4 Tips to Help Children with Feelings & Kindness
Scatter kindness to yourself, family/friends, and people who have been unkind to you!
Life is like a pickle. Sometimes it’s sweet and kind, and sometimes it feels sour. We have a little bit of both. Sometimes our thoughts get in the way and we feel negatively, which results in blaming others, self-pity, or fear. These negative feelings don’t allow us to move forward.
Children in the classroom or at home are no different. They might arrive to school after a disagreement with a friend or fight at home . You see it in their body. Their shoulders are hunched and their eyes look glazed.
How can we help these wounded children?
Here are four simple steps to help children navigate their feelings:
Notice and name the feeling. Maybe they can’t name the exact feeling, but they know if feels sour or bad.
Stay in the feeling, ALL feelings are ok. Stay in the feeling a bit and recognize how it feels in the body. Do they feel it in their hands, heart, fist, eyes, mouth, face. Don’t run from the feeling. Many want to resist, avoid, numb, or escape the feeling. Simply stay.
Breathe into the feeling. Take 5-10 slow breaths in through the nose and feel the rib cage expand. Make each EXHALE long and smooth. Stay with that feeling a little longer and breathe into it.
CHOOSE KINDNESS and say, “I am kind.” Slowly change the negative self-talk to positive. As they say the words, “I am kind”, they will feel the power of kindness in their body and change the way they stand, sit, look, smile, and walk.
Special Bonus Gifts
Out of these steps, #4 is the most important. As part of this blog post, here is a SWEET gift for you - 2 bonus videos. I hope you enjoy Breathing Kindness and Kind Karen, a story from Powerful You. She will help you choose kindness and teach children how to do the same.
![]Powerful You Primary SEL Lessons | Printed Book or Laminated Cards | Grades K–1](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/578b591a2994ca114a5f7952/9104b44f-a5cf-42d5-9ff1-b28884bc2f32/powerfulyouprimary-brave-3.png)
Powerful You is a grab-and-go counseling resource designed to make group and classroom counseling simple, meaningful, and effective. Packed with 26 short, easy-to-use themed lessons, this book helps counselors, educators, and support staff guide students through important life topics with confidence and care.
Each lesson begins with a true story that reflects real challenges children face, followed by engaging turn-and-talk prompts that encourage student reflection, discussion, and connection. Inspiring quotes, hands-on activities, and practical tips are also included for optional lesson extensions.
Created by a school counselor with more than 35 years of experience listening to and supporting children, these lessons align with ASCA National Standards and explore sensitive school and home issues through a child’s perspective. Powerful You gives adults ready-to-use tools to build emotional awareness, resilience, communication skills, and confidence in students.
To bring each lesson to life, companion Powerful You laminated role-playing cards and colorful classroom signs are also available separately. These engaging tools correspond with every lesson and provide an interactive way for students to practice skills, deepen understanding, and reinforce key concepts.