Emotional Regulation for Kids: Strategies to Manage Stress
This session includes emotional regulation activities, helping students notice stress early and pause to pick a strategy that works for them. Through a video with animated and live-action examples, a discussion about waiting on a slow bus, and a quick game about staying steady before a big test, students practice self-talk, calming tools, and asking for support so they feel more ready in stressful moments at school.
Extension activity
- Skill
- Self-Regulation
- Goal
- Managing Stress
- Grade level
- Elementary School
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 lessonStrategies to Manage Stress
In this video modeling lesson, students learn practical strategies to manage stress by pausing, checking in with their body and brain, and choosing a helpful response. Through animated and live-action examples, students see how tools like self-talk, calming strategies, and asking for support can help them stay in control during stressful situations at school.
- Extension activity
Self-Control
In this interactive game, students take turns answering a self-control question before the countdown runs out, then pass the object to the next player, practicing staying calm and thinking quickly under a little pressure.
Plus everything you need to teach them
Warm-up
- Video: Hot Cocoa Breathing2:05
- Video: Daily Intention2:59
- Video: Body Squeeze2:12
Session Opener
Guiding Question: How can a person manage stress?
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 manage stress by pausing to notice what their brain and body were feeling, then choosing a helpful response. They practiced checking in with themselves, using encouraging self-talk like "I can handle this," and picking a strategy such as taking a deep breath or moving their body.
Key Terms
- Self-Controller Scanner
- Using your Self-Controller means noticing big feelings and choosing strategies to help yourself stay calm and in control.
- Stress Signals
- The feelings in your body that warn you stress is building, like a fast heartbeat, sweaty hands, or a sore stomach. Noticing them early helps you take care of yourself before stress gets bigger.
Sample IEP Goal This Session Supports
-
Managing Stress
Learner will recognize signs of stress in their own body or thinking (e.g., tight chest, racing thoughts, feeling overwhelmed) and apply a self-selected strategy (e.g., deep breathing, positive self-talk, taking a break) to manage the feeling in 4 out of 5 opportunities independently/given X prompt(s).
Send this tip home to support generalization
At home or in the classroom, when a student seems worried, you can ask "How is your body feeling right now?" and then offer a choice like taking a breath or moving around. Naming the feeling first gives them a moment to pause.
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More Self-Regulation Activities
Frequently asked questions
Is this intervention free?
Yes, this ready-to-teach session on Strategies to Manage Stress 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 elementary school students.
What's included?
You'll get access to your choice of warm-up videos, a session opener, a core material on Strategies to Manage Stress, three practice prompts, and an extension activity, Self-Control.
What skill does this intervention teach?
This ready-to-teach session is on self-regulation - more specifically, managing stress.
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