Social and emotional learning activities for toddlers

As your preschoolers' skills increase, their social and emotional learning skills will become more complex. At this stage, they enjoy playing with other children, rather than alone. They are more creative and like to pretend, so now is a great time to add dress-up clothes and props for more imaginative play. Also, they want to try new things, so be creative and use your imagination when planning your social-emotional learning activities for preschoolers.

What Sound?

This one can be a lot of fun to watch children express different sounds. First, have children sit back to back. One at a time, have them make a sound (like an animal sound) and see if the other person can guess the sound. Then switch.

Follow The Rhythm

Create a pattern of sounds using musical instruments like drums or even pots and pans with wooden spoons. For instance, you bang on the drum three times. Then have your child repeat what you did. As the child increases their proficiency, you can make rhythm patterns more complicated.

Listening Activity With Blocks

Here is an easy and fun activity for one or more preschoolers, to reinforce active listening. Start with a large container of magnetic tiles in a variety of colors. Ask the first child to add "a blue block to the tower." Next, ask the second child to "add two green blocks to the tower." Continue until you run out of blocks. You can increase the difficulty if the children seem to be listening well by adding more complex instructions. For example, "add one red block, one blue block, and two green blocks."

Obstacle Courses

Kids love them! Not only do kids reinforce their listening and following direction skills, but they build gross motor skills too! It is important to start small. Depending on your child's age and ability, begin with 3-5 obstacles or tasks.

Here are some ways to focus on listening and following direction skills.

• Give them the exact directions on how to move through the obstacle course. For instance, if you use giant building blocks, tell them whether to go over, around, or knock them down.
• Try incorporating a station where they have to stop and listen for the directions like "Simon says..." Once the task is completed, they can continue.
• What about including a magnetic blocks station where they must build a pyramid.

Games To Enhance Social And Emotional Skills

Playing games offers many benefits. They encourage early learning, paying attention, and increase language development. They provide opportunities to connect, to step away from our screens, and teach the value of teamwork. Most importantly, they focus on having fun.

Red Light, Green Light For Preschoolers

A classic childhood game for preschoolers, with a twist. Once your child understands red means stop and green means go, you can increase the complexity by adding additional "light" colors. For example, "yellow light" for clapping, "blue light" for turning around, and "orange light" for jumping in place.

Or reverse the colors with "red light," meaning go and "green light," meaning stop. These simple variations force them to listen more carefully.

Mother May I? 

Another childhood classic that requires following directions. One kid is the "mother" and stands far away, facing the line of children. "Mother" then chooses one child at a time and gives them a direction. Typically, these directions follow a standard, such as "Luke may take three giant steps forward" or "Hannah, you may take four baby steps forward. " The child then asks, "Mother may I?" and "mother" replies yes or no. If the child forgets to answer, "Mother, may I?" then they have to go back to the beginning. The first child to get to "mother" wins.

Simon Says (try a twist of "Listen To What I Say And Not What I Do")

You know how it goes, right? Someone gets to be "Simon" and gives directions to the other players. For preschoolers, you can add complexity by providing more than one-step instructions. For example, try "jump two times, clap your hands, and turn around."

Remember if they give an instruction without saying, "Simon says…" first, then the child does not follow the direction. If they do, then they are out!

Here is a fun twist on the game for older preschoolers. This version "Listen To What I Say And Not What I Do" requires kids to focus their listening and NOT uses visual cues. For instance, "Simon says...,: "run in place," but he is jumping in place. Then the correct action is to "run in place."

Here are a few fun commands to get the game started. "Simon says…"

1. Play air guitar
2. Waddle like a penguin
3. Act like a monkey
4. Bark like a dog
5. Meow like a cat
6. Start singing
7. Start dancing
8. Cry like a baby
9. Pretend to climb a ladder
10. Walk backward

Build It! (a variation on the "Teacher Says" game)

In this version, you play with blocks.

1. Gather a bunch of wooden building blocks as props and place them in the middle of the room.
2. Choose one child to be the "builder" and explain the game.
3. Next, you are the "contractor" to model how the game is played. Continue in this mode until the kids fully understand how to play the game. Then one of the kids can be the "contractor."
4. Finally, give the "builder" a set of 2-4 directions, such as "line up two wooden square blocks, add one rectangle block on top, and one triangle block to the top." As you play, show useful listening methods, like making eye contact with the speaker, repeating the directions, waiting for all the instructions before starting, and creating a picture in your mind.

"Please" And "Thank You" Game

This game is a fun way to practice table manners before a special dinner like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Create make-believe food dishes to pass. Have your kids draw pictures of various dishes, such as mashed potatoes, broccoli, or pie on the plates. Also, you could simply cut them out of magazines or print them from the internet. Then glue the pictures to paper plates for passing.

Here is how to play:

1. Start with the first "dish."
2. Have the child name the food. Ask if they like it?
3. If they do not like it, have them say, "No, thank you." If they do, "Yes, please!"
4. Afterward, they pass the plate to the next child, asking, "Would you like some________?
5. The child can then respond with a "No, thank you" or a "Yes, please."
6. Continue until you have passed all the "dishes."

Music and Dance Activities

Dance and music are not just fun for toddlers and preschoolers, but they are beneficial too! Music cultivates communication and allows kids to express themselves. Furthermore, it contributes to imagination and creativity.

Let's Have A Dance Party!

This one starts with some music. Next, either an adult or a child may be the "dance leader." The "leader" starts dancing, and everyone must follow the moves exactly. Make it fun and silly! After about 30 seconds, but no more than a minute, the "leader" calls out another child's name, and they become the next "dance leader." Continue changing places until everyone has had a chance to be the "dance leader." Beware if you are caught not making the moves exactly, you will have to take a seat.

Freeze Dance

Kids love nothing more than music and dancing! This one is simple and fun. Play some music, and the kids start dancing, once the music stops, they "freeze." You can also add some variations like having them dance to the beat of the music, for instance, dancing slow motion to slow music and dancing fast to fast beat music. Or reverse it, dancing slowly to fast music and fast to slow music.

Easy social activities for toddlers and preschoolers are a fun way to help children learn how to listen, follow directions, and use good manners. For more development activities, check out our "Simple Block Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers" post. 

Check back soon for an upcoming post on more social-emotional activities for preschoolers and toddlers, focused on exploring their feelings, cooperation, and how to make and keep friends. Until then, we hope you enjoy your time together playing and practicing.

18 More! Easy Social-Emotional Activities For Preschoolers

This article will examine the social-emotional learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers that support interaction and relationship skills. For example, identifying their emotions and understanding the feelings of others.

We also look at sharing and turn-taking activities for toddlers and preschoolers. Last but not least, we will explore cooperation and friendship skills for kids. Let’s get active!

Social-Emotional Skills: Feelings And Emotions

Let’s start with the all-important emotions and feelings. Your emotions affect how well you relate to others. Toddlers and preschoolers are ruled by their emotions. They have BIG feelings and very little impulse control.

Just telling your child to be kind, loving, and caring isn’t enough. We need to show them! Nothing works better than some playtime to model understanding and empathy. 

Empathy May Be The Single Most Important Quality That Must Be Nurtured To Give Peace A Fighting Chance.

Arundhati Ray

Benefits Of Social-Emotional Learning Activities For Preschoolers And Toddlers

Engaging in social-emotional learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers promotes the following benefits.

• Recognizing and naming the core emotions builds emotional awareness and empathy.
• Connecting feelings and colors give visual cues.
• Naming or labeling emotions gives children the vocabulary words to express their feelings. 
• Role-playing how to react to their BIG emotions teaches self-control.
• Social-emotional activities create a safe place for open communication about their emotions and feelings.

How To Support Social And Emotional Development In Preschoolers And Toddlers

Identify, express, and model emotions with young children to help them become socially and emotionally competent. Additionally, reading books, playing games, singing songs, and social-emotional activities for preschoolers and toddlers, such as imaginative play, are other ways to practice their skills.

Identify Emotions

Let’s look at the five core emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. The Pixar movie “Inside Out” does a beautiful job of characterizing these emotions. We especially appreciate the correlation between colors and feelings. Meet the 5 character emotions from the movie.

After you watch the movie with your children, discuss the different characters and the feelings they represent. Talk about body language and facial expressions. Encourage your child to identify and express the moods by asking them to draw and “color” the various emotions.

Model Emotions 

Set an example by modeling an appropriate way to express our emotions. Kids need to see our feelings, and it is perfectly natural for adults to be happy, mad, or sad. It’s what we do with those emotions that matter. Take the time to share with your child what made you feel the way you did and how you worked through it.

Problem-solve

Kids are bound to have conflicts when playing together. Your role is to support them and, if appropriate, help them find a solution. For example, they both want the same toy:

• You might suggest a similar one
• Or perhaps they could take turns or play with it together
• Talk it through to see if they can resolve it on their own

Read Books About Emotions

Reading stories to recognize, understand, and express their feelings, helps develop their social-emotional skills. Further discussion allows them to connect their emotions to a variety of characters. Here is a list of books to get you started:

1. Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat
2. Calm-Down Time by Elizabeth Verdick
3. F Is for Feelings by Goldie Millar
4. Feelings to Share from A to Z by Todd Snow
5. I’m Sorry by Sam McBratney
6. In My Heart: A Book Of Feelings by Jo Witek
7. Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
8. Have You Filled A Bucket Today? : A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids: 10th Anniversary Edition by Carol McCloud 
9. Lots of Feelings by Shelley Rotner
10. My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
11. The Great Big Book of Feelings by Mary Hoffman
12. The Grumpy Morning by Pamela Duncan Edwards
13. The I’M NOT SCARED Book by Todd Parr
14. Today I Feel Silly, & Other MOODS That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis
15. Waiting by Kevin Henkes
16. When I Feel Worried by Cornelia Maude Spelman

Play Games

Good old-fashioned games are a great way to encourage taking turns, cooperation, and patience. How about a weekly game night with the family?

Role-Play With Puppets

Puppets are a fantastic non-threatening way to explore social and emotional scenarios. They help kids identify, understand, and examine how to regulate their feelings and manage social situations. For example, puppets can role-play how to handle a “problem” with a friend.

Such as, “I wanted to play with Hannah today, but she was playing with Sarah and said I couldn’t join them.” “What should I do?”

Social-Emotional Development Activities For Preschoolers And Toddlers: Feelings And Emotions

Fun, social-emotional activities for preschoolers and toddlers encourage awareness, understanding, and self-expression.

Feelings Charades

The game is all about emotions. Write down some different feelings on index cards. If you want to elaborate, you can have your kids draw feeling faces on the cards to match the emotion name.

Next, have one child pick a card and act out the emotion listed on the card. The rest of the players need to try and guess which feeling they are mimicking.

Feeling Face Mats

• Create some “Feeling Face Mats” using paper plates or paper circles.
• Either print out emoticon faces from the internet and glue them on. Or have your child draw faces on the plates showing a variety of emotions.
• You can choose to incorporate color to represent feelings. For example, a red face might represent the “angry” face.
• Start with the simplest ones like happy, sad, scared, or angry. Use more or fewer emotions based on your child’s age and stage of development.
• The mats are perfect for the following games.

Feelings Hop

Tape the “Feeling Faces Mats” to the floor with painters’ tape (please check your floor before taping them all down.) Then call out a feeling and have your child jump or hop to the correct emotion.

Once there, have them tell you, “What makes them feel that way? “ Or, “How do their bodies feel when they experience that feeling?” Keep it to a few “Feeling Face Mats” on the ground for those just learning about their emotions.  

Feelings Bean Bag Toss

In this version, instead of having your kids jump or hop to the “Feeling face Mats,” have them toss a bean bag to the emotion you called out. Continue by having them describe a situation where they felt that emotion.

Musical Feelings Game

Like musical chairs, use the “Feeling Face Mats” and tape them down on the floor in a circle. Then play some music. Next, have the children walk around the ring. When the music stops, have each child act out the emotion or feeling they landed on.

Emotions Stress Balls

All you need for a fun craft and activity is five balloons, a sharpie, and some homemade playdough or uncooked rice.

• First, create small balls of playdough and stuff them into the balloons. You can hold open the balloons while your kids’ stuff in the playdough.
• Once full, push out any air and tie off the balloons.
• Then draw faces with a Sharpie on the balloons representing happy, sad, angry, scared and surprised.
• As an alternative, you can fill them with uncooked rice. Why not try both for a comparison.

Emotion Masks

Kids enjoy crafts, so why not create some masks to help explore their feelings.

• Here you need paper plates, Popsicle sticks, tape and markers, crayons, or paints.
• Cut each plate in half and tape a Popsicle stick to the rounded edge of each half plate.
• Have your child draw a mouth and a nose on each mask.
• Now get exploring some emotions. Be silly and mix up the feelings, for example, your child could give angry eyes with a happy face mask.

Social-Emotional Skills: Cooperation

The ability to work with others is a fundamental skill that is necessary for building a community. Cooperation requires preschoolers to learn how to contribute, collaborate, and cooperate toward a common goal. They must work together!

Typically, young children do not have the skills to work together until about three and a half. At this time, you will begin to see them engage in cooperative play, whether playing a game or building a tower out of giant blocks.

This is a time where you might see leadership roles emerge. Regardless, cooperation requires mutual respect, discussion, compromise, and understanding. 

Block play activities are excellent for inspiring children to engage in child-centered, collaborative play. Playing in a group encourages both communication and social skills. Children begin to relate to a common goal, and therefore it is easier to build relationships.

Throughout life, kids will be asked to be a part of a team. Therefore, it is essential to communicate and model the importance of working together. What better way than for the family to work as a “team.”

Consider assigning everyone an age-appropriate chore that creates more time for “family fun.” Or what about dinner time? Give each person a task to help get dinner on the table. Focus on the importance of cooperation and how it makes things work better.

A Good Compromise Is One Where Everybody Makes A Contribution.

Angela Merkel

Sharing And Taking Turns

How do you positively reinforce these skills? One by modeling them. It can be challenging for youngsters who want their magnetic blocks all to themselves.

Yet, children are inclined to imitate the behaviors they see. So set a good example when interacting with your friends and family. Let them see you sharing. For example, you can say to your child, “I will share my orange with you. Here is a section for you and one for me.”

Another way to support these skills is through praise. When you see kids sharing and taking turns, praise them. By bringing attention to their good behavior, they are more likely to repeat it because they like the good feelings it brings.

Both role-playing and talking to your child about sharing are beneficial. Explain why it is important to share—for example, asking how they feel when their sibling or friend does not share with them.

When all else fails, use a timer. Despite your best effort, there are times when kids will not want to take turns or share. Using a timer like a stopwatch can help them get excited about the next activity and prepare for the change. When they hear the timer, they know it is the next person’s turn. 

The actual concept of sharing doesn’t really develop until about age 5. So keep in mind the age and development of the child to be sure your expectations match their capabilities. 

Sharing And Turn-Taking Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers

One of the essential skills connected to cooperation is sharing. Taking turns and sharing does not come easily for children; they need a lot of practice. Furthermore, they actually have to be taught, so start small with a few activities below.

Share a Snack

Have your child help you prepare and pass out a snack. For example, give them some boxes of raisins and have them pass one out to each person. Using verbal cues like “One for your sister, please.”

Bean Bag Conversation

Create a circle. Pass the bean bag to the youngest child. Ask, “What is something you would like to share with your friend or sibling?” After they share their answer. Have them toss the bean bag to another child. Play until everyone has had a turn.

Share A Story

Create a circle. In this activity, you are going to tell a progressive story. Decide together how the story will start. Hold the ball, narrate the story’s beginning, and then add one thing that happens next.

Roll the ball across the circle to the next child. Each child adds one more thing that happens to the story. Use questions to help prompt those struggling with ideas. For example, “Where did he go?” or “What did she do?”

Self Portrait Sharing

Inspire your child to draw a picture of themselves. Have them include friends or siblings. Expand the drawing by asking them to show themselves sharing.

Painting Together

Here is an easy and creative way to model sharing. Grab your painting supplies and a large sheet of paper. Decide together what you will paint. Next, start painting.

Ask them to “Pass you the red paint?” Also, share your tools with them. This type of activity helps “sharing” become a natural part of daily play. 

Social-Emotional Skills: Friendship

Having friends is important at any age! Everyone wants and needs friends. Some friendships will last a season and others a lifetime. Regardless, the value of friendship is priceless. It provides experiences and builds memories—that is why teaching kids about friendship is essential. 

Sometimes making and keeping friends can be a challenge for kids. Regularly talk with your children about friends. Ask them, “Who are your friends?” or “What do you like to do together?” Talk about “What makes a good friend,” and “How can they be a good friend?” 

To have a friend, you must be a friend. For example:

• If you are kind to others, they will be kind to you
• Friends play together and work together
• They are someone you enjoy spending time with
• Friends are kind, caring, and gentle
• A friend is “pal” or a “buddy. ”
• You can laugh or cry with a friend
• Friends make you feel special 

Social-Emotional Activities For Toddlers and Preschoolers: Friendship

Discuss some of the keys to friendship. For example, friends should be respectful, kind, helpful, forgiving, generous, and patient. This means that your child needs to learn these valuable qualities, too. 

Try out some of these easy social-emotional learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers.

What Is A Good Friend?

This is an easy activity that discusses “What Makes A Good Friend?” Work with your kids and create a list of the qualities that they think make a good friend—like someone who shares, who is kind, or who makes you laugh.

Once your list has been completed, have your kids draw pictures for each of the qualities. Then post it somewhere as a reminder of “What makes a good friend?”

Please Pass The Ice Cream?

Based on the book “Should I Share My Ice Cream?” by Mo Willems.

• Create cones from brown cardstock rolled into the shape of a cone, one for each player.
• Use a lightweight ball, like a plastic softball, foam ball, or ball pit ball. Make sure that the ball fits inside of the cone before you start.
• Put the ball into one of the cones to represent the “ice cream.”
• Pass the “ice cream” from cone to cone, having each child share it with a friend. Encourage them to use “please” and “thank you” when sharing.
• For instance, one child asks, “Would you like to share my ice cream?” Another answers, “Yes, please!” or “No, thank you!”

Matching Game

This game is a fun way to introduce “new friends” and the concept of having more than one friend. Each child is given a magnetic wooden block. Make sure you have enough matching blocks that, in the end, every child will find a partner.

Have the kids move around the room looking for their “friend,” the child with the matching block. Once they find their “buddy,” they click their blocks together, link arms, and stay together until everyone has a “pal.”

That’s Me!

Kids love this fun and interactive game. Create a circle. One child stands and tells one thing about themselves: their favorite food, color, or animal.

All the other children who share the same favorite things stand and shout, “That’s me!” The person who shared then chooses one of the kids who stood up to lead.

Say Something Kind

Another circle game. Do you see a theme here? Circles have no beginning or end and are inclusive. They are a great way to build community.

Have your kids form a circle. To start, have an adult toss a beach ball to one of the children, saying something kind about them. When the child catches the ball, they toss it to another kid, saying something kind to them. Make sure everyone has a chance to say something kind.

At the Zoo (or other familiar places)

Encourage your children to work together in their block play area to build a zoo!

• Prompt them with questions like, “When they went to the zoo, what did they see?”
• They can build enclosures for the animals. 
• Get creative and use pieces of fabric or paper for water.
• Include natural elements like stones, leaves, and small trees for creating animal habitats.
• Add some books about the zoo, block play people, animals, signs, and vehicles.

Easy social-emotional activities for preschoolers and toddlers are an exciting way to help children learn about their emotions, cooperation, sharing, and friendship. For more activities that support social-emotional development, check out our “17+ Easy Social Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers” post. Until next time, leave a comment about what you are building, playing, and practicing.

Modern Education

The Social and Emotional Intelligence (SEI) program was initiated by the Contribution to the Future Charitable Foundation to form in Russia, on a scientific basis, systemic practices for developing in preschool and school-age children the ability to recognize emotions, as well as understand intentions, motivation and the desires of other people and their own for the effective solution of practical problems.

SEI is currently considered by the global educational community as one of the key skills of the 21st century. In many countries, developments are being carried out that should lead to fundamental changes in the educational process, aimed at an even distribution of the teacher's attention and on the personal, emotional development of the child, and on his subject knowledge. In Russia, the Federal State Educational Standards of school education also contain personal educational results.

At present, there are tasks to develop research tools for the implementation of a systematic assessment of these results in school practice, as well as to develop measures to include personal educational results in the priority areas of the work of a Russian teacher. No less relevant is the creation of educational programs, which will include materials for teachers, children and parents, as well as programs for the personal and professional development of teachers.

In 2016, the Sberbank Charitable Foundation Contribution to the Future initiated the development of the educational program Social and Emotional Development of Children. Its authors were domestic scientists under the guidance of Doctor of Psychology, Professor E.A. Sergienko. The goal of the educational program is to introduce emotional and social learning into the educational process of Russian schools. The program is based on the theoretical synthesis of foreign theories of the development of emotional and social intelligence, as well as on the provisions of domestic psychology on the socialization of the child and the development of social competence, including the socialization of emotions.

As part of the Education and Social Progress (EPS) international project, the HSE Institute of Education, with the support of the foundation, developed a toolkit for assessing personal progress in the development of emotional and social intelligence. Also, sets of educational and methodological materials and educational programs for preschoolers and schoolchildren, junior, middle and high schools have been developed, prepared for publication and peer review:

• Teaching materials and training courses for educators
• Curricula and workbooks for schoolchildren
• Parenting Resources
• Child assessment tools
• Visual, handouts.

The program was tested in schools in Moscow and Tyumen. Among its results, teachers noted the formation in children of the ability to regulate their own emotions, recognize the emotions of another person, avoid conflict situations, track cause-and-effect relationships, monitor their own mood, etc. The formation and development of these skills in children contributed to the solution of a number of intra-school problems and deficiencies, and had a positive effect on the academic performance of students. Based on the results of the approbation, recommendations are given for finalizing the program and subsequent scaling up of teaching social and emotional intelligence in Russian schools.

The results of the Foundation's program "Social and Emotional Intelligence" formed the basis of a comprehensive solution for the development of the personal potential of teachers and schoolchildren, which will lead to substantial and environmental changes in the field of education at the level of the class, school, region and will ensure sustainable results of these transformations - "Programs for the development personal potential.

GKUSO PC "Center for assistance to children left without parental care" Ilyinsky district

The role of innovative social projects in working with the family

The family is a truly high creation.

She is a reliable barrier and a berth.

She gives birth and calling.

For us it is the basis of all beginnings.

(E. A. Mukhacheva)

During 2018, SVG specialists implemented innovative social projects to support families and parents: "The Best Day" and "That important word is FAMILY."

The main goal of projects is to establish a harmonious relationship between a parent and a child, which was solved through the following tasks :

1. Raise the level of psychological culture of parents;