PSST: Professional Support and Strategies for Teachers

Brain Stimulating Activities for Students

Calming Strategies for Students

Emotion/Feeling Identification

Growth Mindset Activities

Understanding the Science of Mental Health and our Bodies

Mental Health Resource Websites

Books

Brain Stimulating Activities for Students

52 Social Emotional Learning Prompts - This resource provides a list of conversation prompts that are designed to help students understand and share their feelings, build empathy, be thoughtful, and improve communication.

Roll Some Brain Breaks - A fun and interactive game to incorporate quick, active brain breaks into the school day.

Bilateral Coordination Activity List - This resource provides a list of six different fine motor activities that encourage bilateral coordination, which can be effective in reducing stress and anxiety.

Body Break Activities - This resource provides an extensive list of body break ideas for students, with activities that focus on visual motor, gross motor, pinch strength, bilateral coordination, and grip strength.

Visual Motor Challenge: Follow the Path

Bilateral Tracing Patterns

Colour Bilateral Coordination Activity Mats

Bilateral Coordination Booster Mats

Air Drawing Brain Break

Brain Boosting Exercises

Brain Break Flashcards - This resource contains a collection of easy-to-use flashcards featuring quick movement activities designed to help reset focus and energy.

Brain Gym - This resource contains various exercises that enhance whole-brain learning for students of any age.

Calming Strategies for Students

Sensory Friendly Classroom Strategies - A helpful list of strategies to create a calm, supportive learning environment that meets the sensory needs of all students.

Grounding Technique Cards - This is a set of printable cards with various simple grounding techniques that can help children manage their feelings.

Sensory Break Ideas - This extensive list of sensory break ideas provides many strategies to support sensory regulation and emotional well-being.

Calm Corner Posters - This resource contains a variety of posters that can be printed and displayed in a calm corner, including visuals for emotion identification, breathing techniques, and more.

Classroom Mindfulness - A resource and guide for mindfulness, meditation, and self-care practices within the classroom. Includes brain break ideas, book recommendations, Spotify playlists, and more!

Emotion/Feeling Identification

Gratitude Apple Tree Activity - This activity invites students to reflect on gratitude through a read-aloud and hands-on art activity.

Social Emotional Learning Among Indigenous Students - This resource provides Emotions Posters in various languages, including several Indigenous languages.

Daily Mental Health/Student Emotions Check-in - This is a resource that can be used to help students identify and share how they’re feeling each day, supporting emotional awareness and classroom connection.

Growth Mindset Activities

Positive Self-Talk Worksheet - This resource encourages students to reframe their thinking and have a positive mindset when speaking about themselves.

Growth Mindset Self-Talk Cards and Bookmarks - This resource includes cards and bookmarks with affirmations, reminders, and phrases that encourage resilience, perseverance, and a positive outlook.

Random Acts of Kindness - A list of simple, meaningful acts that students can do to spread kindness, and build a positive classroom community.

How to Teach Growth Mindset to Children - This resource provides a 4-Week guide to teaching growth mindset, including activities, scripts, printables, and more.

Positive Affirmations - This resource contains a mini-lesson and worksheet that encourages students to have a positive inner voice.

Understanding the Science of Mental Health and our Bodies

Jane the Brain - In this fun and colorful video series from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Jane the Brain helps kids understand big feelings like stress, frustration, and sadness. Join Jane as she explores ways to handle these emotions with relatable situations and helpful tips and coping skills.

Mental Health Resource Websites

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) provides a wide range of educational resources designed to help students and teachers better understand mental health and the brain. These resources cover topics such as mental health challenges, emotional well-being, and self-care practices. Available materials include videos, colouring books, interactive quizzes, and engaging activities, all aimed at creating a supportive and informed environment for learning about mental health.

Additional STEM Teaching Resources from NIMH

OPHEA - Ontario Physical and Health Education Association - This resource provides resources for many different avenues of the Physical Education and Health curriculum. It provides progressions for activities, as well as lesson ideas to promote students' well-being.

Indigenous Education: The National Center for Collaboration - This website has many Indigenous education resources for educators, including several that explore healthy relationships with one's self and others, identity, reflection, respect, and more.

Your Therapy Source - This website has a storefront where educators, and other professionals, can purchase evidence-based resources to use in the classroom. Your Therapy Source also has a blog with many informative articles and free resources available for download.

Social Thinking - This website offers numerous for-purchase resource kits for educators and schools that teach social competencies and skills rooted in the Social Thinking Methodology.

School Mental Health Ontario is a provincial mental health support team that works with school districts using evidence-based strategies to enhance student mental health.

Niagara Region: Teaching Tool - Mental Wellness Resources and Guides - This guide links numerous social-emotional learning resources, and mental health and wellness guides.

Pathway 2 Success is a resource that provides both free and for-purchase resources for educators focusing on social-emotional learning and executive functioning.

HMH creates integrated K–12 learning solutions for core, supplemental, intervention, assessment, and professional learning. Their technology works to uncover insights about students, helping educators act on what motivates them.

Nearpod provides educators with social-emotional learning lesson plans, integration ideas, videos, and more.

We Are Teachers is an online community of educators who share ideas, resources, and stories of the amazing things happening in classrooms around the country.