Social Emotional Learning Activities for Preschools or Daycares

Giving compliments  Each day, a different child is chosen as the Special Helper or Star of the Day. During circle time, the caregiver or teacher explains to the group of children what a compliment is: “I like your hair.” "I like your smile.” “I like how you helped me in the block area.” Then, the caregiver/teacher has the special child stand or sit next to her/him and asks the other children to give a compliment to the special child. The caregiver or teacher writes down each compliment on a piece of paper and places the “compliment list” in the special child’s journal or posts it prominently in the room to remind the child that she/he is special. Make sure to rotate who the special child is so everyone, including the caregiver/teacher, has a chance to receive compliments!

Feeling Faces  Each week choose a different feeling (happy, angry, sad, excited, calm) to focus on for that week. Have children look at photographs of children and adults in different situations related to the focus feeling. Show children how to identify feelings related to different facial expressions: (1) Describe the situation in the photograph, (2) Ask the children what they think the child in the photograph is feeling, (3) Ask children if they have ever felt like that and what was the situation that made them feel happy, angry, sad, etc. (4) Remind children that all feelings are okay, but not all behaviors are okay. For example, it is okay to feel angry when someone grabs a toy from you, but it is not okay to hit the person who grabbed your toy.