Self Awareness Teaching Resources
Help your students develop self awareness with activities, printables and more social and emotional teaching resources designed specifically for elementary and middle school students.
Created by teachers, for teachers, this collection is full of digital and printable activities designed to help students recognize 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 elementary 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 so you can 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 behavior 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 empathize 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 the concept of 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 get better at. For example, a student might say "I am very good at singing, but I would like to practice 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 be able to identify (and celebrate) the strengths of others. This will help them build better relationships in the long run.
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Building Confidence Worksheet
Give students an opportunity to brainstorm ways they can be an advocate for themselves and others with this building confidence worksheet.
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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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Parts of My Identity Flipbook
Explore personal identity with your students with this Parts of Me Identity Flipbook
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Proud to be Me Scoot Game
Engage students in identifying and describing personal identity while also promoting discussion with this active activity.
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Building Self-Esteem Worksheet
Explore everything there is to know about self-esteem with your students using this cloze activity.
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Growth Mindset Exit Tickets
Assess your student's understanding of everything growth mindset with this set of exit tickets.
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Managing Big Emotions – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Empower students to identify and manage big emotions with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets for younger students.
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3rd Grade Personal Identity Slide Deck (What Makes Me Me?)
Explore what makes each student an individual and help them explore their own identity with this set of teaching slides.
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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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Empathy Worksheet Pack
Unlock a world of empathy with our SEL worksheet pack – download now and embark on a journey to nurture kindness and understanding with your students.
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Road to High Self-Esteem Board Game
Help students understand what self-esteem is and how to boost their own self-esteem with this board game.
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Let's Look at Self Esteem Interactive Activity
Boost your students' self-esteem with this fun and engaging interactive activity.
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Exploring My Strengths Worksheet
Explore individual strengths with this My Strengths Worksheet.
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Self-Esteem Activity Mini-Book
Build up your student's self-esteem with this activity mini book template.
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How Big Emotions Feel in My Body – Poster
Help your students identify the signs their body gives them that they are experiencing a "big" emotion with this informative classroom poster.
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Managing Emotions Mini-Book
Help your elementary students explore and manage their emotional responses with this printable mini-book.
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The Power of YET Poster Set
Encourage your students to change their growth mindset with this set of posters.
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Growth Mindset Interactive Activity
Engage students in spending time looking at how to grow their growth mindset with this interactive activity.
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Self-Esteem Flipbook
Explore the topic of self-esteem with your students using this engaging flipbook template.
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Growth Mindset Flipbook
Explore the topic of growing your mindset with your students using this engaging flipbook template.
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Ways to Build Self-Esteem Classroom Poster
Nurture your students by providing them with simple ways to build up their self-esteem with this set of classroom posters.
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Growth Mindset Mini-Book
Teach your students about growth mindset with this printable book, perfect for your social emotional lessons!
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Growth or Fixed Mindset Sorting Activity
Help students understand the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset with this sorting activity.
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Growth Mindset Classroom Discussion Cards
Explore growth mindset with your students with this set of discussion prompts.
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Growing GRIT Writing Template
Encourage students to think about what grit is and words that describe grit with this craft template.
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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 Personal Coping Skills Plan – Template
Ensure your students have a personalized coping plan for those challenging moments with this comic-themed printable template.
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Self-Esteem Portrait Digital Activity
Explore positive self esteem with this self-portrait of positive traits.
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Mirror Self-Esteem Activity
Explore self-image and self-esteem with this mirror worksheet for students.
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My Accomplishments Worksheets
Celebrate your students' achievements and accomplishments with these self-esteem boosting worksheets!
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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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Focusing on Strengths Sorting Cards
Identify individual strengths with this set of strength vocabulary sorting cards.
- Self Awareness Posters
- Self Awareness Worksheets
- Self Awareness Templates
- Self Awareness Games
- Self Awareness for Kindergarten
- Self Awareness for 1st Grade
- Self Awareness for 2nd Grade
- Self Awareness for 3rd Grade
- Self Awareness for 4th Grade
- Self Awareness for 5th Grade
- Self Awareness for 6th Grade