Helping Kids Make Choices That Result in Positive Moods

This unit helps kids understand that feelings and emotions put them in a mood, and their mood influences their choices. The lessons in this unit will build awareness of what it means to “motivate your mood.” Download the Positivity Posters and Positive Self-Talk Coloring Pages to help your students understand the power of positive self-talk and choices they can make to motivate their mood, such as recharging their energy, getting active, doing a fun activity, or doing something with a friend.

Get your kids ready for lessons about building a positive mindset with the It's a Good Day for a Good Day door kit! This kit contains everything you need to create a door display to promote a positive attitude.

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," becomes "Vegetables are healthy food choices.") This might be a difficult task! View the slideshow for more examples.

To use this with your students click here.

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 was their mood at the time?

Help Kids Make Healthy Choices

Discuss different feelings and emotions that impact mood and motivation. Remind students that by doing a fit-check (i.e., pausing to think about their energy and mood before making a choice), they can help themselves to make healthy choices.

Check for understanding: When might you be tempted to say "I don't want to"?

Help Kids Regulate Mood

Ask students to think about a time when they said, "I don't want to." If they were in the same situation again, what healthy choice could they make?

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