SEL Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students
SEL Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students
Social-emotional learning is vital for children of all ages and focuses on development in five key areas or competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills.
What is social-emotional learning (SEL)?
Social-emotional learning, or SEL, is a developmental process where children learn the emotional well-being, regulation, and relationship skills needed to be successful young adults.
Learning these skills can seem boring to many young children, especially when the promise of board games, recess, and coloring worksheets awaits. Luckily, there are plenty of fun and engaging ways to introduce and reinforce SEL topics.
Below are several strategies for teaching elementary and middle school learners the skills they need for making friends, solving problems, and managing their emotions.
Learning these skills during elementary and middle school sets children up for success in high school and beyond.
Did you know? Friendzy offers free printable worksheets to support many of the activities mentioned in this article. Additionally, we provide numerous other effective methods to support students with social-emotional learning!
Why SEL is Important for Students
Social-emotional learning is vital for children of all ages and focuses on development in five key areas or competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills. When these competencies are taught proactively, students experience benefits such as:
Increased student engagement – A Carnegie Foundation report cites a 2006 study that shows 69% of students don’t feel motivated in the classroom. This motivation gap leads to poor performance due to a lack of engagement. However, that same study found that SEL activities can grab students’ attention, leading to higher engagement and motivation.
Increased likelihood of graduation – Students exposed to social and emotional learning courses have the resilience to overcome academic challenges that often cause students to drop out. In addition, SEL skills create healthier relationships with teachers and faculty, allowing them to feel comfortable asking for help.
Increased confidence – Social-emotional learning activities help promote self-confidence and teach students how to build each other up through empathy and positive language. As students learn SEL concepts, they form more meaningful relationships, contributing to a healthier self-image.
Increased success in adulthood – Social and emotional challenges never go away, but learning to deal with life’s obstacles during elementary and middle school helps develop positive habits in adulthood. Adults who experienced SEL activities as kids are more likely to be successful in their relationships and careers later in life.
Dedicated social-emotional learning provides a systematic approach to teaching essential life skills. These skills are especially important to teach younger children. Friendzy takes the five core competencies of social and emotional learning and teaches them in fun and engaging ways that create life-long benefits. Check out a live demo to learn more about our unique approach to social emotional character development.
SEL Activities for Elementary Students
Elementary school is an exciting time for children. It’s all about making new friends, exploring new topics, and, of course, recess! This age is a perfect time to teach social-emotional learning skills so students can learn to manage emotions, show empathy, self-regulate, have self-control, and work with a team. These activities introduce and reinforce those behaviors and make learning fun!
Promoting Positive Self-Talk
Behavior issues stem from negative self-image and self-talk. Students who struggle with schoolwork fall into a cycle of self-doubt, especially if their peers don’t share those same struggles. During these moments, guiding your students with positive language is crucial.
By working with students on positive self-talk, using statements and questions like “I’m going to get this” or “How are the other students doing it?”, you encourage them to persevere. By channeling emotions through words, students can focus their energy on overcoming a challenge instead of acting out in class.
Learning About Student Interests
Get to know your students through their interests with a fun game called Get to Know You Bingo. This is an excellent first-day-of-the-school-year activity that allows you and your students to get to know each other while fostering friendship-making, communication, positive relationship-building, and social interactions.
Hand out a bingo card with statements like “I like to read” and “I have a sibling” in each square. Then, have students find someone who matches the description in the box and fill out their names. Challenge your students to complete the whole card and provide a prize for an extra incentive!
Random Acts of Kindness
Random acts of kindness promote a positive classroom and school environment. They teach students how to build empathy while building a positive self-image. An easy way to encourage service in your classroom is to have your students write thank-you notes.
Encourage your students to include those left out, practice sharing, or write uplifting phrases on sticky notes.
Promoting the cultivation of random acts of kindness during a child's formative years fosters a habitual inclination towards benevolent behavior in adulthood.
Morning Check-Ins
Implementing a morning meeting with an emotional check-in sets a positive tone for the school day. These check-ins serve as a highly effective strategy for aiding children in recognizing and understanding their emotions, fostering self-reflection, and engaging in thoughtful contemplation of a daily quote or catchphrase.
The Friendzy program is vertically aligned, incorporating monthly themes and phrases that create a cohesive environment throughout the entire school. Schedule a complimentary program consultation with one of our specialized partnership experts to gain more insight into how our program promotes meaningful connections within this structured framework.
Morning meetings are a valuable tool for setting expectations, discussing schedule changes, or incorporating brain breaks to energize students prior to academic engagement.
Consider assigning students to host morning meetings, increasing interactivity and allowing everyone to take leadership roles.
Are you looking for new ways to check in with your students during morning meetings? Check out Friendzy’s free Daily Check-In Tool, designed to help students build emotional intelligence.
SEL Activities for Middle School Students
As any parent of a middle schooler will tell you, the transition to junior high is awkward for everyone. Braces anyone?
Middle school-aged children are embarking on a journey of self-discovery while navigating countless biological and social changes, making continued social-emotional learning essential. Use these healthy SEL lessons to continue building the vital foundation from elementary school.
Journaling
Journalling is a healthy practice for processing information and contemplating emotions, providing a safe space for problem-solving, which allows students to engage in healthy conflict resolution. Journaling is widely recognized as a beneficial practice for maintaining optimal mental health. It is so effective for maintaining good mental health that even self-care experts recommend journaling for adults to address various issues, such as stress, depression, and loneliness.
Incorporate journaling into your lesson plan with prompts that promote self-reflection and confidence-building for students. Be sure to set aside an adequate amount of time each week for students to engage in journaling multiple times. Additionally, consider making the journaling assignment ungraded to foster an environment that encourages free emotional expression.
Make journaling a part of your everyday schedule with Friendzy’s Daily Journaling tool. Explore several templates meant to make journaling easy for your students!
Discussion
Discussions and friendly debates provide an opportunity to practice active listening and sharing. You can use your lesson plans to discuss all topics, from history to art and everything in between.
To promote effective participation and communication among students, it’s best to utilize small groups so everyone can share. While you can still conduct whole-class discussions, arranging seating that facilitates eye contact and encourages respectful communication is essential. It is equally important to establish and reinforce clear ground rules to maintain a courteous environment for all participants.
Student-Led Celebrations
A student-led celebration is an excellent year-end activity to celebrate the growth mindset and the achievements of everyone in your classroom. This activity involves engaging your students in organizing a class party, allowing you to transform the event into an educational opportunity.
Assign students various party planning responsibilities—invites, decorations, awards, and snacks—and give your students the freedom to be creative. Watch as they build each other’s self-esteem and confidence through a genuinely encouraging party!
Listening Games
There are several listening games you can try in the classroom, and each variation seeks to encourage active listening and building relationship skills.
The first listening game is the classic telephone. Line up your class and observe the confusion that arises!
Another fun listening activity involves pairing students and challenging one to ask personal questions about their partner while the other answers. The goal is for each student to think of new and creative questions to ask while remembering facts about their partner. The pair with the most questions and correct answers win!
And finally, the last activity entails using a deck of cards with questions written on the back. Pair students together and deal a card for each person. The pairs will then alternate asking and answering questions with a detailed story which encourages students to use active listening, particularly when volunteers are asked to share with the class.
Teach Your Students the Skills They Need with Friendzy
Elementary and middle school students are ideal candidates for learning social-emotional skills that will yield significant long-term benefits later in life. These activities will engage your classrooms with valuable lessons that enable each child to succeed.