Helping Kids Make Choices That Result in Positive Moods

Students are learning that feelings and emotions put them in a mood. For example, feeling excited or cheerful puts you in an “I will” mood, while feeling frustrated or grumpy translates to an “I won’t” mood. The lessons in this unit create awareness about what it means to “motivate your mood.” Students will learn about using positive self-talk to explore options to motivate their mood, such as recharging their energy, getting active, doing a fun activity, and/or doing something with a friend.

As a class, brainstorm a list of 5 things that students usually don’t want to do. After creating the list, have kids turn and talk to a partner about motivating one of the I-don’t-want-to statements into a positive statement. (Example: I don’t want to eat broccoli changes to Vegetables are healthy food choices.) This might be a difficult task!  Refer to the slideshow for guidance.

Motivate Kids to Make Better Choices

After viewing the slideshow, ask students to think about the times they've said, "I don't want to..." What kind of mood were they in?

Help Kids Make Healthy Choices

Discuss different feelings and emotions that can put you in an “I will” or an “I won’t” mood.

Remind students that by doing a fit-check (i.e., think about mood as an influencer) they can talk themselves into making healthy choices.

Help Kids Regulate Mood

Ask students to think about a time when they said, "I don't want to." or "I Won't." Did they talk themselves into making a healthy choice?

Today we talked about how your mood can tell you to say "I don't want to" or "I won't." Next, we will learn how self-talk can help you motivate your mood.