Self Management Teaching Resources
Help your students improve their self management skills with activities and printable worksheets created by teachers specifically for elementary and middle school students.
This teaching resource collection has been designed to help teachers help their students develop a host of skills from skills such as self control to impulse control and time management, goal setting. With digital and printable activities available, there is something to fit every lesson plan!
Best of all, 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 management skills and looking for strategies that will work for your students? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Self Management? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Like so many lessons we teach, it can be helpful to start off by defining what self management actually means to give our students an understanding of the topic at hand. Here's a self management definition for kids from our teacher team:
Self-management means being in control of your own thoughts, feelings and actions. When we have good self management, we are able to make good choices and stay focused on our goals. Self management skills also help us to handle our emotions in a positive way.
Self Management Skills for Kids to Teach in the Classroom
As one of the core competencies of SEL, self management covers a fairly broad area. The skills that kids develop under this umbrella can include everything from means for control anxiety and anger to learning to set goals and make the changes necessary to meet them.
So what are the main skills you should be teaching? Here are some of the more common ones our teacher team focuses on with our students:
Resilience
We help our students develop resilience by teaching them how to bounce back from setbacks, cope with challenges and persevere — skills that they'll need long after they've left your classroom.
Self Control
The names are nearly synonymous, so it's hardly surprising that self control falls under the self management umbrella. Teaching kids these skills can involve discussing techniques they can use to manage their impulses and emotions
Goal Setting
Being able to set realistic and achievable goals — both short-term and long-term — falls under self management. With this in mind, it's important to also teach your students strategies to work toward their goals and track their progress.
Time Management
Helping your students understand the concept of time and teaching them to plan and organize their tasks and activities falls right in line with providing strategies to achieve their goals. Time management is also an essential life skill that will serve your students well into adulthood.
Task Initiation
While the level of independence and ability to initiate tasks is highly dependent on factors like age and person abilities, encouraging your students to start tasks promptly and independently is part of building those self management skills. This also involves helping them overcome procrastination or avoidance behaviors.
Organization
Teaching our students strategies for organizing their materials — whether it's keeping their desks tidy or returning borrowed materials to the appropriate place – is a key component of teaching them self management. As they get older, they should be able to take on more and more responsibility for keeping their belongings organized.
Responsibility
Speaking of responsibility, it's important to promote a sense of responsibility by encouraging students to take ownership of their actions in your classroom, to complete their assignments on time and to follow classroom rules.
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Mindful Coloring Sheet - Tree
A tree mindful coloring sheet.
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Emotion Strategies Wheel
Help your students self-regulate when they experience "big" emotions with this hands-on emotions wheel with accompanying calming strategies.
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Dealing with Bullying Poster
Add this anti-bullying poster for the classroom to your bullying prevention toolkit and teach your students five resilience strategies to respond to bullying behavior.
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Goal Setting – Iceberg Template
Download a free goal setting template that helps students identify singular aspects that they need focus on to achieve a goal.
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My Emotional Triggers Worksheet
Help your elementary students explore the situations that trigger them to experience certain emotional responses with this 2-page emotional triggers worksheet.
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Resilience Writing Prompts
Use this set of resilience writing prompts to help your students reflect upon times they have observed resilience in themselves and others.
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The Worry Waterfall – Anxiety Management Poster
Teach your students how to deal effectively with worrying thoughts with this classroom poster.
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Koala Mindful Coloring Sheet
A koala mindful coloring sheet.
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5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise – Worksheet
De-escalate your students while in difficult situations with this calming exercise.
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Sloth Mindfulness Coloring Pages
Use these sloth-themed coloring pages to bring a bit of creative calm into the classroom.
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Australian Animals Mindfulness Bookmarks
Practice mindfulness and keep track of your reading with these Australian Animals Mindfulness Bookmarks!
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My Feelings Volcano Worksheet
Prevent students from being overcome by strong emotions with this volcano-themed coping skills worksheet.
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Escape from Stress Board Game
Introduce this board game in your classroom to help students practice identifying which stress management coping strategies to use and when.
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Learning Goals Template With a Mountain Theme
Use a free printable learning goals template with your students to take them to new heights this school year!
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Calming Down Mini-Book
Help your students to keep calm when they are experiencing heightened emotions with this social story mini-book.
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Designer Dots - Dot Day Mandala Coloring Sheets
Create designer dot art on International Dot Day with a set of printable mandala coloring sheets.
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Mindful Coloring - Printable Flower Coloring Pages
Pick a pack of printable flower coloring pages to bring a bit of the outdoors into your classroom.
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Octopus Mindful Coloring Sheet
An octopus mindful coloring sheet.
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Stegosaurus Mindful Coloring Sheet
A stegosaurus mindful coloring sheet.
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Pattern Coloring - Flower
Use colors to create a pattern using this sheet.
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Resilience Word Search
Use this resilience word search to immerse your students in the key vocabulary related to this important social-emotional skill.
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Coping Strategies to Manage Stress Flipbook
Get crafty with your students creating this colorful flip book containing their own preferences of strategies for managing stress.
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Printable Bookmarks - Mindful Coloring
Bring calm to the classroom with these mindfulness coloring bookmarks.
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Understanding and Managing Anxiety Teaching Presentation
Teach your students about anxious feelings with this comprehensive guide to understanding and managing anxiety.
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Circle of Control Poster
Display this poster in your classroom to remind students about the things in life they can and cannot control.
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New Year Goal Setting Worksheets - Firework Template
Prompt students to set various personal and academic goals at the start of the new year with our fireworks-themed goal-setting template.
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Cockatoo Mindful Coloring Sheet
A cockatoo mindful coloring sheet.
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Great Goals Gondola - Goal Setting Template
Encourage your class to set their intentions for the year ahead with our goal-setting worksheet for students.
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Easter Bunny Mindful Coloring Sheet
Use this bunny-themed mindful coloring sheet for an Easter activity in the classroom.
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2024 Goal Setting Worksheet
Inspire your students to reflect and set goals for the new year with a Goal Setting worksheet.
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Positive Self-Talk Poster
Encourage your students to use positive self-talk on a daily basis with this motivational classroom poster.
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Goal Grid - Goal Setting Template
Set goals for the new school year with a printable goal-setting template for kids.
- Self Management Templates
- Self Management Worksheets
- Self Management Posters
- Self Management Games
- Self Management for Kindergarten
- Self Management for 1st Grade
- Self Management for 2nd Grade
- Self Management for 3rd Grade
- Self Management for 4th Grade
- Self Management for 5th Grade
- Self Management for 6th Grade