The Ultimate List of Coping Skills

Life isn’t always easy when you’re a kid! Every day presents its own challenges. Some can be dealt with quickly and without too much drama, whereas others can have a significant effect on a student’s physical and emotional well-being. The best thing we can do as educators is to help our students develop emotional awareness (so they can identify how they are feeling) and healthy coping skills (so they can manage the feeling in a positive and constructive manner.

This list of 40 healthy coping skills has been designed by our experienced teacher team, especially for primary school students like yours! Your students are bound to find a selection of positive coping skills that appeal to them in this comprehensive list. What’s even better is that the list has been divided into four categories to differentiate the strategies used. The categories are:

1. Distraction Skills – These skills help students cope by taking their minds off the problem by completing an activity.
2. Grounding/Soothing Skills – These skills help students cope by helping them focus on the present and encourage them to comfort themselves.
3. Emotional/Cognitive Skills – These skills help students cope by getting them to express and challenge their feelings and thoughts.
4. Physical Skills – These skills help students to cope by encouraging them to safely release the tension they are feeling in their bodies.

This list of coping skills downloads as a colour PDF or a Google Slides file. The Google Slides file is editable, meaning you can make personalized changes to the list if you wish to do so.

In today’s ever-changing world, it is vital that we teach our students to positively cope with the ups and downs that come their way. By providing students with a comprehensive list of positive coping skills, students can experiment and identify which ones resonate with them and are most effective in different situations.

Suggested Uses for This List of Coping Skills

Keen to use this resource with your students, but not sure where to begin? Here are one teacher’s recommendations for how you might use this resource in your classroom.

• Print copies of the list of coping skills and provide them to your students. Have them paste the list into a book they use often, e.g. a homework book or diary.
• Read through the list as a class. Encourage the students to ask clarifying questions about any strategies they are unfamiliar with. 
• If students are willing, have them share times when they have successfully applied one of the coping skills on the list.
• Encourage the students to choose a selection of strategies that appeal to them. Choosing a range of strategies from each category is recommended, but not essential. 

Download This List of Coping Skills for Kids

Use the dropdown menu on the Download button above to access either the easy print PDF or the Google Slides version of this resource. (Note: You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides template before accessing it.)

More Teacher-Made Coping Skills Resources 

If you’re looking for more quality resources to use in your social-emotional learning lessons, you’re in luck! We have an extensive selection of resources for you to browse and explore! Explore this great selection of 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

Managing Anger Scenario Cards

Explore ways to manage anger in a variety of real-life situations with this set of 16 scenario cards.

teaching resource

Positive and Negative Coping Skills - Sorting Activity

Explore the difference between positive and negative coping skills with these real-life scenario sorting cards.