Social Awareness Teaching Resources
Help your students build social awareness skills with activities and printables, social skills worksheets and more SEL teaching resources created by teachers specifically for elementary and middle school students.
This collection is full of digital and printable activities created by the expert teachers of the Teach Starter team to help teachers as they work with students on being more socially aware, recognize social cues, understand social dynamics and treat the people around them with kindness and courtesy.
Each teaching resource in this social awareness teaching resource collection has undergone rigorous review by the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready for the classroom ... and your students!
Curious about teaching social awareness and wondering how to build students' social skills? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Social Awareness? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Being socially aware is not something that comes naturally to every child, and explaining what social awareness means can be tough. Our teacher team has created this kid-friendly definition to help!
Social awareness is understanding how other people feel and what they need. When we are socially aware, we notice how others are doing, and we make an effort to be kind and helpful to them.
Social awareness also means paying attention to the rules and ways people behave in different situations.
Being socially aware means we are more sensitive to the feelings of people around us, and we can then use our social skills — such as the ability to be kind, to listen and to cooperate – to work with others. It means we can empathize with others, understand diverse perspectives and navigate social interactions effectively.
Social Awareness Examples for Kids
Now that you've explained the social awareness meaning, it helps to explore what it actually looks like when you put it into practice. Many of your students may have at least some skills already at hand — depending on the individual student and grade level.
A kindergartner, for example, may show empathy by giving a crying friend a hug or sharing a toy, but they're typically not yet able to understand that people have different perspectives.
So how can your students show they're socially aware? Let's look at some kid-friendly social awareness examples!
- Taking turns on the playground or at the water fountain.
- Sharing crayons or gluesticks with classmates.
- Making eye contact with friends when they're speaking.
- Paying attention when a teacher is speaking and not interrupting.
- Collaborating with classmates to complete a group assignment.
- Using conflict resolution skills to address issues with a friend.
- Offering to help the gym teacher put away the basketballs or helping the school librarian shelve the books that have been left out by other students.
What Is the Difference Between Self Awareness and Social Awareness?
We teach students both self awareness and social awareness in elementary and middle school, and the two relate to one another as important aspects of emotional intelligence.
But where social awareness is focused outward on the emotions, perspectives and needs of others, self awareness focuses inward on recognizing those concepts in oneself.
Social Awareness and Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is an umbrella term that involves a number of the core components of a social emotional learning curriculum — including self awareness, self management and relationship management, as well as social awareness.
So how does social awareness specifically tie back to emotional intelligence? Being emotionally intelligent involves not just recognizing emotions in one's self but in others — the basic component of social awareness for our students.
Take social dynamics, for example. Understanding the social dynamics at play in a particular situation is a big part of being socially aware. Recognizing group norms, cultural differences and power dynamics all help our students to avoid causing offense or discomfort in others. It's a great example of having the emotional intelligence required to navigate a situation!
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Kindness Mini-Book (10 Reasons to be Kind)
Explore all of the reasons to be kind with your students using this mini-book template.
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Kind or Unkind Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Explore kind and unkind scenarios with your students using this engaging cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Listening to Others – Discussion Task Cards and Poster
Give students the opportunity to work on their listening skills and learn what it means to be a good listener with this set of 42 discussion cards and classroom poster.
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Empathy Word Search
Introduce or review vocabulary terms related to empathy with this free word search worksheet.
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ABC's of Gratefulness - A to Z Gratitude List
Make a list of things to be grateful for with a printable A to Z gratitude list template.
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Showing Empathy Mini-Book
Empower young minds and hearts with the gift of empathy! Download this free SEL mini-book designed for primary students.
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Being a Good Friend – Mini-Book
Learn how to be a good friend and maintain relationships with this printable social skills book.
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Cooperation Social Stories - Interactive Activity
Help your students differentiate between uncooperative and cooperative behavior in social situations with an interactive activity.
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Showing Empathy Teaching Slides
Transform your classroom into a hub of empathy and kindness! Elevate your students’ social awareness with this set of SEL teaching slides.
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Keeping My Hands and Feet to Myself Mini-Book
Teach your students about the importance of keeping their hands and feet to themselves with this printable mini-book.
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Staying on Task Mini-Book
Review different strategies for on-task behavior with this printable mini-book.
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Morning Classroom Routine Mini-Book
Help your students develop a morning routine in the classroom by reading a printable mini-book.
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Making Good Choices Mini-Book
Help your students develop strategies for making good choices with this printable social story mini-book.
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Let's Be Grateful! - Thanksgiving Game for Kids
Roll, write, and share what youre thankful this year with a printable Thanksgiving game for kids.
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Empathy Social Stories Interactive Activity
Help your students determine empathetic behaviors with this interactive game designed for 1st and 2nd grade students.
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Afternoon Classroom Routine Mini-Book
Review expectations with your students regarding your afternoon routines with this printable mini-book.
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Kindness Teaching Slides—The Magic of Kindness
Guide students through understanding the importance of kindness with this set of teaching slides.
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Kindness Flipbook Template
Learn about the different ways to be kind in a variety of places such as school, home and the community with this flipbook.
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Lining Up Mini-Book
Teach your students the proper way to line up with this printable mini-book.
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Playground Rules Mini-Book
Remind your students about playground rules with this printable mini-book.
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Gratitude Tree and Leaves Template
Create a "Gratitude Tree" display with a printable tree and individual leaf cutouts.
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Choose Empathy Teaching Slides & Note Guide
Help your students understand the difference between empathy and sympathy while learning how to be empathetic with this set of teaching slides and note guide.
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A Walk in My Shoes – Empathy Task Cards
Use these empathy scenario cards with your students when teaching them about social awareness.
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Printable Empathy Games
Spark empathy in young hearts! Download our set of printable empathy games specially crafted for 1st and 2nd grade students.
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What Would You Do? Empathy Board Game
Challenge your students to think about the feelings of others and how to appropriately respond with the empathy board game.
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Everyday Empathy Interactive Game
Download this interactive game and help your students practice identifying emotions and understanding how others feel.
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Empathy vs. Sympathy – 5th Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Challenge your students to learn the differences between empathy and sympathy with this reading comprehension worksheet.
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Kindness Word Search
Download a printable word search about kindness for elementary school to explore this important aspect of social awareness with your students.
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Showing Compassion Google Slides Interactive Activity
Help students understand the importance of caring for others and how to appropriately respond with this interactive activity.
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Sharing with My Friends – Mini-Book
Develop skills and strategies for sharing with others with this printable mini-book.
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Kindness Vocabulary Word Wall
Learn vocabulary around the topic of kindness with this set of word wall cards.
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Kindness Poster Set
Display this set of kindness posters in your classroom to help your students understand the power of being kind.