Emotional Intelligence Activities – Workbook for elementary and middle grade children

Emotional Intelligence is a vital skill for children, often overlooked. Not only is it overlooked, but there is seldom good workbooks available aimed directly at children. This activity book is a treasure trove of wonderful exercises that get kids thinking about their own emotions, create self-esteem, empower good behaviours and habits, and develop consideration for others.

Don’t neglect to teach your kids a solid emotional intelligence, to help them become strong, to weather the storm coming up in teenage years!

Introduction from Emotional Intelligence Activities for Kids

(Note to Parents and Teachers)
Emotional Intelligence is a wide range of skills that children of all ages can develop and improve. These skills are critical for emotional well- being and life success.
This section of the Youth Deployment Activity Guide is designed to give you additional age appropriate resources that are helpful in teaching your child about emotions. The emotional and social skills that are presented were written in order to help you grow your child.
The sections include Intrapersonal Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Adaptability, Stress Management and General Mood. Each section is further divided into sub-skills that address such things as Problem Solving, Happiness, Flexibility and other critical emotional and social competencies.
We encourage you to use these activities throughout the deployment process and beyond.

Sample Exercises from Emotional Intelligence Activities for Kids

My Special Gifts and Talents
Everyone has something they do well. It may be in a sport, or playing a musical instrument, or even a particular subject like math. A person can even be good at making friends. Whatever a person does well can be a gift or talent.
See if you can recognize your own gifts and talents.

Piecing a Quilt
Many emotions make up the person you are. It is important to be able to identify those emotions and know how to deal with them. Your emotions are like a patchwork quilt. Each of your emotions is pieced together to make up the whole you.
Inside the patches on the quilt below, draw a face showing different emotions you have felt.

Make No Bones About It!
Do your friends sometimes do or say things that make you feel uncomfortable? Maybe they say unkind things to other classmates. Or maybe they take the seat you were saving for someone and won’t move when you ask them.
Do you feel like you should speak up about it, but are afraid? Here are some steps to take to help you speak up.

A Skeleton of My Former Self
Independence is when you are able to take care of yourself. You are able to plan and make important decisions for yourself, and you can make those decisions without falling apart or depending on others to bail you out emotionally. You are courteous, honest and respectful of yourself and others. You are willing to take responsibility for your feelings, thoughts and actions. You rely on others for help when necessary, but do not cling to other people.

<End of sample pages from this Emotional Intelligence activity workbook for kids>

This book is produced by a US government organisation, and as such it is in the public domain, you are free to share, reproduce or use in any way you like!

More books about emotional intelligence can be found in our Emotions category

The Monster – A simple story about depression for young children - The Monster is a simple book about a boy Sam who has depression, told by his younger sister. This is not only a lovely story but a great way to explain depression to children suffering, their friends and family, or to help all children become sensitised about mental health issues.

How to Thrive in Life – An Essential Guide for Gen Z’ers - An interactive look at thriving in life with lessons and tips aimed at Gen Z readers. The Eyes-Wide-Open series aims to guide Gen Z readers through the essential steps of self-discovery and personal growth, starting with understanding their identity and the world around them. It then helps readers define their goals and dreams, equips them with practical life skills, and emphasises the importance of consistency, perseverance, and resilience in overcoming challenges. The book encourages living with purpose and integrity, highlights the value of holistic well-being, and inspires a mindset of lifelong learning and curiosity, ultimately empowering young people to navigate life’s journey with confidence and adaptability.

Lady Needed Space - When Lady is brought home from the animal shelter, she feels overwhelmed by the busy world around her, full of unfamiliar dogs, people, sounds, and smells. She doesn’t know what to do with her big feelings! But with love and patience from her human, April, Lady learns tricks to help her feel safe, and even makes ...

Dance Khuzwayo, Dance! - Khuzwayo is picked to be the village’s next Ingoma dancer, to celebrate the first crops of the year, but will he have the courage to dance?     \               Illustrated by Jess Jardim-Wedepohl Written by Fiske Serah Nyirongo Designed by Job Mubinya Another amazing story from www.bookdash.org, aiming ...

I Feel… – understanding emotions - I Feel... is a book for young children to explore their emotions. Explore each emotion with your little one and ask your child when they felt the same and what could they do. Early steps to emotional intelligence!

The Mood Crew – Emotional intelligence for elementary school children - This wonderful guide on emotions for elementary age children can help children improve emotional intelligence as they connect with different emotions through worksheets, colouring, dialogue, and exercises. Eaach emotion is identified with a different member of the Mood Crew so children can identify better. Once children learn when they are feeling certain emotions they can ...

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Guidance for Teens – SAMSHA - This is a collection of guidance material for teens about mental health and substance abuse from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration including the contents detailed below. If you or a teen you know may have any of these issues make sure they are aware of the information and that there is help out ...

Survival Guide – There is Help - This is a survival guide and workbook designed specifically for teens or young adults who may have thoughts of self-harm. The ebook is available as a pdf which you can print and fill in by hand or edit using the pdf annotate tools and also as an editable odg file (Open Office Draw). Note the ...

How to Be Happy – Be Nice Book 2 – Revised Edition - 10 life lessons on how to be happy by 10 friendly animal characters, including sight words and activities, perfect for school use, in a pdf and editable children's book released under CC-BY-NC.

Always Be Nice – 10 lessons in kindness, revised edition - Always be Nice is a short book for young children promoting kindness and manners and can be used as an early reader. The book is perfect for building confidence in reading with only 28 words most of which are simple words. This book also teaches kids ten important lessons about being kind to others. Each ...

Sponsored Links

Note – if you sign up through these links, it doesn’t cost you any extra, but FKB receive a small donation, which helps us move towards our aim of Free Hardcopies!

All our posts are checked by Grammarly, the FREE online grammar checker (We still receive a donation even if you only sign up for the free account :-):

This site is hosted by Bluehost:

Leave a comment (it won’t be public) if you want help getting your own website cost-effectively.