Pages Notes

1. Feelings Vocabulary

  • Catching feelings
  • Fishing for feelings
  • Finding feelings wordsearch
  • Collect other feelings

The activities are intended to help children build a vocabulary of emotions and an understanding of words to describe the intensity of an emotion. The SEAL Community have published a useful feelings words progression list. 

A useful way to explore feelings and emotions is The RULER* approach  / Mood Meter.

There are many versions of the Mood Meter available suitable for use in the classroom (see additional resources / ).

*RULER is an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence:

Recognising emotions in oneself and others
Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
Labeling emotions with a nuanced vocabulary
Expressing emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context
Regulating emotions with helpful strategies

2. Feelings, Thoughts and Behaviour

  • Feelings, thoughts and actions
  • My jelly fish brain
  • Feeling crabby
  • Adjusting your sails

The activities are all about understanding the links between Feelings, Thoughts and Behaviour. 

It is important to note that while feelings, thoughts, and behaviours are interconnected, they are not necessarily causal. In other words, just because a child feels a certain way does not mean they will always behave in a specific way. There are many factors that can influence how a child responds to their emotions and thoughts, including their temperament, past experiences, and social context. Overall, helping children understand the link between their feelings, thoughts, and behaviours can be an essential part of promoting emotional regulation, positive thinking, and healthy social interactions.

3. Physical Feelings / Body Sensations

  • Emotion maps - angry
  • Emotion maps - excited
  • Emotion maps - scared
  • Emotion maps - happy

These activities are useful for exploring the link between physical feelings and emotions. The ability to recognise and understand the physiological signals that come from the body, such as heart rate, breathing, and sensations from organs can be an important part of recognising what we are feeling. It is particularly important for helping children to understand feeling safe / unsafe

If we can encourage children to label their emotions, and to talk about how their bodies feel when they experience different emotions, we can help them develop a greater understanding of the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations.

Resources

Good sources of feelings activities / mood trackers

Whole Hearted School Counselling - low cost / free resources to download. Although American (so some terminology / spelling issues) highly recommended. Check out the 'Feelings Comic'

ELSA Support - Low cost / free resources - huge range of resources and information. 

Exciting Teacher a few FREE resources. Otherwise a relative low cost subscription model accessing some excellent PSHE / emotional literacy materials and ideas

The SEAL Community - a home to the original DfE Social Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) resources alongside a whole range of other resources / articles / case studies. 

The Incredible 5 Point Scale The Incredible 5 Point Scale is used (most effectively 1 to 1) to assist students in becoming aware of their emotions, such as anger or pain, and the stage or level of the emotion. The scale can be used with a variety of students but can be particularly affective for students with Asperger’s and Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

Lori Desautels is an American psychologist, educator and author who writes extensively about trauma informed practices, psychoeducation (teaching C&YP about feelings and emotions through an understanding of neuroscience). She is the author of the excellent Eyes are Never Quiet and the whole school curriculum resource - 180 days of Applied Educational Neuroscience

Rebekah Ballagh has created some excellent resources for children. Her recent book for children, Big Feelings and what they tell us is excellent (read our review our wellbeing books page

Background reading

'Permission to Feel' by Professor Marc Brackett (our review here) which introduces RULER and the Mood Meter

There are many non-fiction and story books for children and adults about understanding feelings and emotions. Have a look at our wellbeing book review resource to explore some of the many books available.

Flipping your lid

Feelings vocabulary 

Feeling Fish video

Additional mood trackers? 

Links to PBs 

 

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