Looking for a fun and engaging way to teach your students calming strategies? The Shield of Strategies activity is a hands-on resource designed to help 1st-3rd graders build emotional regulation skills through a creative and interactive experience. This craftivity allows students to cut out calming strategies and glue them onto a customizable shield, symbolizing how they can protect themselves from overwhelming emotions.

With this resource, students choose from a variety of calming strategies, such as deep breathing, counting to ten, or imagining a peaceful place. They then cut out their chosen strategies and place them on their shield, personalizing it with tools they feel will help them most.

This activity not only reinforces emotional regulation but also promotes self-reflection as students explore which strategies resonate with them.

What's Included:

• An Activity Sheet where students can cut out calming strategies and glue them to a shield, with foldable flaps that reveal each strategy.
• A customizable Shield Craftivity with a handle on the back, allowing students to hold their shield like a real knight’s shield while displaying their chosen strategies.
• Step-by-step instructions for easy assembly and use.

Why This Resource Works: The Shield of Strategies is perfect for classroom counselors, teachers, and parents looking for a creative SEL activity that students will love. It combines a visual and tactile approach, helping students internalize emotional regulation strategies in a memorable way. By using this shield, students can create a go-to resource for when they feel overwhelmed, empowering them to handle big emotions with confidence.

This craftivity is ideal for small groups, individual counseling sessions, or as a classroom-wide activity to kick off emotional regulation lessons. Get your students excited to learn coping skills while building their very own “shield” to protect against stress, anxiety, and big emotions!