Social Awareness Teaching Resources
Help your students build social awareness skills with activities and printables, social skills worksheets and more SEL teaching resources created by teachers specifically for elementary and middle school students.
This collection is full of digital and printable activities created by the expert teachers of the Teach Starter team to help teachers as they work with students on being more socially aware, recognize social cues, understand social dynamics and treat the people around them with kindness and courtesy.
Each teaching resource in this social awareness teaching resource collection has undergone rigorous review by the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready for the classroom ... and your students!
Curious about teaching social awareness and wondering how to build students' social skills? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Social Awareness? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Being socially aware is not something that comes naturally to every child, and explaining what social awareness means can be tough. Our teacher team has created this kid-friendly definition to help!
Social awareness is understanding how other people feel and what they need. When we are socially aware, we notice how others are doing, and we make an effort to be kind and helpful to them.
Social awareness also means paying attention to the rules and ways people behave in different situations.
Being socially aware means we are more sensitive to the feelings of people around us, and we can then use our social skills — such as the ability to be kind, to listen and to cooperate – to work with others. It means we can empathize with others, understand diverse perspectives and navigate social interactions effectively.
Social Awareness Examples for Kids
Now that you've explained the social awareness meaning, it helps to explore what it actually looks like when you put it into practice. Many of your students may have at least some skills already at hand — depending on the individual student and grade level.
A kindergartner, for example, may show empathy by giving a crying friend a hug or sharing a toy, but they're typically not yet able to understand that people have different perspectives.
So how can your students show they're socially aware? Let's look at some kid-friendly social awareness examples!
- Taking turns on the playground or at the water fountain.
- Sharing crayons or gluesticks with classmates.
- Making eye contact with friends when they're speaking.
- Paying attention when a teacher is speaking and not interrupting.
- Collaborating with classmates to complete a group assignment.
- Using conflict resolution skills to address issues with a friend.
- Offering to help the gym teacher put away the basketballs or helping the school librarian shelve the books that have been left out by other students.
What Is the Difference Between Self Awareness and Social Awareness?
We teach students both self awareness and social awareness in elementary and middle school, and the two relate to one another as important aspects of emotional intelligence.
But where social awareness is focused outward on the emotions, perspectives and needs of others, self awareness focuses inward on recognizing those concepts in oneself.
Social Awareness and Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is an umbrella term that involves a number of the core components of a social emotional learning curriculum — including self awareness, self management and relationship management, as well as social awareness.
So how does social awareness specifically tie back to emotional intelligence? Being emotionally intelligent involves not just recognizing emotions in one's self but in others — the basic component of social awareness for our students.
Take social dynamics, for example. Understanding the social dynamics at play in a particular situation is a big part of being socially aware. Recognizing group norms, cultural differences and power dynamics all help our students to avoid causing offense or discomfort in others. It's a great example of having the emotional intelligence required to navigate a situation!
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Free Blank Face Templates
Use these blank face templates to create fun back-to-school art celebrating the individuality and diversity of your new students!
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Showing Empathy Mini-Book
Empower young minds and hearts with the gift of empathy! Download this free SEL mini-book designed for primary students.
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Kindness Mini-Book (10 Reasons to be Kind)
Explore all of the reasons to be kind with your students using this mini-book template.
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Choose Empathy Teaching Slides & Note Guide
Help your students understand the difference between empathy and sympathy while learning how to be empathetic with this set of teaching slides and note guide.
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What Would You Do? Empathy Board Game
Challenge your students to think about the feelings of others and how to appropriately respond with the empathy board game.
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Listening to Others – Discussion Task Cards and Poster
Give students the opportunity to work on their listening skills and learn what it means to be a good listener with this set of 42 discussion cards and classroom poster.
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Showing Empathy Flipbook
Cultivate compassion in young minds! Download our printable empathy flipbook tailored for 1st and 2nd-grade students.
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Printable Empathy Games
Spark empathy in young hearts! Download our set of printable empathy games specially crafted for 1st and 2nd grade students.
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Everyday Empathy Interactive Game
Download this interactive game and help your students practice identifying emotions and understanding how others feel.
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Empathy Social Stories Interactive Activity
Help your students determine empathetic behaviors with this interactive game designed for 1st and 2nd grade students.
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I Am Not Always Right Mini-Book
Help your students learn how to cope when they make a mistake with this social story mini-book.
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Our Kindness Rock Garden Poster
Poster to display when creating a classroom kindness rock garden.
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Winter Paralympic Games – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the requirements of being a Paralympic Winter Games host city with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Paralympic Games Historical Timeline – Inquiry-Based Project
Introduce your students to the rich history of the Paralympic Games with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Let's Be Grateful! - Gratitude Game for Kids
Roll, write, and share what you're thankful for this year with a printable Thanksgiving Gratitude game for kids.
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Emotions Bingo
Play Emotions Bingo to help your little learners practice recognizing emotions.
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International Women's Day Gender Roles Task Cards
A set of 8 social strategy scenario task cards that explore issues and ideas related to International Women’s Day.
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Having a Conversation Social Story
Build confidence in your students by using this Conversation Skills Social Story printable booklet.
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My Two Homes Activity
Use this “My Two Homes" activity to explore diverse family structures and encourage students to explore all the places they can call “home.”
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Printable Bracelets – Celebrate Diversity!
Celebrate diversity with your students by creating and coloring printable bracelets that feature meaningful diversity words and promote inclusivity and friendship.
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How to Make Friends Social Story
Learn the different ways you can make friends with this how to make friends social story.
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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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Whole Body Listening – Poster and Worksheet
Use this poster and accompanying worksheet to teach your students about whole body listening.
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Paralympic Sports – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the different types of Paralympic sports with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Paralympic World Records – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the world records set by Paralympic athletes with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Assistive Devices in the Paralympic Games – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the assistive devices used by Paralympians with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Biography of a Paralympian – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the life and achievements of a famous Paralympic athlete with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Introduction to the Paralympic Games – Inquiry-Based Project
Introduce your students to the key components of the Paralympic Games with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Design a Paralympic Mascot – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students design a new mascot for the national Paralympic Team with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Design a Paralympic Logo – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students design a new logo for their country’s Paralympic Team with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Good Listener Anchor Charts
Use these anchor charts to teach your students how to be good listeners.
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Social Story Cards and Templates
Create individualized social stories for students in your classroom with this versatile set of social story cards and templates.
- Social Awareness Templates
- Social Awareness Posters
- Social Awareness Worksheets
- Social Awareness Games
- Social Awareness for Pre-K
- Social Awareness for Kindergarten
- Social Awareness for 1st Grade
- Social Awareness for 2nd Grade
- Social Awareness for 3rd Grade
- Social Awareness for 4th Grade
- Social Awareness for 5th Grade
- Social Awareness for 6th Grade