When asked if they would like to play a game, children will undoubtedly respond with an enthusiastic and unanimous “yes”. When asked if they would like to work, their response might be quite different. Play is the work of a child. Research has shown that play fosters children’s social, emotional, cognitive, motor, and creative skills. Games provide a safe space for trial and error, engagement, and active participation. As parents and educators, we cannot underestimate the value of play as a way of learning. 

Education specialist Tony Wagner writes: “One of the goals of education must be to encourage a kind of play in school- opportunities to try new things and pursue interests- so that young people can discover their passion and purpose.” It is through creativity and collaboration of play that kids learn more about themselves and how they connect with others.

At Better Kids, we believe that play not only is fundamental for children’s social emotional well being, it’s also the most effective way to learn. This is why we help parents and educators support their children’s social emotional growth through interactive digital games and hands-on activities. The following interactive activities were created for kids to discover new coping strategies, mindfulness techniques, and more - independently or with the support of an adult!

Interactive Digital Games to learn coping strategies

In Wisdom: The World of Emotions your child will help the inhabitants learn coping strategies for difficult emotions, such as anger. These coping strategies, or superpowers, are earned by playing games that help kids learn more about anger: what it looks like, sounds like, how we describe it, and what triggers it. This Introductory Animation video can be used with your child to spark meaningful conversations about why all emotions are important and the benefits of learning self-management skills.

If you are a teacher looking for interactive ways to teach social emotional skills, a total of 20 live lessons with distance learning slides are available in the SEL Curriculum section on the Main Menu of the Wisdom: The World of Emotions app. Lessons start with 10 minutes of engaging your students through play with the Wisdom: The World of Emotions digital game, followed by 20 minutes of hands-on activities to help them practice their skills. 

Check out the lesson slides for Lesson 1!

Augmented Reality games to practice self-awareness and mindfulness

When we get caught up in the busyness of life it is easy to lose track of our emotions. Mindfulness, or mindful exercises, are a powerful tool (or superpower) for helping children understand social emotional learning! The following interactive breathing exercises bring mindfulness to life. Follow along as Wisdom guides you in taking deep breaths, practice counting with bubble breathing, and bring the magic of a glitter jar into your home!

• Breathing with Wisdom: Wisdom will guide your child through a full series of breathing from their belly up to the top of their head. They will form a beautiful bubble around Wisdom.

• Glitter jar: Watch the glitter swirl and breathe all together to help it settle. 

• Bubble breathing: As you countdown from 10, you will see air come into your nose as you inhale and out of your mouth as you exhale.

“My daughter had difficulties understanding how to exhale deeply. She enjoyed the AR games a lot because they helped her visualize her exhale and now she is able to take deep breaths to feel calmer.” - Dawn, parent

After your child has engaged in interactive digital games and Augmented Reality, they can continue to engage with their favorite characters through hands-on practice activities, the creation of a customized book, and playful activities and worksheets: 

Practice Activities that foster responsible decision making

• Our app Wisdom: The World of Emotions (iOS , Android) features 100+ guided activities for parents and children that help families problem-solve and learn together. Our “SEL Practice Activities” video features a few of these activities you can try for free at home! 

• Try 9 mindfulness activities that will help your child feel calmer and grounded. They will be more self-aware and better able to focus their attention on virtual learning or homework. These mindfulness exercises are also useful tools to alleviate the stress and anxiety stemming from current uncertainties.

• These 7 brain breaks will help your child get ready and centered for learning. Sitting for long periods of time, especially in front of a computer can be challenging and tiring. Add movement breaks to your virtual learning or homework sessions. It will help your child feel relaxed and energized for learning!

• When we get a good night’s sleep our mind and body thanks us! Guided meditations are mindfulness exercises that help your child feel calm before going to bed. Meditations can also be inspiring and uplifting. Check out our recorded meditation called “You are the Sun.”

A customized book and SEL Read-alouds to build positive relationships

In Wisdom: The World of Emotions, you and your child can create a customized book that tells the story of your child and Wisdom, as they learned about the world of emotions together. Throughout the game, you’ll notice interview prompts with opportunities to enter your child’s responses on your device. Once you’ve completed all the interviews together, we will generate a beautifully personalized book that includes your child’s name and in-app responses. These interview questions offer moments of reflection on what your child has learned, and reading the customized book will provide endless opportunities to revisit their learning on multiple levels.

We can continue to support both our children’s literacy skills and their social emotional growth by thoughtfully incorporating more meaningful books. Check out our blog for a list of books organized by broad categories related to SEL, to help children learn valuable skills about themselves, others, and the world around them. We encourage you to read these children’s books alongside your child to engage in the rich discussions to which these books naturally lend themselves. You can use our book review template to help guide discussion and reflections. 

If you are a teacher, you can access our free 14-week SEL read-aloud program with a weekly theme, suggested read-alouds, ready-to-use discussion slides, and a dedicated worksheet.

Playful SEL Worksheets and Workbooks that foster social-awareness and creativity 

The characters of Wisdom: The World of Emotions will also guide your child through playful activities in our workbooks and worksheets that will improve their social emotional skills, including the competencies of mindfulness, friendship, problem solving, gratitude, empathy, and more. These colorful worksheets, templates, and interactive activities can be completed independently or with the support of an adult. Children can look back to what they have learned and use those skills to overcome life’s challenges.

Social emotional learning is a lifelong process that will take patience and practice. As parents and teachers, we can practice these skills with our children and what better way to learn than through play? We may find that keeping a playful mindset through life will brighten our curiosity and help us to feel more positive during challenging times. We hope you join your child on this journey of learning, find new passions or rediscover old ones, and build strong relationships together.

A prior version of this article was originally published on December 16, 2020.