Self Awareness Teaching Resources
Help your students develop self awareness with activities, printables and more social and emotional teaching resources designed specifically for elementary and middle school students.
Created by teachers, for teachers, this collection is full of digital and printable activities designed to help students recognize their emotions and learn to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. 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 teaching self awareness and wondering how it applies to kids in your classroom? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Self Awareness? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Most students are not terribly self aware when they enter elementary school, and that's completely normal. After all, any adults aren't very adept at self awareness! That's why it's so important to include these lessons in your planning to help students flex those muscles and become more aware of who they are.
So how do you explain the meaning of self awareness to your class, and how do you teach it? Let's start with a kid-friendly definition.
Self awareness means understanding yourself, your feelings and how your actions affect other people.
You might tell your students that being self aware is a bit like having a mirror inside your mind that can help you see who you are and how you can make good choices.
Explain to students that when you're self-aware, you know what you're good at and what you might need to work on so you can become your own superhero.
Why Is Self Awareness Important?
Learning to be self aware is part of gaining control of one's own emotions, thoughts and actions, and the lessons we teach in the classroom contribute to our students' personal growth, social interactions and overall well-being in the immediate future and well into adulthood.
When kids (and adults!) lack self awareness, they tend to struggle with poor decision making, and they may have trouble understanding how their behavior affects others. This can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts with peers and others around them or even unintentional harm to relationships, as they may struggle to empathize or consider the perspectives of others.
Self Awareness Examples for Kids
Explaining self awareness by providing a definition is one thing, but surely you want to dig a little deeper.
Here are some examples from our teacher team that you can use to illustrate what it means to be self aware — and why it's so important!
- Identifying Emotions — Being able to label our emotions with names like happiness, sadness, anger or excitement is a great example of being self aware. For example, your students might learn to say, "I feel happy when I play with my friends at recess."
- Understanding Your Talents — Another example of self awareness that kids can easily relate to is the concept of identifying one's strengths or talents. It can be helpful to consider things we can do well and things we want to work on to get better at. For example, a student might say "I am very good at singing, but I would like to practice my spelling to improve."
- Seeing Strengths in Our Peers — Acknowledging our own strengths is only part of being self aware. It's also good for students to be able to identify (and celebrate) the strengths of others. This will help them build better relationships in the long run.
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Growth Mindset Bookmarks
Encourage your students to think about their growth mindset with this set of printable bookmarks.
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Positive Self-Talk Poster: Talking to Myself
Highlight the benefits of positive self talk and having a growth mindset with this classroom poster.
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Let's Be Grateful! - Thanksgiving Game for Kids
Roll, write, and share what youre thankful this year with a printable Thanksgiving game for kids.
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Words of Gratitude-Thanksgiving Message Cards
Help your students words of gratitude for teachers with set of printable thankful message cards.
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I Can Calm Down! Worksheet
Help students identify calming skills they can apply to real-world scenarios with this one-page worksheet.
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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.
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Growth Mindset Exit Tickets
Assess your student's understanding of everything growth mindset with this set of exit tickets.
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The Power of YET Poster Set
Encourage your students to change their growth mindset with this set of posters.
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Growth Mindset Interactive Activity
Engage students in spending time looking at how to grow their growth mindset with this interactive activity.
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Growth Mindset Flipbook
Explore the topic of growing your mindset with your students using this engaging flipbook template.
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Coping Skills Desk Plates
Download and print calm-down strategy desk plates for your students so they can respond appropriately to big emotions.
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'Why I'm AMAZING' Self-Esteem Templates
Boost students' self-esteem with these Reasons Why I'm AMAZING templates.
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National Dot Day Printables - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the code and decipher the growth mindset quotes with a fun International Dot Day codebreaker worksheet.
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Building Self-Esteem Teaching Slides
Explore how to build up self esteem with this set of teaching slides perfect for social emotional learning lessons.
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Growth Mindset Bulletin Board
Remind your students to have a growth mindset with this bulletin board display.
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Digital Daily Discussions - Morning Meeting Questions and Activities
Use these slides to begin a routine of classroom morning meetings.
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Mindfulness for Kids - Daily Journal Worksheet
Create a mindfulness journal by printing your students copies of reflective mindfulness worksheets.
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Understanding and Managing Anger Teaching Presentation
Teach your students about angry feelings with this comprehensive guide to understanding and managing anger.
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Managing Anger Scenario Cards
Explore ways to manage anger in a variety of real-life situations with this set of 16 scenario cards.
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Growth Mindset Dice Game
Download a growth mindset dice game where students use "yet" strategies to solve a problem.
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Self-Awareness Template
Introduce students to self-awareness with this one-page writing template.
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Do YOU Have a Growth Mindset? – Word Search
Use this word search activity to show students the qualities and characteristics of creating a growth mindset in the classroom.
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Nature-Inspired Gratitude Writing Prompt Sheets
A set of 5 nature-inspired gratitude prompt sheets.
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Name 5 Things - Calming Strategy Task Cards
Use the ‘Name 5 Things’ Calming Strategy in your classroom to help students regain self-control with printable calming activity task cards.
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When You Enter This Classroom - Door Decor Display
Welcome your students into your classroom with ‘When You Enter This Classroom” Door Decor.
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50 Gratitude Journal Prompts for Kids - Slide Deck
Project and inspire reflective writing with 50 gratitude journal writing prompts in one handy slide deck.
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My Bowerbird Nest of Values Template
Help students understand what they value with this Bowerbird nest of values craft template.
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Just Be - Positive Character Traits Bulletin Board
Set an optimistic tone and promote positivity with a Just Be…One Word Back to School board.
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Gratitude Tree and Leaves Template
Create a "Gratitude Tree" display with a printable tree and individual leaf cutouts.
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Managing Big Emotions Anchor Charts
Help students manage emotions such as anger, fear, worry, sadness and happiness with this colorful set of anchor charts for your elementary school classroom.
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Self-Esteem Builder Board Game
Explore how to build self-esteem with your students using this fun self-esteem game board.
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Building Confidence Worksheet
Give students an opportunity to brainstorm ways they can be an advocate for themselves and others with this building confidence worksheet.
- Self Awareness Posters
- Self Awareness Worksheets
- Self Awareness Templates
- Self Awareness Games
- Self Awareness for Kindergarten
- Self Awareness for 1st Grade
- Self Awareness for 2nd Grade
- Self Awareness for 3rd Grade
- Self Awareness for 4th Grade
- Self Awareness for 5th Grade
- Self Awareness for 6th Grade