Use Social, Emotional, Self-regulation, and Positive Coping Skills

Climate Change topics or experiencing natural hazards that may be enhanced through climate change can cause many emotional responses in youth. Social, emotional, self-regulation, and positive coping practices can help to effectively manage emotions related to climate change. These practices can be used together as a class, or individually; providing youth with choice in the strategies that work best for them in navigating their emotions will be engaging and build agency.

Strategies

Support youth in identifying and expressing their feelings

Climate Doom to Messy Hope Cover Art by Meghan Wise

Encourage youth to name what they are feeling. For younger children, use emotion charts or scales. Reassure students it is normal to feel these emotions. Use art and journaling as a medium to express emotions related to climate change.

Teaching Resources

The Feelings Circle is a detailed chart of various emotions that can be used to help youth identify their own emotions.
The Climate Journal Project is a platform to help people write about and express their feelings related to climate change.
The Climate Doom to Messy Hope Handbook has some engaging discussion prompts and reflective activities (p. 23-27) for teachers to implement with their students around identifying and expressing their emotions.
The Creative Emotions for Climate Therapy guide provides a variety of creative outlets for students to express their emotions.

Facilitate empathy with others

Use empathy maps to help youth understand what others are feeling. This may be especially helpful when trying to understand different perspectives. Use role-play to encourage perspective-taking.

Teaching Resources

This Edutopia article discusses how to use empathy maps.

Encourage self-compassion

Encourage youth to have self-compassion and find balance. Encourage youth to give themselves and others permission to enjoy their lives- they can't solve all problems all the time. Practice grace for themselves and for other generations who have impacted the climate with their lifestyle.

Teaching Resources

These Self-compassion Meditations for Teens by the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion can be used to help youth develop self-compassion.

Help youth tolerate ambiguity

Help students tolerate ambiguity around climate topics by encouraging them to ask questions and listen actively, stay calm and in the moment, try on other perspectives about future possibilities, assess risks, rely on what they do know, and use their creativity to explore new ideas. Support youth in focusing on the things that they can control and letting go of the things they can't.

Teaching Resources

The Tolerating Ambiguity Lesson Module includes a lesson plan and resources to work with youth on tolerating ambiguity.

Practice meditation and mindfulness with youth

Use and encourage self-soothing practices, like taking slow deep breaths in and out, and reminding youth of all the people around the world working on solving the challenges around our changing climate. Encourage youth to focus on the present, pay attention to the breath or the surroundings and practice guided meditations.

Teaching Resources

This collection of podcasts offers guided meditations related to climate change.

Vision with youth about a resilient future

Work with youth on developing a vision of what a realistic resilient future looks like in which individuals and communities are resilient. Prioritize the celebration of Earth Day and other events that celebrate our planet to show the importance and future of Earth.

Teaching Resources

The Envisioning a Resilient Future lesson developed by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences has youth create a vision for their community and plan for what resources are most important to them.

Practice gratitude with youth

Have youth reflect on what they are grateful for in our world. What parts of the natural world are they grateful for? Who are they grateful for? This could be others working on solutions. What brings them hope for the future? After discussions about climate, ask everyone to write something they appreciate about another person and have them share.

Teaching Resources

8 Activities to Foster Gratitude with Children and Youth by Heart Mind Online offers various ways to make gratitude practice fun and engaging.

Take students out in nature

Time in nature is an antidote for stress and can create positive well-being. Take youth into nature, encourage free play in nature, which can help calm anxieties, or have youth meditate or journal in nature. Encourage parents to let their children play in nature.

Teaching Resources

A Parent's Guide to Nature Play by Green Hearts Inc. can be used to encourage parents to engage their children in the outdoors, and it also has some strategies in it that can easily be implemented in the classroom.

Guide discussions around resilience

Discussing resilience and solutions can instill hope. Guide discussions on adaptation and resilience with youth. Youth can be guided to build self-resilience around climate topics by following these strategies from the American Psychological Association:

fostering caring, trusting relationships that provide support and encouragement
not viewing problems as unsolvable
making achievable goals and moving steadily toward them
looking at problems in a wider context
practicing good self-care and focusing on a positive self-image
keeping personal connections with places and cultural ties when possible
avoiding isolation and trying to connect with like-minded people

Teaching Resources

Resilience Guide for Parents and Teachers by the American Psychological Association includes 10 tips for Children and teens.

For mental health support activities on using social, emotional, and positive coping skills, please see the Emotions Wheel, Nature Appreciation, Connecting with Special Places in Nature, Visioning Possibility, Facilitating Discussions and Creating Solidarity, and Active Listening Skills