Select and Apply Coping Skills to Manage Big Emotions

In the current age of heightened student anxiety, many teachers believe that teaching students to understand and manage their emotions is just as important as any academic subject. These are skills that will not only help our students to succeed in school but will also help them thrive in their future careers and personal relationships. The earlier we teach these vital life skills to our students, the more adept they will be at applying them in their daily lives. 

One tool that can be helpful when introducing coping skills to your students is a coping skills wheel of choice. A coping skills wheel of choice provides students with a variety of calm-down strategy options which may be applied in a situation where they feel overwhelmed by their emotional response. As students become more familiar with applying the different strategies on the wheel, they should also develop an understanding of which strategies work best for them. 

This coping skills wheel of choice anchor chart has been created by our experienced team of teachers to display in your classroom. Should they experience a big emotion, students can refer to the wheel, then choose a coping skill to help them regulate their feelings. The coping skills contained on the poster are:

•  Asking an adult for help
•  Counting slowly to ten
•  Doing some exercise
•  Finding a quiet place to sit
•  Touching or hugging a soft object 
•  Thinking about a special place
•  Drawing a picture or coloring
•  Doing deep, mindful breaths 

This resource downloads as a full-color PDF.  It is a versatile tool that offers various techniques to help your students handle their emotions in healthy and constructive ways. 

The Importance of Managing Big Emotions

If we’ve not quite convinced you of the importance of teaching coping skills to your students, here are some more reasons why its a must for any elementary school classroom:

1. Healthy Relationships – Emotions play a significant role in how our students interact with others. Being able to manage their emotions leads to more effective communication when it comes to resolving conflicts and building positive relationships.
2. Academic Success – When big emotions take over, it can be challenging to focus on anything, let alone schoolwork! Learning to manage these emotions will enable students to concentrate on their schoolwork, leading to better academic performance.
3. Stress Reduction – It’s a known fact that life is full of ups and downs! Learning to manage emotion can help our students to handle stress in a healthier way without feeling too overwhelmed.
4. Self-Awareness – Understanding emotions allows our students to understand themselves better. This self-awareness is essential for personal growth and making informed decisions.
5. Emotional Resilience – Developing the ability to cope with big emotions is a part of being emotionally resilient. After all, we want our students to be able to bounce back from the difficulties, setbacks and disappointments that life throws at them! 

Download and Print This Coping Skills Wheel of Choice

Use the Download button to access this resource.

Print the anchor chart at an enlarged size to display in your classroom, or provide students with a smaller copy to paste into their homework book for easy reference.

More Managing Emotions Resources for Kids

Looking for more activities to help develop your students’ emotional self-regulation? Click below for more teacher-created resources!

teaching resource

My Personal Coping Skills Plan – Template

Ensure your students have a personalized coping plan for those challenging moments with this comic-themed printable template.

teaching resource

Calming Strategies Fortune Teller Template

Help your students choose and apply strategies when they need to calm down with this handy fortune teller template.

teaching resource

Mindful Breathing Exercises – Task Cards

Use these mindfulness breathing exercises to help students calm themselves down when they are feeling upset or anxious.