Words for Big Feelings
Know and use the key words for managing big feelings — calm, strategy, cope, settle, patience, overwhelmed, and breathe — and understand that having words for these ideas is the first step to using them
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When a feeling is overwhelming, it can seem too big to manage. A calm strategy helps us cope and settle safely. Patience means giving the process time, and one strategy is to breathe slowly while asking for support when needed.
Spend 10 minutes making a Calm Strategy card using calm, strategy, cope, settle, patience, overwhelmed, and breathe, then practice it with two fictional scenarios.
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Check understanding
- Use words like 'frustrated', 'anxious', 'overwhelmed', and 'disappointed' accurately to describe how they feel in difficult moments
- Explain what 'calm down' strategies are in their own words and name at least two they have tried (e.g. deep breaths, counting, walking away)
- Distinguish between similar feelings — e.g. explain the difference between being angry and being disappointed
“When your child is feeling really upset or frustrated, can they use words like 'I need to calm down' or 'I'm feeling overwhelmed' instead of just acting out?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Language
- Subject
- Personal & Social Development
- Domain
- Self-Regulation & Resilience
- Age range
- Ages 5–8