Coping Strategies for Preschool: Big Feelings
This session teaches coping strategies for kids, helping young students notice big feelings and choose a way to handle them. Set in everyday moments like feeling mad about a game, students watch a short video, talk through how they might switch a big feeling, and play a quick movement game where they decide if an action shows changing the channel. The focus is on spotting body clues and choosing a helpful strategy.
Extension activity
- Skill
- Emotional Recognition
- Goal
- Changing the Channel on Feelings
- Grade level
- Pre-K & K
Get everything you need to teach the skill
These materials are part of a no-prep session designed by our clinical team, with all the structure, scaffolding, and support you need to teach included.
Engaging materials
Video modeling lessonBig Feelings
In this video lesson, learners continue to explore the concept of Changing the Channel when big feelings arise.
- Extension activity
Emotional Recognition
Get students up and out of their seats to practice emotional recognition strategies with this Simon Says-inspired listening game.
Plus everything you need to teach them
Warm-up
- Video: Lion and Cat Breathing3:12
- Video: Our Senses Calming Break2:27
- Video: Yoga Pose Library
Session Opener
Guiding Question: How does the body show a big feeling?
Practice
- Discussion Question
- Role-Play Activity
- Mini Game
How to use it with your students
- 1Watch Play the video modeling lesson so students see the skill in action.
- 2Practice Try the skill together with a discussion prompt, role-play, or mini game.
- 3Extend Use the extension activity to help students carry the skill further.
What's Covered
In this lesson, students learned how to notice when a big feeling like anger is building by paying attention to body clues, such as a heart beating fast. They practiced naming the feeling and then changing the channel on it, using strategies like taking a deep breath or counting to ten to feel steady again.
Key Terms
- Change the Channel
- Change the Channel means noticing when your body is having a big feeling and helping yourself feel more calm. You can name your feeling and choose something that helps your body, like taking deep breaths or using a coping strategy.
- Body Clues
- Body clues are signals inside your body that tell you how you are feeling, like a fast heartbeat or a tight tummy. When you notice them, you can name your feeling and choose a helpful strategy.
Sample IEP Goal This Session Supports
-
Changing the Channel on Feelings
When experiencing strong emotions such as jealousy, disappointment, frustration, or embarrassment, learner will use a self-selected coping strategy (e.g., taking a break, positive self-talk, deep breaths) to manage the feeling and return to the task or interaction in 4 out of 5 opportunities independently/given X prompt(s).
Send this tip home to support generalization
Naming a big feeling out loud helps a child start to recognize it. At home or in the classroom, when a student starts to feel overwhelmed, try saying what you notice, like "You look upset right now. What would help you feel calm again?"
Ready to teach Big Feelings?
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More Emotional Recognition Activities
Frequently asked questions
Is this intervention free?
Yes, this ready-to-teach session on Big Feelings is free. You can access this intervention free for 14 days through the Everyday Speech Session Library. Every user gets three free sessions, but you can get more or extend your access by sharing the Session Library with friends and colleagues.
What ages is this for?
These materials are designed for PreK and kindergarten students.
What's included?
You'll get access to your choice of warm-up videos, a session opener, a core material on Big Feelings, three practice prompts, and an extension activity, Emotional Recognition.
What skill does this intervention teach?
This ready-to-teach session is on emotional recognition - more specifically, changing the channel on feelings.
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