Coping Strategies for Preschool: Asking for a Break
This session teaches coping strategies for kids, helping young students practice asking for a break when they need a moment to calm down. After a short video, students talk through one thing they could do to ask for a break, then play a quick movement game where they march, freeze, and show with their bodies what they could do in tricky moments. The focus is on noticing a big feeling and using a break to feel ready again.
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 lessonAsking for a Break
This video lesson breaks down the steps to asking to take a break when big feelings take over.
- Extension activity
Interactive Worksheet: I Need a Break
Reinforce the steps to asking to take a break with this interactive sequencing activity.
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 taking a break help someone feel calm again?
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 that big feelings like frustration or sadness can show up in the body, such as a fast heartbeat or feeling warm. They practiced noticing those signals and using a few simple steps to feel better, including taking a deep breath and asking the teacher for a break in a calming spot. Students also worked on recognizing when they felt ready to rejoin the activity.
Key Terms
- Ask for a Break
- When you feel a big feeling, you can walk away or ask your teacher to stop until your body feels ready to rejoin your classmates and friends.
- 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.
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
At home or at school, when a student starts to feel angry, try asking what they notice in their body first. You might also offer asking for a break as one thing they could try.
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Frequently asked questions
Is this intervention free?
Yes, this ready-to-teach session on Asking for a Break 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 Asking for a Break, three practice prompts, and an extension activity, Interactive Worksheet: I Need a Break.
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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