Online Support | Social Awareness for Kids & Families

Practice skills like empathy, appreciating differences, respect

As we all settle into new routines - learning from home, working from home (thank you essential workers!), and spending endless hours together in shared spaces - we have a sneaking suspicion you're experiencing a full range of emotions. We are, too! This is normal, healthy, and expected. So, what better time to intentionally practice - and grow - our social emotional skills?

We've put together a list of resources for you and your kids, broken down by grade level. Below you will find a book to read with follow-up questions, discussion prompts for family mealtime, and a hands-on activity - all centered on social awareness.

We hope that these social emotional resources find a place in your new routine and allow you and your family to have fun while checking-in with each other's emotional health. #We'reAllInThisTogether

For Grades K-2

Book to Read

Table Talk & Dinner Prompts

Activity

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy 
Read-aloud version

Use mealtime intentionally as a check-in time 

What Did You Hear?

Four Follow-Up Questions:

  1. What did Grandpa and Lucy say is "really important" at the beginning of the story?
  2. Lucy eats spaghetti in a different way than most people. Can you think of one thing that makes you different from others?
  3. What did Lucy do to help Ralph and why?  
  4. Have you ever stepped into someone’s shoes and helped them?  When and what happened?
  • What is something that makes you unique? (Remember, unique means being one-of-a-kind and different than others.)

  • How can you tell what someone else might be feeling?

  • Who is someone you’d love to meet and why?

Goal: To practice stepping into other's shoes
Supplies: Items to write with and on: pen, paper, markers, crayons, etc.
Instructions:

  1. Have your child draw an object that you describe to them.
  2. When describing, make sure to only use words like the shape and size of the components in the object, not what the object is or does.
    For example, when describing a house: “Draw a large square in the middle of your paper, draw two small squares towards the top of the inside of that large square, draw a small rectangle inside at the bottom of that large square and draw a triangle on top of that large square.”
  3. After you finish describing the item, have them show you what they drew and reveal to them what object you were describing.
  4. Explain that sometimes what we hear people say might not always be what they mean to say. It's important to remember to step into others’ shoes to better understand what they are saying, how they are feeling, and how they are acting.
  5. This can be played multiple times switching up who is drawing and who is describing.

For Grades 3-5

Clip to Watch

Table Talk & Dinner Prompts

Activity

Meet Haax! | Clip here

Use mealtime intentionally as a check-in time 

Read All About It!

Four Follow-Up Questions:

  1. What do you think Haax was feeling when she first entered the classroom?  
  2. What did the characters say about Haax in class? Has that ever happened to you?
  3. How did the characters make amends? 
  4. What did the characters learn about Haax at lunch and how did she feel?
  • A lot of people are feeling a lot of different emotions right now. How can you tell how another person might be feeling?

  • What are some things that make you unique?

  • Where is somewhere you’d like to travel to learn more about the people who live there?  Why?

Goal: To practice stepping into someone else's shoes
Supplies: Items to write with and on: pen, paper, markers, crayons, etc. 
Instructions:

  1. Have your child interview you or someone else to help them step into someone else's shoes. 
  2. Instruct them to find 5 things they share in common with that person and 5 differences they have.  Encourage them to go past physical appearances into topics like interests, hobbies, likes, and dislikes. 
  3. Have them write up their interview like a newspaper or magazine would, possibly including a hand-drawn picture of the interviewee.
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