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Social and Emotional Skills Programmes
I have spent over ten years teaching in a school with a high number of children who benefit from support in developing social and emotional skills. Many children learn these skills naturally through everyday interactions, while others need more explicit, structured teaching to help them understand social situations, manage emotions and build positive relationships. When taught in a supportive and respectful way, social and self-regulation teaching can make a real difference to children’s confidence and wellbeing. Below are some of the programmes I have found most helpful in my work as a mainstream class teacher, support teacher and autism class teacher.
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Name of Resource |
Main Focus |
Suitable for |
My experience |
Available from |
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Stop, think do: Social Skills Training
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Social skills and self-regulation |
Ages 4-8, 8-12, or 12-15 Works with the whole class or a small group of pupils |
I used the Early Years programme when teaching Infants. It is a very good programme, but requires commitment from the teacher as there is a lot of content in it. It can be difficult to fit in to an already overcrowded SPHE programme where Stay Safe, Walk Tall, and RSE need to be covered, but for a class where challenging behaviour is widespread, it would be worth implementing. If the difficulties pertain to only a few pupils, then it would be best covered with the SET with just these pupils. |
Outside the Box Learning Resources www.otb.ie |
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TalkAbout Developing Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem
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Developing self-awareness and self-esteem |
Most infants would find it difficult. I have used it successfully from 1st class upwards. Best used with a small group of pupils. |
This is an excellent programme for use by a SET teacher or in a special class setting with pupils who have good expressive and receptive language skills. Developing self-awareness is a prerequisite to developing social skills, so I would always cover this programme with children before beginning work on a social skills programme. The programme takes 40 sessions to complete. For a group that works with the Special Education Teacher every day, I would advise completing this programme in Term 1, then beginning work on one of the TalkAbout Social Skills Programmes in term 2. |
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TalkAbout Developing Social Skills
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Developing social skills |
Most suitable from 1st-4th class. Best used with a small group of pupils. |
This is an excellent programme to follow on from the TalkAbout developing Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem programme above. It is most suitable for a small group of pupils with the SET teacher or in a special class setting with verbal pupils. The programme takes 60 sessions to complete. For a group that works with the Special Education Teacher every day, I would advise completing the Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem programme in Term 1, then completing this programme in terms 2 and 3. |
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TalkAbout Developing Friendship Skills
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Developing friendship skills |
Activities could be used with a whole class or with a small group of pupils |
This book contains 25 games and activities to develop friendship skills. It would be a good follow on after completing the more structured TalkAbout Self-Awareness and Self Esteem, and TalkAbout Social Skills Programmes above. |
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TalkAbout for Teenagers
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Developing social and relationship skills |
Best used with a small group of pupils from 5th/6th class and upwards |
The TalkAbout Developing Social Skills Programme can be a bit too childish for pupils in the senior end of Primary school, in which case, Talk About for Teenagers is a more appropriate option. It covers self-awareness and self-esteem, body language, conversational skills, friendship skills, and assertiveness, and so is a great choice for pupils in the senior end of primary school who need to work on their social skills. |
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Dealing with Feeling
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Emotional regulation |
Small group or 1 to 1. Ages 7-14+ |
The programme is recommended for ages 7-14+, but I find some of the stories need to be modified to be made more age appropriate if using for ages 10 and under. There is a lot in the programme and it comes with 40 lessons and 236 activity pages, so it would take the whole academic year to complete with a pupil. I would recommend completing the TalkAbout programmes first, before beginning this programme when a child is in 4th class upwards. |
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The Zones of Regulation
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Emotional regulation |
Most effective in a small group or can be modified to use 1 to 1. Ideal for an autism class setting. I have used from 1st class up very successfully. |
The programme consists of 18 lessons which could be covered over Term 1. The programme doesn’t end when the 18 lessons are completed however. The Zones is a whole framework for helping students learn to regulate their emotions and for it to be successful, the children need ongoing support in recognising how they are feeling and choosing appropriate tools to help them regulate. It takes commitment and effort from the teachers and SNAs working with the pupils who all need to be on the same page when completing the Zones, but it is an excellent programme which I have found very effective. |
Outside the Box Learning Resources www.otb.ie or Thinkingtoys.ie |
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Friendship Terrace
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Developing friendship skills |
Most suitable for Infants – 2nd class. The programme website says ages 4-12 years, but I would feel 3rd class onwards would find it too childish. Works great for a whole class or small group. |
This is a short programme which takes 10 sessions to complete. In each session we hear the story of a different character who lives on “Friendship Terrace”. Each character has a social skill they need to work on e.g. coping with winning and losing, and the story is followed by questions to ask the children. The children I have used this with have all loved it, and I was asked to read the stories again and again. It is particularly helpful to have a display in the classroom with a picture of each of the characters and to refer to it as needed throughout the year. For instance, if a child is being rough on yard, you can re-read and talk about the story of “Rough Ryan”. |
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The Incredible 5 Point Scale
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Emotional regulation, social skills, developing appropriate behaviour |
Works with any age and in a whole class, group, or 1 to 1 setting |
The Incredible 5 Point Scale is one of the resources that I have used the most, and with the most success, in teaching social skills and appropriate behaviour. It is particularly suitable for autistic children due to its colour coded and visual nature. This isn’t a programme to follow with set lesson plans, rather it is a method of teaching social skills or behaviours that the teacher identifies as being most appropriate. For older pupils who engage in challenging behaviour or who step over social boundaries to the point where they get into trouble, there is an excellent follow-on book called “A 5 is Against the Law!”. |
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Time to Talk
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Communication and social interactions |
Infants Works with a whole class or small group. |
This is a programme which is appropriate for Junior or Senior Infant pupils. It includes 40 sessions which should take place 2-3 times per week. |
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Socially Speaking
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Social skills |
Small group setting Infants – 2nd class |
The first section focuses on developing communication skills, including listening skills. It then moves to developing friendship skills in the second part and practicing these skills in the final part. There is also a board game that you can buy to complement the programme. I have used this too and the children enjoy it. |
Schoolbooksdirect.ie or abcschoolsupplies.ie |
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Social Skills Training by Jed Baker
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Social skills |
Small group or 1 to 1 Most appropriate for 4th class and up |
This programme covers 70 of the skills which most cause difficulty for autistic people e.g. conversation skills, saying no to peer pressure etc. |
Outside the Box Learning Resources www.otb.ie |
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The Watson Institute
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Social skills, emotional regulation, appropriate behaviour |
Small group or 1 to 1 as needed. Each resource is targeted at a specific issue rather than at an age group. Check the suitability of individual resources. |
The Watson Institute has a huge bank of free downloadable social stories and lesson plans for teaching social skills to children with autism. They are generally excellent and I have used them extensively over the years. There isn’t a set programme to follow. You just choose the lessons and social stories that fit best with difficulties that your pupil is encountering. All of the social stories are editable so you can put in photographs and names relevant to your pupils. Many of the lessons come with PowerPoint presentations and worksheets which are very useful. |
A note on the use of social skills programmes with autistic children:
Recent thinking in this area highlights that social skills teaching can be very valuable, but only when approached in a respectful and supportive way. Rather than focusing on masking, memorising scripts, or training children to appear “indistinguishable” from their peers, current best practice emphasises helping children understand others and be understood themselves. Effective approaches prioritise functional communication, emotional regulation, problem-solving and self-advocacy, while respecting each child’s natural communication style and promoting confidence and wellbeing.
Some of the programmes above, such as Jed Baker’s social skills resources, were developed before more recent neuro-affirming guidance. They still contain lots of practical ideas and visuals, but I would now use them selectively: focusing on supporting understanding, communication and self-advocacy, and skipping any goals that push eye contact, masking or “acting normal” at the expense of a child’s comfort and wellbeing.
Conclusion
I hope you will find the above information useful if you are planning for teaching social skills and are unsure where to start. If you would like me to cover any other topics in my blog, please leave a comment below!
could you send me some resources for social skills programme for pupils aged 12 to 18 years old
Hi Josephien,
Thanks for your comment. I am a primary school teacher so I don’t have any resources for Post Primary. You could look into the Talk About for Teenagers mentioned in the post.
Kind regards,
Claire
Hi,
Thank you very much for this information. Would you have any recommendations for a 4th class child with ADHD and issues socially with their peers / disruptive behaviour in class. Thank you
Hello!
The programmes that are commonly used with autistic pupils would be of benefit for a child with ADHD too. So you could look into Jed Baker’s programme to see if that would suit. Depending on the issues that are coming up, the Incredible 5 Point scale could be very effective as well.
Other than that, it is worth having a look at the child’s psychological report (if it is recent) to see what programmes and interventions were recommended.
I hope that helps!
Claire