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.
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 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.
This is a completely free resource that can be used to get to know children who will be starting school in September. Of course that all depends on the current situation. It is a booklet that was asked for from a Learning mentor who needed something to send home to parents to find out as much as possible about their child. With the current situation home visits won’t be possible. That may change in the next few months but at least you have something you can use.
Obviously the parent and child would do this together. There are simple assessments such as colouring in, drawing themselves, drawing an emotion face, writing letters and numbers. Use as many or as few of the sheets as you want to.
Parents if you are reading this then make sure there is no pressure on your child to write, draw etc but let them have a go or scribe what they say.
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 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
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?
The emotions iceberg is a metaphorical representation of the concept that there are visible and hidden aspects to our emotions. It suggests that what we express or display on the surface is just a small part of the broader emotional experience we have internally.
The iceberg is divided into two main parts:
Visible Emotions (the ones that show on the surface)
These are the emotions that show and what can be seen
Visible emotions could include happiness, anger, sadness, excitement, fear, surprise, and disgust.
They are usually accompanied by recognisable facial expressions, body language, and vocal cues.
Hidden Emotions (the ones that are hidden under the surface)
These are the deeper and less visible emotions that lie beneath the surface.
Hidden emotions are often more complex, and influenced by personal experiences, memories, beliefs, and thoughts.
Examples of hidden emotions include shame, guilt, jealousy, anxiety, vulnerability, insecurity, loneliness, and grief.
Identifying hidden emotions requires self-awareness, and empathy towards oneself and others.
All the sheets print as A3 apart from the worksheets which are A4.
Included in the Emotions Iceberg display pack:
Emotions iceberg in A3 but you could print it bigger using adobe print settings
Two pockets to include emoji faces and word cards
A set of 20 emoji cards that will fit into the pocket
32 cards with suggested feelings words plus some bank cards for handwriting more words
A set of editable cards (in PowerPoint)
A banner
6 Supporting worksheets
2 quotes
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.