Happiness

Age Range: Any

Overview: Research has demonstrated that one of the best ways to experience positive emotion and increase well-being is by writing down three good things that happen every day.

Resources: Paper & Pen

Time: 5 minutes per day

Age Range: Any

Overview: Encourage pupils to share good news. This can be done in small groups or with the whole class.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5/10 minutes per day

Age Range: Any

Overview: Encourage young people to keep a daily diary of all the things that make them feel happy.

Resources: Pen and notepad

Time: 5/10 minutes per day

Age Range: Any

Overview: Provide pupils with a small candle and ask them to record their observations regarding the nature of the flame. This activity promotes calmness.

Resources: Small candle, pen and paper

Time: 5/10 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Consider playing relaxing music in the background during your lessons to promote a sense of calm in the learning environment.

Resources: Collection of relaxing music

Time: 30/60 minutes during lessons

Age Range: Any

Overview: Consider writing your pupils personal messages to reaffirm their strengths and positive qualities.

Resources: Pen and paper

Time: 10/15 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Make positive phone calls to parents to tell them something their child has done well or something you admire about their child.

Resources: N/A

Time: 10/15 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Write personal cards to pupils telling them what you like and admire about them.

Resources: Pen and paper

Time: 10/15 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Discuss the role of different positive emotions, what they look like and what they lead us to do. You can consider a different emotion each day/week.

Resources: N/A

Time: 60 minutes per day/week

Age Range: Any

Overview: Lead the pupils in performing this activity, breathing in for a count of 7 and out for a count 11. This is used to relax pupils and promote calmness.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5/10 minutes a day

Overview: Feet on floor, bums on chairs, get the pupils to sit comfortably on a chair with their feet firmly on the ground. Continue to play the FOFBOC recording from the mindfulness for school’s website, which will lead the students in relaxation exercise.

Resources: https://mindfulnessinschools.org/the-evidence-base/?c=videos

Time: 10 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Provide the pupils with something to eat, asking them to eat slowly, focusing on the taste and the sensations created while eating.

Resources: Food

Time: 10 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the students to consider and write down their character strengths. Character strengths constitute those positive parts of the student’s personality that influences how they think and feel.

Resources: Pen and paper

Time: 10 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Lead the pupils in drawing based on a prompt, asking them to bring their awareness to their body, breathe, thoughts and emotions while drawing.

Resources: Pens and paper. https://www.artofmindfulness.org.uk/blog/guidelines-for-practice-during-the-mindful-drawing-challenge

Time: 10 minutes per day.

Age Range: 10-16

Overview: Encourage students to create a positive newspaper, focusing on positive news stories.

Resources: Pen and paper or ICT facilities

Time: 30/60 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Provide pupils with short lessons on the different positive emotions, helping them identify the differences between the emotions.

Resources: N/A

Time: 20 minutes per week

Age Range: Any (maybe the younger kids?)

Overview: The objective of the game is to make others laugh while not laughing yourself. The pupils sit in a circle. They take turns saying or acting something out trying to make the others laugh, if anyone laughs then they are out until the next round. The last person to laugh is the winner.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5/10 minutes

Age Range: 7-11

Overview: Adding small movement breaks during/between lessons keeps the pupils alert. Get the pupils to throw a ball around, get up and stretch, go for a walk, etc. There are many movement songs on Youtube that can also be used to get the children moving.

Resources: Youtube, ball, beanbag

Time: 2-5 minutes per break

Age Range: 7-10

Overview: Create a PowerPoint presentation featuring funny photos, showing this to pupils for a brief period.

Resources: PowerPoint, funny images

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the students to lay down on their backs, if possible provide them with a pillow or cushion. Play the beditation mindfulness recording for the class that will lead them through a relaxation exercise.

Resources: https://mindfulnessinschools.org/the-evidence-base/?c=videos

Time: 10 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the pupils to talk about what they love and enjoy. Ask the students to create something that represents this interest and then create a wall display in the classroom with all these things.

Resources: Pens, paper and other arts and crafts supplies

Time: 30/60 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Create a box containing things that make the students special or happy, encourage them to be creative.

Resources: Arts and crafts supplies and a box

Time: 10/30 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Print off acts of kindness coupons from online or get the students to create their own. Once they have these kindness coupons let them hand them out to other students. Students can redeem these coupons for acts of kindness.

Resources: Paper and pens

Time: 5/10 minutes

Age Range: 7-10

Overview: Encourage the kids to create positive emotion fans which they can use to show which positive emotion they are feeling at any time. Examples of emotion fans can be found online. Each branch of the fan should feature a different positive emotion.

Resources: Pens and paper

Time: 10/15 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Create a basic bunting template and encourage the students to decorate this bunting with things that they are grateful or thankful for. Hang the bunting around the classroom so they can see what they are grateful for on a daily basis.

Resources: Bunting and pens

Time: 15/30 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Encourage the students to create a one-page profile demonstrating all their positive qualities. Allow the students to use words, illustrations or whatever they see fit to properly display these qualities.

Resources: Pens, paper and arts and crafts supplies

Time: 15/30 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Find and present the pupils with an inspiration quote or encourage them to find their own inspirational quotes to present to the class.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 minutes per day

Age Range: Any

Overview: Split the students into small groups of between 2-6. One member of the group is nominated to be the artist, they will be blindfolded. The rest of the team must describe their chosen object or image to the artist as they try and draw the described object. The team whose drawing most resembles the object is the winner. Give the students a 2-5-minute time allowance.

Resources: Pen, paper and objects or images to draw

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: 7-11

Overview: Find some funny sayings online or encourage the students to bring in their own. Create a wall display with all these funny sayings.

Resources: Arts and crafts supplies

Time: 10/20 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the students into groups of 5. Each group has 1 pen. The groups must race to pass the pen clockwise round the circle 5 times before passing the pen anticlockwise round the circle 5 times. They must then pass the pen round the circle each saying their name while they have the pen, they must then reverse the direction the pen is going around the circle and each say a fact about themselves as it goes around the circle. The first to finish all of this is the winner.

Resources: Pen

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: The whole class have to count from 1 to 10 consecutively. There is no order or plan to whom must say what number, they must just shout out the numbers 1 to 10, if more than one person shouts out a number they must start again from 1. They win the game when they make it to 10 without anyone interrupting or repeating.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Split the students into groups of 5-7. Give each group a balloon. The object of the game is to keep the balloon up using their hands, no person can touch the balloon twice in a row. The team that keeps the balloon up for the longest is the winner.

Resources: Balloons

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the students into a circle. The student who starts the activity says “Zoom” and then turns their head to the left or right neighbouring student to “pass on” the zoom. The next student turns their head to the next student, again saying zoom. This continues around the whole circle. The object of the game is to pass the zoom around the whole circle as quickly as possible. Time the students to see how quickly they can pass the zoom.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Encourage the students to share their “best hopes” for today, the future or anything specific within or outside of school.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5/10 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Create cards praising something about the individual students work or behaviour

Resources: Pen and paper or ICT facilities

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: The students take it in turn in pairs or fours to say one positive word. The game keeps going until a player is unable to think of a word.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the students to sit with their eyes closed if they feel comfortable, or to have their eyes fixed on one spot. Chime a bell and ask the students to focus on the sound. When they can no longer hear the bell ask them to raise their hand. This will raise self-awareness and centre students focus.

Resources: Bell or gong

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Create or buy a collection of cards that display different strengths. Let the students use these cards to identify their own strengths, the strengths of other students in the class or what strengths may be required for certain situations.

Resources: Strength Cards

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Get the students to sit or lie down. They should inhale through the nostrils for 3 seconds, hold their breathe for 2 seconds and exhale through the mouth for 4. Ask the students to concentrate on their breathe.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Have the students seated, holding a pinwheel in front of their mouths. Encourage the students to blow onto the pinwheel using long breathes. Ask them to think about how it makes them feel. Next get them to blow onto the pinwheel using short breathes and again ask them how it makes them feel. Finally get them to blow onto the pinwheel using normal breathes and ask them how that makes them feel.

Resources: Pinwheel

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: 4+

Overview: This is a mindfulness breathing activity aimed to help children relax and learn to focus. Instruct the child to lie comfortably and place their hands on their belly (or if they uses a toy then place the toy on their belly). Inhale deeply through the nose on a count of three. Exhale to a slow count to four. Ask the child to concentrate on the sensation of the toy going up and down as they breathe. Do five to ten breaths.

Resources: floor space (or another place to lie down), a favourite stuffed toy.

Time: 5 Minutes

Age Range: 5-10

Overview: Place your thumb on your forehead with your fingers pointing up. Moving your hand slowly down the middle of your face, as your hand passes your eyes close your eyes. As it moves past your mouth and to your heart, sing “sshhh” as quietly as you can. This is a reminder of the 5 S’s: Sitting straight, still, silently, softly breathing and shutting eyes.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 minutes

Age Range: Any

Overview: Involves mentally picturing/meditating on a colour that represents how you want to feel or and what you want to let go in your life (stressor). Breathe comfortably and deeply. Now imagine yourself bathed in the colour of your choice. As you breathe in imagine your colour spreading through your body and as you breathe out imagine the opposite (complementary) colour leaving your body. As you breathe out visualize the complementary colour leaving your body. Colours include: Blue (relaxed), Green (healing), Red (energy), Orange (happiness), Magenta (releasing negative thoughts), Yellow (concentrating), Violet (respect).

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 mins

Age Range:

Overview: Spread one hand out like a star and use the index finger on your other hand to trace the outline of your star hand. Take a deep breath in as you move to the top of your thumb. Breathe out as you move down between your thumb and first finger. Take another breath in as you move to the top of your first finger. Breathe out as you move down between your first and second finger. Repeat until you have taken five slow, deep breaths.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Sit as tall as possible with your back against your partners. Take some deep breaths as your partner does the same. Now notice your partners breathing. Begin to explore the quality of their breathing and sync up the rhythm of your breathing with theirs.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5-10 Mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: This activity can be done outside, and if safe children can do it barefoot. Each student selects a small area where they can walk in a line for about 5 or 6 steps and back then back to where they started without getting into another person’s way. While walking, students bring their awareness to their breath and their body, focusing on what the ground feels like under their feet etc.

Resources: Outside space

Time: 10 mins

Age Range: 5-10

Overview: Instruct students to remain quiet, calm their thoughts and move slowly around their outdoor space. Ask students to turn their sense of sight, touch and sound onto high. Let the students search for natural objects, mini-beasts and other creatures to explore. Encourage students to explore what they see, feel, smell and touch when exploring.

Resources: Outdoor space like a garden

Time: 10-30 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Think of: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Charting your highs and lows. A simple chart can track your mood scale between 1-10 (10 being best, 1 being worst). This can help to add some balance and objectivity to people’s lives.

Resources: Pen and Paper

Time: 5 mins a day

Age Range: Any

Overview: On a scale of 1-10 ask pupils to check in how good or bad they are feeling.

Resources: N/A

Time: 5 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Ask pupils to record their funniest memories. This can be done in small groups or individually.

Resources: Pen and Paper

Time: 5 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Give each student a card and have them write about ten facts about themselves. This can include favourites such as food, colour or television show, or any other interesting facts. Then pick a card and read one fact out to the class. Give two or three students a chance to guess who the person is. If no one guesses, then read one more fact and continue in this way until the person is guessed. Resources: Card and Paper

Time: 5-10 minutes.

Age Range: Any

Overview: Bleep is a memory game that prevents students from using certain words when reading. Give students a list of words that are in their reading material that are forbidden. Students are asked to read aloud and say ‘Bleep’ when they come across a forbidden word.

Resources: Something to read.

Time: 10-15 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Students have to individually ‘act out’ or pantomime a phrase without speaking, while the group has to guess what the phrase is.

Resources: N/A

Time: 10-30 mins

Age Range: Any

Overview: Have a day where staff come in dressed up e.g. according to a funny theme.

Resources: N/A

Time: 1 Day