Emotional Awareness Teaching Resources
Build your students' emotional awareness with activities, printables and more social emotional teaching resources designed specifically for primary school students.
Created by teachers, for teachers, this collection is full of digital and printable activities designed to help students recognise not just their own emotions but those of their peers and learn to put a name to those feelings. Each teaching resource has undergone rigorous review by the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready for the classroom ... and your students!
Curious about how to help your class develop their emotional awareness in age-appropriate ways? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Emotional Awareness?
A component of self awareness, emotional awareness can be defined as the ability to recognise, understand and effectively manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others. If that sounds like a lot rolled up into one fairly simple definition, we agree.
Emotional Self Awareness in Kids
Teaching kids to be emotionally aware in primary school requires a lot of practicing and modelling, as well as working with your class to provide them with the vocabulary these little people need to express sometimes very big feelings.
When the youngest children enter elementary school, they may have some of the language already to identify and label basic emotions like happiness and sadness or anger and fear. However at this point, their understanding of complex emotions and the ability to express and regulate their emotions is still typically limited.
- Plus Plan
Emotional Self-Regulation – Student Mood Meter
Allow your students to communicate how they are feeling using a non-verbal, desk-sized mood meter.
- Plus Plan
Social Emotional Learning - Question of the Day Morning Meeting Prompts
Download 180 days of morning meeting questions to foster communication and positivity while building relationships in your classroom.
- Free Plan
Recognising Feelings Flashcards
Improve your students' emotional literacy with this set of feelings flashcards.
- Plus Plan
My Bowerbird Nest of Values Template
Help students understand what they value with this Bowerbird nest of values craft template.
- Plus Plan
Emotions Worksheet Set
Help students understand different emotions with this set of five emotions worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Managing Emotions Mini-Book
Help your early years students explore and manage their emotional responses with this printable mini-book.
- Plus Plan
Calming Strategies Chatterbox Template
Help your students choose and apply strategies when they need to calm down with this handy chatterbox template.
- Free Plan
Feelings and Emotions Match-Up Activity
Help students to recognise and identify their feelings and emotions with this interactive match-up activity.
- Plus Plan
Managing Big Emotions – Interactive Activity
Teach students how to manage emotions using healthy coping skills with this interactive scenario game for the early years classroom.
- Plus Plan
Introduction to Emotions Teaching Slides
Teach your students to understand and manage their emotions with this comprehensive teaching presentation for your social-emotional learning lessons.
- Plus Plan
How Big Emotions Feel in My Body – Poster
Help your students identify the signs their body gives them that they are experiencing a ‘big’ emotion with this informative classroom poster.
- Plus Plan
Emotional Self-Regulation Poster
Promote emotional awareness and self-regulation in your classroom with this classroom poster.
- Plus Plan
Emotional Self-Regulation Check-In Posters
Promote emotional awareness and self-regulation in your classroom with this daily mood check-in routine.
- Plus Plan
Synonym Poster Pack - Emotions Chart Display
Blend social-emotional learning and vocabulary building activities with a set of 15 emotional synonyms anchor charts.
- Plus Plan
Angry Outbursts – Comprehension Worksheet
Explore emotional awareness and healthy calming strategies with this comic-style comprehension passage and accompanying questions.
- Plus Plan
Managing Big Emotions Posters
Help students manage emotions such as anger, fear, worry, sadness and happiness with this colourful set of posters for your primary school classroom.
- Plus Plan
Managing Big Emotions – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Empower students to identify and manage big emotions with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets for early years students.
- Plus Plan
Identifying Emotions Interactive Activity
Help your students identify and explore common emotions with this engaging digital activity.
- Plus Plan
Calm-Down Strategy Cards
Help your students choose and apply strategies when they need to calm down with this comprehensive set of calm-down strategy cards.
- Plus Plan
I Can Calm Down! Worksheet
Help students identify calming skills they can apply to real-world scenarios with this one-page worksheet.
- Free Plan
My Emotional Triggers Worksheet
Help your early years students explore the situations that trigger them to experience certain emotional responses with this 2-page emotional triggers worksheet.
- Free Plan
Managing Anger Worksheet (Upper Primary)
Help older students identify and manage angry feelings with this self-reflection and action plan worksheet.
- Free Plan
Managing Anxiety Worksheet (Lower Primary)
Help students identify and manage anxious feelings with this self-reflection worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Emotion Strategies Wheel
Help your students self-regulate when they experience 'big' emotions with this hands-on emotions wheel with accompanying calming strategies.
- Free Plan
The Worry Waterfall – Anxiety Management Poster
Teach your students how to deal effectively with worrying thoughts with this classroom poster.
- Plus Plan
Feeling Safe Mini-Book
Explore positive and negative feelings and what it feels like to be safe with this mini-book.
- Plus Plan
My Heart Full of Emotions Activity
Promote mindfulness and self reflection by writing out descriptions of different emotions.
- Plus Plan
Characteristics of Emotions - Posters
Help students learn the facial expressions and body cues that accompany the most common emotional states with this set of classroom display posters.
- Free Plan
What Is Anger? Poster
Teach your students to understand and manage anger with this informative classroom display poster.
- Plus Plan
How Are You Feeling Today? Poster
Help students to recognise and identify their feelings and emotions with this colourful classroom display poster.
- Plus Plan
Feelings Endless Card Template
An endless card template for students to create and use to communicate how they are feeling.
- Free Plan
The Feelings Flow - Poster
Help students understand the transient nature of emotions with this simple poem about feelings.