off 26 Letters of the alphabet sectioned off 26 Letters of the alphabet left blank for pupil to section off

The ‘Feel the Feels’ range of resources are aimed at older pupils and therefore are suitable for secondary children. They use a range of clipart of teens/preteens. This is a bingo set which can be used for emotions work. This set contains the following emotions/feelings/conditions – annoyed, furious, hyper, proud, depressed, stressed, shocked, excited, silly,

This intervention is written for a group of four pupils and is led by an ELSA or teaching assistant. It covers emotions, relaxation and lessons around worries. It runs for approximately 40 minutes. This intervention is aimed at 5 to 7 year olds. This intervention follows this structure Welcome and emotional register– welcome the pupils to the group, go over the circle time rules and talk about how they feel today. Activity – this is where the pupils work on the learning objective. Relaxation/Mindfulness – pupils are more ready to go back to class if they are relaxed and calm. This also teaches them valuable coping/relaxation skills. Review of the session – pupils talk about their learning experience. There are lots of resources in this pack and LOTS of visuals to help children to understand. Lesson objectives Lesson 1 – I can tell you what a worried face looks like Lesson 2 – I can understand how worries can make my body feel uncomfortable Lesson 3 – I can tell you if my worry is a BIG or a SMALL worry Lesson 4 – I can understand how my thoughts can make me feel uncomfortable Lesson 5 – I know some ways to calm myself down Lesson 6 – I can park my worries and make a plan

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 self-care potion activity is a fun and engaging for pupils to look at all the things that help with their self-care. There are two potion bottles to choose from. Print out a bottle and print out the pocket. Cut them out carefully and stick the pocket to the bottle. Print out and cut out some of the droplets of potion. Firstly go through the list with the pupil and get them to write their ideas on one of the sheets. They can add any others not on the list here too. When they have a decent amount they can then fill in their droplets and add them to the pocket of the potion bottle. If they aren’t too keen on all the writing they can go straight to filling in the droplets with prompting from you, using the self-care list. You know your pupils so do what you think is best. Suitable for practically all age groups. Included in the pack: 2 different potion bottles Pocket label for the bottles List of self-care ideas 3 different sheets for pupils to record ideas first 8 coloured potion droplets All available in black and white too This is their recipe for self-care.

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.

This is our Know Yourself Reflections activity for Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 Our Know Yourself Reflections Sheet is a simple and fun tool for children aged 7 to 11 (or older) to explore what makes them unique. This resource encourages children to think about their proud moments, strengths, likes, and feelings, helping them develop self-awareness and confidence. By reflecting on who they are and what they enjoy, children can better understand themselves and build a strong sense of identity. This sheet is perfect for classrooms, wellbeing activities, or home use, offering a creative way to encourage positive self-reflection and meaningful conversations. Use this resource to help children celebrate who they are and recognise what makes them special! Pupils can enjoy colouring in the little characters and shapes whilst talking about the different areas. Simply print out onto A4 and use with your children. Benefits of the Know Yourself Reflection Sheet Builds self-awareness – Helps children understand their feelings, strengths, and preferences. Boosts confidence – Encourages children to recognise and celebrate their unique qualities. Supports emotional intelligence – Promotes understanding and healthy expression of emotions. Encourages self-reflection – Inspires children to think about their experiences, achievements, and goals. Fosters positivity – Focuses on proud moments and strengths, cultivating a positive mindset. Promotes creativity – Includes opportunities for writing, drawing, and coloring for engaging self-expression. Strengthens communication – Sparks meaningful conversations in group or one-to-one settings. Provides calm and focus – Colouring elements add a mindful activity to support relaxation. Supports wellbeing – Encourages children to explore what makes them happy and calm.

This is an anger scale poster or visual for display or for showing pupils who struggle with anger. It could also be put up in classrooms or work areas.

This resource will help to develop children's growth mindset as well as help them risk assess a situation. Children need to look at their mistakes, find out what they learnt by that mistake, understand the consequences and have another go or don't have another go depending on what has been learnt. Equally children do need to assess the risks of an activity they are doing to make sure they do not hurt themselves and to give a bit more thought into what they are doing. They need to understand the consequences of their mistake. Included in the resource: A game board 18 mistake scenario cards 10 ideas for using the mistake cards worksheets to go with those ideas

Empathy is a very difficult thing to learn for children and this lapbook will help to teach the skills needed. I have named it ‘Kindness’ because being empathetic is about being kind isn’t it? Caring about other people’s feelings and wanting to help them in some way. Children will learn how to recognise their own feelings and the feelings of others. They will learn to look at different perspectives and how to get the full picture. The vocabulary of pity, empathy, sympathy and compassion will be taught. Children will look at ways of showing that they care and will become ‘care collectors’ – they will collect times when they showed kindness and times when they received kindness. This will help them to see that it actually feels good to be kind and caring. Basic listening skills will be taught so that they know how to listen to someone who might have a problem.

These Social and Emotional Support EXCEL assessments are perfect for an ELSA or anyone else who needs to track progress and impact of intervention. It includes an excel file for tracking emotional skills, anxiety, social skills, growth mindset, independence, friendships and relationships, and self esteem. There is also a pupil questionnaire. These are so quick and easy to fill in. No calculating to do as it is all done for you. It is a matter of clicking a number for each statement. They will work on a computer or laptop but NOT on an IPAD or phone and you must have EXCEL installed on your computer. This download gives your school a licence to use these assessments. This means you only need to buy one for your school and everyone in your school can use it. The price listed is the price that needs to be paid for the school licence. Please do not add the TES school licence.

This story is suitable for working with children who steal. It includes: A story to read to the child and discuss. Repeat the story several times to ensure the key points are being understood. Prompt cards to print, laminate and put on a keyring for taking away with them. They could have a copy for the classroom and one for home. A target sheet so that the child can colour a star if they manage to stop themselves from stealing A certificate for when they have reached their target. 12 Question cards on the story to ensure the child understands what is being asked of them. Worksheets on the key points of the story to ensure understanding. Assess understanding. See if the child really understands stealing with these simple scenarios

Use this activity in the following ways: Warm up or icebreaker at the beginning of your sessions Emotional register at the beginning of your sessions In numeracy lessons when working on numbers 1-10 With SEN children who need a bit more help with emotions or numbers to 10 In early years classrooms as independent activities To learn about the 6 emotions included This pack contains: 6 girl jigsaws numbers 1-5 6 boy jigsaws numbers 1-5 6 girl jigsaws numbers 1-10 6 boy jigsaws numbers 1-10

The Control your Thunder – ELSA Anger intervention is an ANGER management intervention for KS2 upwards. Included in the pack is: Planning booklet Pupil booklet Circletime rules Relaxation cube Emotion fans ANGER posters Supporting resources Certificate of completion There are five lessons which are based on a letter from the word ANGER A is AWARENESS N is NEGATIVE thoughts G is GAUGING E is EXPRESSING R is RELAXATION

This intervention is for a group of six girls and is led by an ELSA or teaching assistant. It covers emotions, relaxation, calming down techniques and learning objectives around assertiveness for girls. It runs for approximately 40-60 minutes, weekly for six weeks. Children will learn about emotions during each session and will also learn relaxation and calming techniques through the ‘relaxation time’. This knowledge and these skills will help them to become more emotionally literate. The warm-up games teach a variety of skills such as co-operation, team work, taking turns, communication skills, friendship, self-esteem and confidence. The coming together of a group fosters a sense of belonging and therefore raises self-esteem. Every opportunity should be taken to promote belonging and friendship. The age range for this intervention would be approximately year 3 upwards and should be aimed at quiet, shy girls who lack confidence and self-esteem. The pack contains the following: Planning booklet with 6 fully planned sessions Circle time rules posters Shout out reflection sheet Feelings wheel Certificate Assertiveness list Passive list Aggressive list Assertiveness comic strip Passive comic strip Aggressive comic strip Assertive communication poster Strengths shield Strength cards Problem cards Target setting sheet Visuals for mindfulness

This is a growth mindset sorting activity and is suitable for all pupils. Which statements are indicative of a growth mindset and which ones are a fixed mindset. Help your pupils learn with this colourful and engaging activity. Included in the pack: Growth Mindset pocket Fixed Mindset pocket Sorting sheet 64 statements – 32 for fixed mindset and 32 for growth mindset A set of blank cards so pupils can write their own Character sheets for sorting without the pockets if you are wanting to do a quick activity All the above in black and white The pockets without clipart for older pupils

Stress This resource is about stress and coping strategies. Some stress can be good because it can actually encourage and motivate you to work harder. When you get too much stress it can make you feel overwhelmed. Finding a balance is key to managing stress. Stress bucket The bucket is a metaphor for the body and the water is a metaphor for stress and coping strategies. This resource will lead the child through making a stress bucket and learning how to use it. Levels of stress Depending on the person, the level of water in the bucket may already be high due to past experiences. Stress entering the body isn’t necessarily filling up an empty bucket. It is adding to what is already there. Every day stressors can soon overflow the bucket. There are always people and children who blow up over the slightest thing and this is probably because their stress is quite high all of the time. Turning on the tap Turning the tap on is a metaphor for letting out the stress and the best way to do this is through coping strategies. Coping strategies can be anything that the calms the person down from ‘calming breathing’ to ‘having a run’. It might also be things they enjoy doing, something that makes them feel happy. It can be individual to the person on what works for them. What relieves their stress? Included in the pack Stress scales. These could be used as bookmarks and taken away. A4 poster that could be stuck to the wall as a reminder 24 additional supporting worksheets An A4 bucket and pocket – pupils can put their stress INTO the bucket by using the pocket Cloud and water for the craft Different sizes of water droplets Information sheets including examples of stressors, de-stressing ideas, physical body signs, and how it affects emotions and behaviour

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.