Self Awareness Teaching Resources
Help your students develop self awareness with activities, printables and more social and emotional teaching resources designed specifically for primary school students.
Created by teachers, for teachers, this collection is full of digital and printable activities designed to help students recognise their emotions and learn to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Each teaching resource has undergone rigorous review by the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready for the classroom ... and your students!
Curious about teaching self awareness and wondering how it applies to kids in your classroom? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Self Awareness? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Most students are not terribly self aware when they enter primary school, and that's completely normal. After all, any adults aren't very adept at self awareness! That's why it's so important to include these lessons in your planning to help students flex those muscles and become more aware of who they are.
So how do you explain the meaning of self awareness to your class, and how do you teach it? Let's start with a kid-friendly definition.
Self awareness means understanding yourself, your feelings and how your actions affect other people.
You might tell your students that being self-aware is a bit like having a mirror inside your mind that can help you see who you are and how you can make good choices.
Explain to students that when you're self-aware, you know what you're good at and what you might need to work on to become your own superhero.
Why Is Self Awareness Important?
Learning to be self-aware is part of gaining control of one's own emotions, thoughts and actions, and the lessons we teach in the classroom contribute to our students' personal growth, social interactions and overall well-being in the immediate future and well into adulthood.
When kids (and adults!) lack self awareness, they tend to struggle with poor decision-making, and they may have trouble understanding how their behaviour affects others. This can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts with peers and others around them or even unintentional harm to relationships, as they may struggle to empathise or consider the perspectives of others.
Self Awareness Examples for Kids
Explaining self-awareness by providing a definition is one thing, but surely you want to dig a little deeper.
Here are some examples from our teacher team that you can use to illustrate what it means to be self-aware — and why it's so important!
- Identifying Emotions — Being able to label our emotions with names like happiness, sadness, anger or excitement is a great example of being self-aware. For example, your students might learn to say, 'I feel happy when I play with my friends at recess.'
- Understanding Your Talents — Another example of self awareness that kids can easily relate to is identifying one's strengths or talents. It can be helpful to consider things we can do well and things we want to work on to improve. For example, a student might say 'I am very good at singing, but I would like to practise my spelling to improve.'
- Seeing Strengths in Our Peers — Acknowledging our own strengths is only part of being self-aware. It's also good for students to identify (and celebrate) the strengths of others. This will help them build better relationships in the long run.
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Emotion Strategies Wheel
Help your students self-regulate when they experience 'big' emotions with this hands-on emotions wheel with accompanying calming strategies.
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Growth vs. Fixed Mindset Statements - Worksheet
Assess student understanding about the different statements that one might say to distinguish between having a growth or fixed mindset.
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I Can Calm Down! Worksheet
Help students identify calming skills they can apply to real-world scenarios with this one-page worksheet.
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Managing Big Emotions Posters
Help students manage emotions such as anger, fear, worry, sadness and happiness with this colourful set of posters for your primary school classroom.
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Self-Esteem Heart Activity
Help students boost their self-esteem with this lovely heart-themed activity
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Identifying Emotions Interactive Activity
Help your students identify and explore common emotions with this engaging digital activity.
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Calm-Down Strategy Cards
Help your students choose and apply strategies when they need to calm down with this comprehensive set of calm-down strategy cards.
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Angry Outbursts – Comprehension Worksheet
Explore emotional awareness and healthy calming strategies with this comic-style comprehension passage and accompanying questions.
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Introduction to Emotions Teaching Slides
Teach your students to understand and manage their emotions with this comprehensive teaching presentation for your social-emotional learning lessons.
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My Emotional Triggers Worksheet
Help your early years students explore the situations that trigger them to experience certain emotional responses with this 2-page emotional triggers worksheet.
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Self-Esteem Survey Worksheet
Explore self-esteem with your students with this printable self-esteem survey.
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Coping Skills Desk Plates
Download and print calm-down strategy desk plates for your students so they can respond appropriately to big emotions.
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Social Emotional Learning - Question of the Day Morning Meeting Prompts
Download 180 days of morning meeting questions to foster communication and positivity while building relationships in your classroom.
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Characteristics of Emotions - Posters
Help students learn the facial expressions and body cues that accompany the most common emotional states with this set of classroom display posters.
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Managing Anger Worksheet (Upper Primary)
Help older students identify and manage angry feelings with this self-reflection and action plan worksheet.
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What Is Anger? Poster
Teach your students to understand and manage anger with this informative classroom display poster.
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Understanding and Managing Anxiety Teaching Presentation
Teach your students about anxious feelings with this comprehensive guide to understanding and managing anxiety.
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What Is Anxiety? Poster
Teach your students to understand and manage anxious feelings with this informative classroom display poster.
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Developing a Growth Mindset – Worksheets
Help your students develop a growth mindset and set achievable goals with a printable pack of growth mindset worksheets.
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Growth and Fixed Mindset Poster
Help your students choose a growth mindset with this poster highlighting the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.
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'My Curious Mind' Growth Mindset Art Activity
A creative visual art activity, inspired by Professor Stephen Hawking, to use when learning about growth mindset.
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Positive Self Talk Poster: Talking to Myself
Highlight the benefits of positive self talk and having a growth mindset with this classroom poster.
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Empathy Poster Set
Enhance student understanding of empathy and why it is important with this set of 4 classroom posters.
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Exploring My Strengths Worksheet
Explore individual strengths with this My Strengths Worksheet.
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Growth Mindset Game Show Interactive Activity
Explore growth mindset with this interactive activity that encourages students to think, act, write, talk and decide on true or false for a set of questions.
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Growth Mindset Worksheet Pack
Help students change their mindset to a growth mindset with this set of worksheets.
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My Strengths Sunglasses Template
Teach your students how to identify their strengths with this fun craft activity.
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Managing Anger Scenario Cards
Explore ways to manage anger in a variety of real-life situations with this set of 16 scenario cards.
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Managing Anxiety Worksheet (Upper Primary)
Help older students identify and manage anxious feelings with this self-reflection and action plan worksheet.
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Share the Love - Gratitude Love Heart Template
Help your students show their appreciation for the good things in their lives with this wonderful love heart template!
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Positive Self Talk Match-Up
Teach your students how positive self talk in challenging situations can boost self-esteem with this match-up activity.
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Growth Mindset Exit Tickets
Assess your student's understanding of everything growth mindset with this set of exit tickets.
- Self Awareness Posters
- Self Awareness Worksheets
- Self Awareness Templates
- Self Awareness Labels, Signs & Decorations
- Self Awareness Games
- Self Awareness for Foundation Year
- Self Awareness for Year 1
- Self Awareness for Year 2
- Self Awareness for Year 3
- Self Awareness for Year 4
- Self Awareness for Year 5
- Self Awareness for Year 6