Emotional Intelligence Teacher Resource Pack – Lower Elementary (K–2)

What Is the Emotional Intelligence Teacher Resource Pack for K–2?

The Emotional Intelligence Teacher Resource Pack for Lower Elementary is a printable collection of lessons from Future Ready Education. It builds one of the most essential durable, future-ready skills for children ages 5–8: understanding and managing emotions. Through 5 ready-to-teach lessons and 20+ activities, stories and reflection tools, young learners learn to name their feelings, calm big emotions, understand how others feel, build friendships and reflect on their own growth. Pre- and post-assessments let you measure progress. Students begin developing the core competencies in your district’s Portrait of a Graduate, starting in kindergarten.

Why Do Teachers Choose This K–2 Emotional Intelligence Resource?

• Print and go: 5 complete lessons with easy-to-follow teacher and parent guides and discussion prompts
• Hands-on practice: 20+ activities, including stories, drawing prompts, role plays and games
• Measurable growth: pre- and post-assessments that track how students identify and manage emotions
• Student-friendly design: bright visuals, simple language and relatable examples
• Home-school connection: family discussion cards that carry feelings conversations home
• Flexible: works in classrooms, counseling groups, homeschool and at-home learning
• Instant access: a downloadable, printable PDF you can reuse every year

How Does This Resource Build Portrait of a Graduate Competencies in K–2?

This pack builds early durable skills, the transferable abilities students carry into every class, career and community. Each lesson connects to the competencies schools use to define college, career and life readiness:

• Empathy (EMP): recognizing how others feel and responding with kindness
• Communication (COM): expressing emotions clearly and respectfully with words
• Adaptability (ADP): using calming tools like deep breathing and positive self-talk to manage big feelings
• Agency (AGY): building confidence and setting simple personal growth goals
• Collaboration (COL): sharing, cooperating and building friendships through games and role play
• Personal Responsibility & Work Ethic (PRW): understanding how emotions affect behavior and owning your choices
• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (CT): thinking about how feelings shape choices and choosing a better response
• Citizenship (CIT): practicing kindness and helping create a caring classroom community
• Creativity (CRE): expressing feelings through drawing, stories and role play
• Career Readiness (CAR): early emotional awareness and self-control that support future teamwork and success
• Finances (FIN): pausing to calm down before choosing, an early habit for thoughtful decisions later in life

What Emotional Intelligence Lessons Are Included for Kindergarten–Grade 2?

The pack includes 5 lessons with 4 activities each, plus a pre-assessment and post-assessment:

1. Understanding Feelings: Students learn to recognize, name and describe emotions using facial expressions, body language and words.
2. Managing My Feelings: Students practice calming techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness and positive self-talk.
3. Understanding Others’ Feelings: Students build empathy through stories, discussion and perspective-taking.
4. Building Friendships: Students strengthen communication, sharing and cooperation through games and role play.
5. Reflection: My Emotional Growth: Students reflect on what they’ve learned and set simple personal goals.

Who Can Use This Durable Skills Resource for Young Learners?

K–2 classroom teachers, school counselors, small-group facilitators, homeschool families and parents. It fits future-ready and durable skills instruction, Portrait of a Graduate initiatives, morning meetings, circle time, calm-down corners and character education.

What Comes in the K–2 Emotional Intelligence Resource Pack?

• Grade level: Kindergarten–Grade 2 (ages 5–8)
• Format: Digital download (printable PDF)
• Includes: 5 lessons, 20+ activities, teacher and parent guides, discussion prompts, pre- and post-assessments, story-based activities, drawing prompts, role plays and family discussion cards
• Publisher: Future Ready Education

Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching Emotional Intelligence in K–2

What is emotional intelligence for young children?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand and manage your own feelings and to understand the feelings of others. For K–2 students, it means naming emotions, calming down when upset, noticing how friends feel and using kind words.

What grade level is this emotional intelligence resource for?

It is designed for lower elementary students in kindergarten through 2nd grade, ages 5–8.

How do you teach kids to name their feelings?

Use faces, body language and simple words. The Understanding Feelings lesson helps young children connect what they feel inside to what it looks like on the outside, then put a name to it.

What calming strategies work for young children with big feelings?

Deep breathing, simple mindfulness and positive self-talk are easy for young children to learn and use on their own. The Managing My Feelings lesson teaches each one through hands-on practice.

How do you teach empathy to kindergarten students?

Use stories and “how would you feel?” questions to help children imagine another person’s point of view. The Understanding Others’ Feelings lesson builds empathy through stories, discussion and perspective-taking activities.

Can parents use this at home?

Yes. The pack includes a parent guide and family discussion cards, which make it easy to use at home or in homeschool.

What are durable skills?

Durable skills, also called future-ready skills, are lasting, transferable abilities like empathy, communication, adaptability and critical thinking. Students use them across subjects, careers and life.

Is this a student workbook?

No. It is a teacher resource pack with ready-to-teach lessons and printable student activities.

Are there other future-ready skills packs for K–2?

Yes. Pair it with the Communication & Leadership, Teamwork & Collaboration, Healthy Relationships & Empathy, Executive Functioning, Digital Citizenship and Resilience & Perseverance Teacher Resource Packs for Lower Elementary (K–2), or explore the full Future Ready Resource Packs collection.