October Round-Up: The Best of Primary Social-Emotional Learning Tools

If it smells like children and you’re feeling like you put the hag in haggard lately, you might be ready for October. Here are some of my favorite social-emotional learning resources for K-3 this spooky season.

Hocus Pocus Check Out our Mental Health Focus

Halloween is spooky, but that doesn’t mean that talking about our wellness goals has to. This bulletin board is a frighteningly fa-boo-lous addition to your counseling office, school hallway or primary classroom. 

How it works:
Students will set a goal for themselves on their ghost to display proudly as they work towards it.
✓ What others like you are saying: 
∙ Great! Thank you! -Rylie S.
∙ Obsessed. -Alessandra

 

Free Confidence Mini Lesson

Another tool for World Mental Health Day (or any day) is this engaging free lesson plan. Use it as a springboard to talk about such social emotional learning topics as: resilience, reaching out for help when we need it, growth mindset, and using visualization as a coping tool.

Click the image below to grab your free lesson:

 

Peek a BOO- Who Are You?

To continue the theme of self-esteem building, this Halloween costume craft is the perfect way to reinforce the importance of having empathy (don’t judge a mummy by his bandages) and of being authentically you. 

How it works:

Students will write down something that others might not know about them. Then, they will choose one of four Halloween costumes and color the coloring pages and glue them together in a way that creates a flip ‘peek-a-BOO’ craft to reveal the child underneath the costume.

✓ What others like you are saying: 
This is a new Halloween favorite! My class loved making their project reflect who they are and what makes them unique. This sparked a great conversation about our differences and what other people may not know about each of us. This is an activity I will definitely do again with new classes in the future. -Mara E.

The Grateful Pumpkin Fall Craft

Whether you are in Canada, celebrating Thanksgiving this month, or simply looking to reinforce gratitude skills, this SEL pumpkin craft is the perfect pick of the patch!

How it works:
Your primary students or counseling groups will write down three things that they are thankful for after reading the pumpkin life cycle poem.

 

✓ What others like you are saying: 
Putting gratitude into words for little learners can be tricky. This resource made it so easy! We had great conversations. -Alexandria M.
.

World Mental Health Day is October 10th. This interactive digital and printable board will help you foster important conversations surrounding gratitude and empathy that will be a wonderful activity for World Mental Health Day and beyond. 

How it works:

Students will take what they need and give what they can, to foster positive relationship-building. This is a simple system to encourage and foster open communication about how we are feeling to eliminate the stigma of talking about big emotions and recognizing our needs. 

✓ What others like you are saying: 
∙ So good for them to communicate their emotional needs, and for me to see them… -Ariane O.
AMAZING resource to check in on where my kids are at easily. It helps that the resource is beautiful to look at too. -Erika Q.

Spooky SEL Coloring Page Activities

Nothing screams horror like having 30 students bombarding you to ask what they can do after they’ve finished their work. These social emotional learning prompts and spooky story center are the perfect pick for mindful morning work or for early Franken finishers.

What activity do you love doing for your mental health in October?
Let me know below!

Choose SEL & Be Well,
      Namaste in School



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