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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Oral Language Activities
Share these oral language activities with your students to help them practice listening to others, expressing opinions, receiving instructions, and more!
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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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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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Perseverance Posters
Teach students the meaning of perseverance with these beautifully designed classroom posters based on a mountain climbing theme.
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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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Coping Strategies for Managing Stress Teaching Slides
Use this informative set of 21 teaching slides to introduce or revisit coping strategies for students to manage stress.
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Guided Meditation (Mindful Breathing) Script for Kids
Share this guided meditation script with students to promote mindfulness and help them to regulate their emotions by breathing mindfully.
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Breathing Colors – Guided Meditation Script for Kids
Print a guided meditation script for teachers to lead your students through a breathing colors meditation exercise.
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Guided Meditation Script for Kids (Body Scan)
Share this body scan meditation script with students to help them to regulate their emotions by breathing mindfully.
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Dealing with Bullying Teaching Slides
Teach your students about bullying and being resilient with an interactive slide deck.
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New Year Goal Setting Activities - Flip Book Template
Inspire your students to reflect and set goals for the new year with a Goal Setting flipbook template.
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New Year Goal Setting Selfie Project
Inspire your students to reflect and set goals for the new year with a New Year Goal Setting Selfie Project.
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Mindfulness Activities for Kids - Backpack Craft and Book
Promote mindfulness and social and emotional learning with this Mindfulness Backpack activity.
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30 Mindful Drawing Tasks — Meditation Drawing for Kids
30 mindfulness drawing tasks to promote calm in your classroom.
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Managing Anger Worksheet (Primary)
Help students identify and manage their anger with this self-relfection worksheet
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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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What Is Anxiety? Poster
Teach your students to understand and manage anxious feelings with this informative classroom display poster.
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Mindful Breathing Exercises – Task Cards
Use these mindfulness breathing exercises to help students calm themselves down when they are feeling upset or anxious.
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Bounce Back - Resiliency Task Cards
Use this set of 24 task cards when teaching students how to be resilient.
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Calming Down Strategies Classroom Poster
Make calming down strategies easily accessible for your students with this classroom display poster.
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Reboot Remote
Help students work through tough situations with this remote control template.
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Mindful Coloring Sheet - Tree
A tree mindful coloring sheet.
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Mindful Coloring and Breathing – Pinwheel Activity
Practice mindfulness through coloring and breathing with this paper pinwheel craft activity.
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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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Yoga Poses for Kids - Task Cards
16 kid friendly yoga poses to display and use in the classroom for daily gross motor and fitness activities.
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Emotions Bingo
Play Emotions Bingo to help your little learners practice recognizing emotions.
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Printable Cat Bookmarks
Give students a chance to practice mindfulness and make reading even more enjoyable with their own unique printable cat bookmarks.
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Mindful Cat Coloring Sheets
Bring a sense of calm to your classroom with these delightful cat coloring sheets, “purr–fect” for mindfulness and creativity.
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2025 Goal Setting Worksheet
Inspire your students to reflect and set goals for the new year with a Goal Setting worksheet.
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Have a Bright Year! Lightbulb Goal Setting Craft
Brighten up your first day of school with a fun Lightbulb-themed goal-setting craft activity.
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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.
- 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