Ah, February. The grueling grind that January brought has finally subsided, leaving you to identify as one of two people: a) The hopeless romantic who has been stocking up on felt hearts and confetti since December 26th, or b) The underwhelmed, who thinks Valentine’s Day is overrated and that the true unspoken hero of the month is February 15th (Binge-On-Discounted-Bonbons-Day).
There is a little something for everyone in my top 8 social-emotional resources to support you and your K-3 cherubs throughout February.
1. (Free) Valentine’s Day Breathing Cards
These breathing exercises support mindfulness and can be powerful coping tools for your primary students and counseling groups to navigate big emotions. Level up your, “take a deep breath” monologue, by adding some razzle dazzle and visualization to your self-regulation strategies to make them more memorable and engaging.
You can grab your free mini set here.
Are you a visual learner? You can see a demonstration of the mindful breathing exercises here.
2. Valentine's Day and RAOK Bulletin Board
This adorable retro cupid-themed bulletin board kit hits two love dove celebrations (Valentine's Day and Random Acts of Kindness Day) with one stone, as it also challenges our primary students to reflect on what kind acts they have done lately.
Check out our kindness blog for other ideas to support your Random Act of Kindness Week programming.
3. My Crabby Valentine
I, like many other elementary educators and parents of the world, have been guilty of toxic positivity when it comes to celebrating holidays with our little ones. This, the show must go on, mindset could be setting a dangerous precedent and cycle for our kids to grow up and follow. The simple solution is to be a little more transparent and honest about how we feel so that they learn that it is okay to feel many different emotions at the same time (both positive and negative). Check out the video above for a fun community activity that you can do with your kids at the dinner table or your class in a community circle!
This kindness challenge activity kit is a groovy way to recognize Random Acts of Kindness Week and to review that kindness matters, through discussions surrounding kind vs unkind acts. It includes a retro boombox craft to either make as a gift to someone who has been kind, or, to create as a little ode to self-love, as the kids recognize their own kind acts throughout the month. It also has some retro accessories to co-create an anchor chart, as well as a Write the Room activity.
Working on self-esteem is a fundamentally important investment in your program- intrinsic motivation yields resilience, improved social skills and a boost in growth mindset- each contributing to a decrease in connection-seeking behavior that amps up around the same time the Valentine's sugar does.
Try this lesson and craft to celebrate what we love most about ourselves and to encourage others to do the same.
6. The Sweet Shoppe Dramatic Play
Sprinkled with love but fit for any time of the year, this bakery dramatic play station is a sweet addition to your learning space!
New to pretend play? Read our blog post on The Importance of Pretend Play here.
Decked out with all the labels (& blanks) you will ever need to promote positive relationship-building and to reinforce social skills, my absolute favorite part of this HUGE pack has got to be the Chill Cafe.
In the Chill Cafe, children can explore mindfulness activities, SEL writing pieces, but most importantly, they can “type” out positive affirmations on their own little laptops. How divine!
From test prep to the winter blues- we could all use a pick-me-up to support growth mindset and morale this time of year. These inspirational coloring sheets are the perfect way to enhance student mood and can be integrated into morning meeting, as meaningful emergency supply plans or as early finisher activities.
