Free SEL Resources for Elementary Teachers, Counselors, and Parents

The most effective social emotional learning activities for elementary students are the ones that actually get used. This guide covers the best free SEL activities by skill area, for classroom teachers, school counselors, and parents looking for social emotional learning activities for kids at home.

Family change arrives in different shapes. Sometimes it's a parent leaving. Sometimes it's a parent coming back. Sometimes it's a new person entering the picture and a child trying to figure out where they fit. Here are the best books for kids about family change, for ages 7 to 13, and guidance on how to use them well.

Search for SEL books for older kids and you'll find yourself looking at picture books. The social emotional learning book market has a real gap at the upper elementary level. This is the list that fills it, curated by theme and grade level for ages 7 to 13.

You don't need a therapist's office or a formal curriculum to use bibliotherapy at home. You need a book, a child, and a willingness to sit with whatever comes up after the chapter ends. Here's a free, practical guide to starting bibliotherapy for kids at home, for children aged 7 to 13.

You've probably been trying to describe your child to people for a while now, and finding that the words don't quite land. Too sensitive. Too emotional. Overreacts. Here's a complete checklist of highly sensitive child signs and characteristics, what causes high sensitivity, and parenting strategies that actually help.

There may be a boy in your life who used to tell you everything. And at some point, without much warning, that stopped. Here's why boys shut down emotionally, what it may actually look like, and how helping boys express emotions works in practice, at home and at school.

Children rarely grieve the way adults expect them to. This article explores why stories help children process grief and loss, how grief can appear through behavior, and how trusted adults can support grieving children with honesty and emotional safety.

Low self worth in children does not always look obvious. Some children become perfectionists, people-pleasers, or stop trying altogether. This article explores how self-worth develops and what trusted adults can do to help.

Some children carry worries everywhere they go. This article explores books for kids who worry about everything, including emotionally supportive stories that help anxious children feel understood, emotionally safe, and less alone.

There’s usually a moment when it begins. A teacher asks a child to calm down. A classmate rolls their eyes. Someone says, “You’re being dramatic,” or “You’re too sensitive.” Sometimes it’s said harshly and sometimes it’s said casually, almost without thinking. Still, for certain children, especially emotionally sensitive kids, those moments don’t just pass by. They settle somewhere deep. Over time, a child who naturally feels things intensely can start believing their feeling

You got a note home and now you're wondering what social emotional learning actually is and why your child is part of it. You're not alone. Here's a plain-language guide to what a social emotional learning elementary program means, what your child is learning, and what you can do at home to support it.

If you're raising or teaching a child who feels things more intensely than other kids, you've probably already noticed that the wrong book can make things harder rather than easier. Here's what to look for in chapter books for emotionally sensitive kids, and where to start.

If you've ever watched a child fall apart over something that looked small from the outside, you already understand why social emotional learning matters. Here's what the research says, and why the elementary years are the most important window for building these skills.

A good read aloud puts a whole class inside the same story at the same time. When that story is honest about what it feels like to be a kid, the conversations that follow go somewhere real. Here are the best SEL chapter books for elementary read alouds, grades 2 to 7.

If you've ever handed a child a book because you sensed it might help them through something hard, you've already practiced bibliotherapy. Here's what it is, why it works, and how to choose the right book for the child in front of you.