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

This is a game aimed at fussy eaters. It encourages them in small steps to eat something new.

Here are some emotion faces based on Christmas characters. 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.

6 Monster Character posters There are six monsters in the pack with key vocabulary. There is a monster for each basic emotion- happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised and disgusted. Each monster is a character. We have: Angry Adam Disgusted Doug Happy Hannah Sad Simon Scared Sophie Surprised Sam Each character is displayed on one page which can then be printed as A3 or A4 to create your display. The character is asking ���How do you feel today?’ Alongside the monster is some key vocabulary. It is so important for children to learn other emotion words too so they can express their feelings. 6 Monster character cards There are also some smaller cards (2 per page) which you can print as A4 or A3 depending on how big you want your cards to be. Each monster is holding a card for the child to write or draw on. The idea is that the child can choose which monster they feel like. They can then write or draw why they feel like that. 7 Banners There are also 7 banners to choose from. Each one having a different colour so you can choose the colour you would like to use. These are in PDF format so to print as a banner you will need to change the settings. Everyone’s printer is different so it is difficult to give instructions but on my computer I choose poster print, and reduce the percentage to 75%. This prints over 3 pages which you can then stick together to form your banner. Obviously you could print it bigger or smaller by changing your settings. 6 emotion cards Each character on a separate card. (4 per page). Writing paper for each character (write your own title/question) Drawing paper for each character (write your own title/question) Speech bubble, thinking bubble and comic strip This is a display and resource pack but it doesn’t stop just at displays. These cards could be used as a teaching tool too: You could do a circle time each week concentrating on one character. All emotions work could be on that one character for the week. Children could have a go at creating their own characters for each emotion. Use the drawing paper included in the pack. Write your own scenarios on the monster cards to help children relate to the emotion. Make up stories of why ‘Doug is disgusted’ or ‘Adam is angry’. Use the writing paper included in the pack. Draw comic strips showing why ‘Sophie is scared’. (A comic strip is included in the pack). Use to model emotional regulation. Tell the children ‘I feel like Angry Adam today because…’ What should I do about that? How can I calm down? There are lots of activities you can do with this pack. Perfect for early years or SEN.

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

The Mind Monsters Fan Pack is a perfect resource for especially young children to identify their feelings. It is based on the 6 basic emotions of happy, sad, angry, scared, disgusted and surprised. It is also suitable for children with SEN and even older children will love the characters. There are 3 levels of fans. The first one just shows the monster on its own for children to relate to the face and facial expression. The second one shows the name of the Monster – Angry Adam, Sad Simon, Surprised Sam, Happy Hannah, Scared Sophie and Disgusted Doug. This will help children to label the emotion by the name and the expression. The third level has a scale of 1-5 for children to begin to scale their emotions. How sad are they? Are they a tiny bit sad or very very sad? There are more Mind Monster resources, please check my store.

A powerpoint show, PDF and activities around teaching children the difference between true and false to give them an understanding on telling lies.

This is a Christmas wishes stocking booklet. Pupils can either choose a mindful colouring version or they can choose a coloured version. The aim of the activity is mindfulness and thinking about Christmas wishes. Once the stocking is coloured, cut out and folded, pupils can write or draw their wishes inside the stocking. This would make a fab display,

This is an idea for an ELSA Christmas advent calendar and would be a fab activity for groups of children or your one to one children. Each child can colour one or two of the booklets. Some of them require faces drawing on first. They can just colour the image or they can colour the image and background. Depends how much time you have. There are 24 little foldable books. The child can colour the front of one of the books and then write or draw something inside. The pupil needs to understand that what they write or draw could be seen by anyone so they are writing for an audience. What could they write? The purpose of this advent calendar is some quiet mindful time and of course positivity. This activity is ideal for that last week in November, preparing for the 1st of December. Ideas for what you could work on: A Christmas memory Something you are grateful for An act of kindness Positive quotes about Christmas Self care and ways to look after yourself Positive characteristics Relaxing moments Positive affirmations A gift to give someone A joke or something to make you smile Compliments Once all the pieces have been coloured you can use the enclosed A3 sheet to stick the numbers on at random and close each book with a bit of bluetak. You can then use it as an advent calendar. Everyone has been involved and pupils are writing things for others to see so they need to think carefully what message they want to convey. Of course if you want to make it very simple, they could just draw a Christmas picture inside if they want to.

This isolation diary booklet for children will help nurture wellbeing. They may have to stay at home for 14 days to isolate after having contact with a positive Covid case. There are 10 daily challenges but these don’t take long to do. It is a matter of doing a bit of colouring, writing a word or number. If they can’t do them all then that is fine but the more they do the more likely they will be fully occupied on nurturing their wellbeing. There are a couple of differentiated pages so this is suitable for all age groups.

Here are some positivity cards. There are 36 cards in the download. Print these out and cut them out and they could be used in lots of ways from discussions at circle time to a child picking one out of a jar and discussing.

These breathing exercise wheels are great as a prompt for trying different breathing techniques when feeling anxious. Pupils can use their favourite or try different ones.

This is a bee display pack with positive messages on. Included in the pack: 31 Hexagons with messages and blanks for your own messages A3 Bee for cutting out Clouds Large flowers 2 Banners One hive I would suggest a pale bluish background if you can so the yellow stands out. This can be made to look like the sky. The flowers could be cut out and put around the bottom or make a border of them by printing them smaller.

Written last night to hopefully help children who struggle with change. This is a BIG change. Clear, simple and hopefully reassuring.

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

This challenge has been made for Children’s mental health week on the theme of ‘EXPRESS YOURSELF’ It is a printable 5 day challenge with a drawing/writing task and a doing/talking task each day. There is a certificate for the end of the 5 days.

The teen affirmation workbook begins by offering a clear explanation of affirmations and their significance. It is vital for young minds to grasp the concept of positive self-talk and how it can shape their perceptions and attitudes. The workbook helps pupils to craft personalised affirmations that resonate with their unique experiences and aspirations. Teens learn to transform negative thoughts into affirmations that inspire confidence and resilience. Pupils will reflect on any negativity in their lives through self reflection and learn to flip these into positive affirmations. Pupils are encouraged to use their affirmations daily for 2 weeks and monitor their feelings over this time. They are then encouraged to reflect on any changes that have been observed over that 2 week period. What’s included in the teen affirmation workbook? Affirmations are… (what they are) Affirmations can… (how they can benefit you) Self reflection…(what are the negatives?) Turning the negatives…(How to flip those negatives into a positive statement) Your turn…(Practising how to flip the negatives) Creating affirmations (advice on how to write one) Example affirmations Creating your own affirmations Daily affirmation practice Remember… (the importance of daily practice) Keeping track…(A table for helping monitor feelings and any positive changes) Reflection…(How have things changed over two weeks – question prompts)

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.

This is a children’s feelings dictionary. The title is ‘Feelings Explorers – a journey to discover your feelings’ This dictionary covers the word and a simple definition. It is aimed at primary or older if older students don’t mind the characters. Life presents children with a range of challenging emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or fear. A feelings dictionary equips them with the tools to navigate these emotions more effectively. It empowers children to label their feelings, recognise their triggers, and identify appropriate coping strategies. This emotional resilience not only helps them manage difficult emotions but also promotes mental well-being and fosters a positive outlook on life. Labeling feelings is a crucial step in teaching children how to regulate their emotions. When children can identify and label their emotions, they are better equipped to manage them. By recognising when they are experiencing frustration, for example, children can learn strategies to calm themselves down, such as taking deep breaths or engaging in a preferred calming activity. The ability to regulate emotions effectively contributes to improved self-control and reduced impulsivity. Included in this Children’s Feelings Dictionary 13 Page booklet with a front cover – this is the dictionary from A to Z, lots of words included. Please note there are no words beginning with the letter X. A to Z of feelings worksheet – for pupils to choose words they like and write them down or add words not included in the dictionary. Please note there are no feelings words for x Feelings words I can use worksheet – for pupils to think about the core emotions such as angry, sad, scared, happy, disgusted and surprised and write words they would use to describe those emotions. Feelings words to describe the characters worksheet – pupils can look through the dictionary and choose words to describe the character’s feelings. Synonyms worksheet – pupils can hunt for synonyms of the 6 core emotions. Silly sentences worksheet – pupils can make up silly sentences using some of the feelings words in the dictionary. Draw the feeling worksheet – pupils can choose six words from the dictionary and try to draw what that feeling might look like.

This is a six session fully planned EBSA intervention. EBSA is emotionally based school avoidance. This intervention is for working one to one with a pupil that has difficulties in coming to school or staying in school. It is aimed at KS2 and could also be used with Year 2 pupils. It covers areas such as anxiety, the CBT cycle, exploring the perfect day at school, what pushes them into school and what pulls them away from school, what is safety and feeling safe? Pupil led plan on returning or staying in school. Emotions and relaxation are included along with work on strengths to help raise confidence and self-esteem. Included in the EBSA intervention: Planning booklet with 6 fully planned sessions 6 warmup activities based on strengths 6 relaxation exercises using visualisations Emotions check in with resources to cover aspects of emotional literacy Comic strip and callouts for spotting anxiety Comic strip and callouts for the perfect day at school CBT cycle pack Safety shield resource Anxiety thermometer Safety scale Pushing and pulling resource pack with visual, worksheets and scenario cards Attending school questions and a pupil led plan