Seat children in a circle, and ask each of them to share how it feels when someone hurts their feelings. Write each child's name on a large red heart, and hold up the heart to show how beautiful and whole the heart it is. Then crumple the heart each time a child shares his experience of hurt feelings. Ask the class how the hearts looks now, how they think the hearts feel and what might make the hearts feel better. As they give examples of compliments, smooth out the heart then hold up the heart to show that it is not the same, even with the compliments. Discuss how to keep the heart from hurting more. Hang the heart in the classroom to remind students of what happens when they say mean things to others.
Have each student name at least one positive quality about each of his classmates. Not only does this methodology teach children to look for positive qualities in one another, it also raises the self-esteem level of each child when he hears about the virtues he possesses that others notice about him. Children with healthy self-esteem feel accepted and know there are people who care about them. Also, when the children in the class know they can ask any question, and you will not ignore them, they develop a healthy self-esteem.
The class pride chain teaches students teamwork and self-worth. This artwork project allows students to create and present pieces of work about themselves. They talk about their interests and characteristics and then work on presentation skills with peers. Each child lists five talents on separate strips of construction paper, which will then be linked to form a chain. Each student presents his talent to the class; then all the chains get linked together to form one large chain that is representative of the whole class. display the chain during the year so the class can be reminded of the talents they each possess.
Draw 3 x 3 squares on a large poster board and write or draw a picture of titles, such as "school," "chores," "relationship with siblings," "activities" and "friends." Each child will then toss a beanbag onto the poster board and then tell something about himself that makes him feel special, as it relates to the square on which his beanbag lands. For example, if the beanbag lands on the "school" square, he might tell you about a subject in which he excels or a time that he stood up for himself. This activity helps children focus on what they are doing right, instead of what they are doing wrong.