Feelings Friends - Social Story Bundle (Printable)

Children need to understand their emotions to express them appropriately. It is crucial for their emotional and social development. When children can recognize and comprehend their emotions, they can effectively communicate their feelings and needs to others. This understanding also helps them form healthier relationships and develop empathy towards others.

By learning about their emotions, children can identify the underlying causes of their feelings. This self-awareness allows them to regulate their emotions coping with challenging situations in a more adaptive way. It helps them manage stress, reduce impulsive behaviors, and make better decisions when faced with difficult circumstances.

In addition to expressing their own feelings, understanding emotions supports children in understanding others' emotions. They can recognize and empathize with the emotions of their peers, siblings, and parents, leading to improved communication and more positive interactions. This ability fosters emotional intelligence and promotes healthy social and emotional development throughout childhood and into adulthood.

Educators, parents, and caregivers play a critical role in supporting children's emotional understanding. They can create safe and open spaces for children to express their feelings freely, without judgment. By listening attentively and validating their emotions, adults can help children identify and label their feelings. They can provide age-appropriate language and tools to express emotions, such as through art, writing, or verbal communication.

The Feelings Friends social story bundle provides you with the following social stories:

"Calm Body, Calm Mind"

Calm Body, Calm Mind is a 22 page social story to help young children learn the skills to understand their emotions, reflect about how their body expresses their emotions, making good choices, and strategies they can use to self-regulate their emotions,

This social story can help children learn the following concepts:

What types of feelings can my body show?

How does my body look and feel when I feel different emotions?

How can I help keep others safe when I am upset?

What are some strategies to help me with anger, sadness, and fear?

What can I do to help myself calm down?

What is a fun way to learn deep breathing?

What types of coping skills can I learn to help myself with big feelings?

What does it mean to feel guilty and ashamed and what can I do about this?

What can I learn from making bad choices?

How can I make good choices?

How do I apologize when I've hurt someone?

How does an apology help repair relationships?

"My Safe Body, Your Safe Body"

My Safe Body, Your Safe Body is a 28 page social story to help young children learn the skills to have appropriate personal boundaries, use gentle touch with friends, practice the coping skill of deep breathing, regulate their emotions, recognize inappropriate touches, and know how to ask for help if they've experienced abuse.

This social story can help children learn the following concepts:

What are personal boundaries?

How can I keep myself safe?

How can I help keep others safe when I am upset?

How do I apologize when I've hurt someone?

How do I express my feelings appropriately using words?

What can I do to help myself calm down?

What is a fun way to learn deep breathing?

How do I ask if I would like to hug someone?

When do I not touch someone?

Which areas on my body are private?

What do I do when someone touches me without permission?

Who can I ask for help when someone has hurt me?

Who are the community helpers that keep me safe?

"Someone Hurt You, and it Was Not Your Fault"

Someone Hurt You, It Was Not Your Fault is a 24 page social story to help young children learn the skills to understand what abuse means, what kind of feelings they may experience, how to process the feeling of shame, how to talk about feelings, coping skills to use to help with emotional self-regulation, and how to ask for help.

This social story can help children learn the following concepts:

Should grown-ups and families protect children?

How can families be safe vs. unsafe?

What does it mean when families are unsafe?

What is child abuse?

Why do grown-ups make unsafe choices and hurt children?

What are safe choices vs. unsafe choices?

What kind of feelings do children feel when they have suffered from abuse?

What does it mean to feel guilty or a sense of shame?

Is it normal to feel all of these big feelings?

What can I do if I feel scared like the person is still going to hurt me?

What can I do when I feel unsafe?

Why do I feel like I did something wrong?

What are some ways to help myself feel safe and calm these big feelings?

What is dragon breathing?

Who are safe people that I can ask for help?

How do I ask for help?

"I Have Feelings"

I Have Feelings is a 24-page social story to help young children learn the skills to understand their emotions, reflect on how their body expresses their feelings, identify which emotion they are feeling, and strategies they can use to self-regulate their emotions.

Four Feelings Charts Included!

This social story can help children learn the following concepts:

What feelings can I feel?

How does my body feel when I experience different emotions?

How can I help keep others safe when I am upset?

What are some strategies to help me with anger, sadness, and fear?

What can I do to help myself calm down?

What is a fun way to learn deep breathing?

What types of coping skills can I learn to help myself with big feelings?

What are some fun ways to identify the feeling I am experiencing?