Building Resilience in School-Aged Youth: Resources

Remember that what we say, and how we say it, matters. Reinforce these messages when talking about feelings:

• We all have feelings, whether we acknowledge them or not. 
• All feelings are OK and normal. 
• Feelings aren’t good or bad, positive or negative; they just are. 
• Feelings are temporary and can change from moment to moment.  
• We can feel more than one feeling at a time, and sometimes those feeling may even be opposites of each other.
• It’s OK (and helpful!) to talk about feelings. 

Use these resources to help students talk about their feelings at school, at home and in the classroom. 

In the classroom (Use these resources once per week to multiple times per week)

• Hang up the feelings posters, which you’ll receive in the mail, for feelings check-ins and to teach feelings words. Use the identifying feelings tip sheets on the back of these feelings printables for ideas and support.
• Use the building awareness of feelings in the classroom tip sheet to help students identify and express feelings (e.g., using books, morning meeting check-in, music, journaling or expressive exercises).
• Use the CIRCLES tip sheets to help teach students about communication, independence, routines, coping, limits, emotional expression and solving problems.

School-wide opportunities 

• Hang up these feelings and coping skills posters, which you’ll receive in the mail, for feelings check-ins and to teach feelings words.
• Use the morning announcements tip sheets (elementary school, middle and high school) for ideas on how to talk about feelings.

• Share ready-to-use healthy habits newsletter tips with families for practicing healthy habits at home. We update these tips quarterly, so be sure to check back for new content

At home  

• Share these back-to-school tip sheets with caregivers before school starts for them to practice resilience-building strategies at home. 
• Share these feelings and coping skills printables with caregivers via email or during conferences.
• Share these resilience tip sheets with caregivers for tips to build resilience in kids at every age.
• Share the parent resources webpage with caregivers for more resources to build resilience at home.   
• Share the behavioral and mental health services tip sheet with caregivers for an overview of different types of clinicians, types of therapy and interventions, questions to ask as you search, and things to know about therapy.
• Share the Strong4Life Healthy Habits handout with caregivers to promote healthy habits at home. 
• Share the CIRCLES tip sheets with caregivers to help them teach about communication, independence, routines, coping, limits, emotional expression and solving problems at home.

Educators face all kinds of challenges throughout the day, making it difficult to prioritize self-care. That’s why it’s critical to be intentional and carve out “me” time each day, if only for a few minutes. Check out these well-being resources for self-care ideas and strategies.

• Use these handouts for ideas to be intentional about self-care before, during and after the school day.
• Use the mindful minutes BINGO card and playing guide for ideas to practice mindfulness throughout the day.
• Use these quick tips to feel physically energized for a morning jump-start or to get over a mid-day slump.