This collection of opening and closing activities encourages students to explore their thoughts, feelings, and choices while building habits that support reflection and growth. Opening activities use emojis, discussion prompts, and movement to help students connect with their emotions and set a tone of respect, curiosity, and readiness for learning. Closing activities invite students to slow down, look inward, and practice calming techniques as they reflect on their experiences and explore ways to shift habits and mindsets. Together, these moments bookend the day with purpose and self-awareness!

Like learning algebra or how to ride a bike, social and emotional learning (SEL) calls for patience, compassion, and everyday practice. That’s what brain science and experience say, and it’s at the core of this playlist. Through activities that teach mindfulness meditation, how to identify your strengths and talents, and cultivating compassion through service, you’ll find practical experiences, resources, and tips for empowering youth while helping them navigate stress and build healthy relationships.

“I often wonder how much different my life would look if I was offered support earlier. Before I was struggling, before I withdrew, before I exhibited all sorts of behavioral health issues. The power of prevention is something we can’t waste. We need to use our own hindsight into what would have helped us when we were young to set this next generation up for the success we never had.” — Johnny Crowder

Johnny Crowder is a suicide/abuse survivor, TEDx speaker, touring musician, Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, and the Founder & CEO of Cope Notes, a text-based mental health platform that provides daily support to youth and adults in nearly 100 countries around the world.

Welcome to kid-grit's SEL activities! Based on our partners’ request we have created a soulful guide filled with lessons, reflections, questions, and extended activities in response to the pandemic crisis that is happening around the world. We developed these activities in hope that its content will provide relief and support for our students and their families, educators, staff, and administrators.

All the activities have been designed to engage students in areas of personal development, social-emotional learning, character education, 21st-century skill-based inquiry, and global consciousness. These activities are built to have students think critically and share perspectives — focusing on topics such as tolerance, personal development, crisis situations, building positive communities, self-regulation, empathy, using breathing as a form of stress release. Students will be challenged to think outside the box and drive their own learning — they will learn by doing. Students will take on new ways of problem-solving and, in the process, create their own prescription for healthier mindsets, building resilience and grit.

You can use these activities in any order that works for your program or school environment. However, we recommend beginning with the activity, “Educating Myself for Peace of Mind,” as a starter activity to set the stage for the activities to follow.

Lastly, the following three activities are relevant for any crisis, “Educating Myself for Peace of Mind, Stop the Madness! and Fight or Flight.” Feel free to utilize them anytime and replace any COVID-19 reference to the existing event in your community, or national news or global occurrence.

NOTE: If your students are enjoying a lesson and you want to extend the time, please feel free, dive into deeper learning and enjoy!