Gotta beat that stress

Helping students with stress is one of my favorite lessons. I think it's the former yoga teacher in me and the fact that teaching them means I naturally get to  practice as well.

Here are some of favorite resources:

Activities/Printables

*Free Spirit Publishing has so many great resources and printables, including:

*This Frustration Triangle - this is great for classroom lessons as well s small groups

*Pebble relaxation- For the life of me I can't remember where I found this! Anyone know?  It's a great visual activity to do with individual students.
You could also follow it up with activity from mindful kids. 

* Foam shield- I use this as a visual in small groups to talk about what coping skills they can use to "protect them" from stress. I found them in the dollar section of Target (aka where my paycheck goes).

*Relaxation stations- I love doing this for older students. We start with a class wide calming activity (see Go Noodle references below) or watch the Brain Pop on stress. Next, I set up stations around the room and  play calm music. The students silently work at each station and switch every  3-5 minutes. At the end they write for me what station they liked the best, why, and how it helped them relax.

Here are my favorite stations:
*Coloring sheets/Mandalas- there are one million coloring books out there now, but you can find a lot of sheets online.

*Play dough

*Journaling- Sometimes I leave it open for the students to journal on their own and sometimes I will prompt them. You can find lots of gratitude journals online and lots of gratitude prompts here 

* Brain Pop activity

*Reading- I will set out lots of books on stress and relaxation and allow them to read quietly.

*Breathing- I will put out the 5- Start breathing cards and let the students practice breathing

Technology

* iPads- if you have a few ipads you can always set up an iPad station and allow them to explore some fun apps.  Here are some ideas- Kids Relaxation and this amazing list from Common Sense Media 

 What are your favorite apps for relaxing? My new favorite is Headspace

Go Noodle - get the moving and practicing and exercising.
Some of my K-2 videos:
Belly Breathing with Elmo
Maximo
Rainbow breathing
Indoor recess- raining cats and dogs

and 3rd- 5th grade videos
Have compassion
Chillax
Be grateful

See all Go Noodle activities here

Books

Find more book resources here and here.

Test Stress

*My art teacher drew this xbox controller for me and the students list test strategies that help them prepare for tests or deal with stress prep. You can get your copy here. If you haven't read my reflections on Rosalind Wiseman's connection and ways to reach boys through gaming read it here

The tips on my controller came from the amazing Savvy School Counselor. 


For more tips on test stress here.


Parent Resources


*Connect with parents with this brochure on stress.


Need more books, apps, and resources? Check out this old blog post.