Classroom activity – What do you do when you feel stressed?
Ask students, what do you do when you feel stressed?
Transition – ending and starting school – are periods of change, which can be really hard and stressful. This activity will help you think about, talk about, and understand how you cope with stress.
Tell students, there are several useful ideas we can employ to help us cope with everyday stressors.
Group work
Have students get into groups of 3-4. Where possible, try to encourage students from different language/cultural backgrounds to work together, to learn about and reflect on change.
This activity could also be adapted for individuals.
Tell students you will be working in small groups to think about ways to cope with stress, and to consider ways to reduce the impacts of stress on our brains and bodies.
Ask students to work in groups with a list of strategies that can help them to cope with stress.
The attachment below has an example to help them get started. Tell students to be creative, as there is no one right way to reduce stress. Tell students they need to work out what is best for them.
Some students may prefer to draw pictures of things that help them feel less stressed.
Whole class
Ask students to share their ideas.
Is there anything that is particularly interesting that they have never thought of?
Have they tried any of these things before?