Social Skills to Manage Worries

Everything will be okay sticky notes - Watson

Everyone experiences worry. It’s normal for children to worry about making friends at school, about their grades or upcoming tests, and a whole array of scenarios they could experience in their day-to-day life. 

If you’re looking for resources to help you teach your students about worries and how to manage them, check out our social skills module on this topic! 

In this module, a PowerPoint presentation walks you through the discussion about worries with your students and suggests ways to manage them, including: 

  • Talk to an adult about what is worrying you
  • Make a “worry box” – it can be a real box into which you place scraps of paper with your worries written on them, or it can be an imagined worry box in your mind 
  • Do something that makes you feel good such as reading, playing a game, or coloring
  • Try physical activity – sometimes moving your body can take away your worries 
  • Brainstorm solutions to the problem that’s worrying you

Encourage discussion amongst your students about what worries them and how they typically handle those worries. Included in this social skills module are activities, homework assignments, and mini schedules. Check out these resources or create your own! 

The special education resources on this page were authored by Watson Institute’s special education consultant, Andee Morris, M.Ed.

Powerpoint Presentation

What To Do About Worries Facilitator’s Guide

What To Do About Worries

Resource Materials

What To Do About Worries Activity Sheet

What To Do About Worries Homework

What To Do About Worries Magnet Card

What To Do About Worries Mini Schedule

What To Do About Worries Outline

What To Do About Worries Parent Note

What To Do About Worries Teacher Note

Pre/Post Assessment

A pre and post lesson assessment is included in each lesson. Use of the assessment is an instructor preference.  Many of the ‘homework’ pages for a lesson can be used as a pre/post assessment device alone or as part of the provided assessment.  Each homework page can be checked by the instructor as well as the student.

Review all included pages of the lesson to determine what ‘assessment’ method will meet your needs.  If the student is able to achieve a + in the majority of items of the pre-assessment, or if the student has been observed to display the skill topic of the lesson often, then the lesson may not be introduced or can be taught with a group as review and/or reinforcement.

What To Do About Worries Pre/Post Assessment

If you have questions or concerns about the Watson Institute’s use of this information, please contact us.