Page 22 - 101 SEL Activities

The Zoo Inside You! (5+)
Time: 5-10minutesandrepeat
Purpose: To help your child learn how to regulate and manage emotions.
Instructions: Teach your child different relaxation techniques by connecting them to animals they love—think of animals that are slow moving or who take deep/slow breaths.
Progressive muscle relaxation is another way to accomplish this. You simply tighten or contract different muscle groups, or your entire body, and then slowly release the tension. Being purposeful about this helps calm your body down. Combining this with deep breathing can really help regulate.
See Figure 5: Page 17
Slime Making (5+)
Time: 15-20minutes
Purpose: To help your child become grounded while using multiple senses. Making slime takes
concentration and patience to endure trial and error. Also, it may not work out the first time (I can
almost guarantee that it doesn’tJ), so you need to try again. Model your own self-talk when it doesn’t
work out.
Instructions: Gather these supplies:
-2 Bottles of washable school glue (use food coloring if you want colorful slime)
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-2-3 tablespoons saline solutions (e.g. contact lens solution)
Put the glue in a mixing bowl. Add the baking soda and stir until it is smooth. Add the saline solution
slowly. The saline solution will start to harden the slime. Continue to mix the slime. If it is too sticky,
add more saline solution. Play around with this and have fun! For fluffy slime add shaving cream.
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