Building Emotional Literacy With a Brain Break

Brain breaks provide an excellent opportunity for students to get their wiggles out, but some of them can also double as lessons in social and emotional learning (SEL). In Sammi Priti’s first-grade classroom at Arts and Letters United 305 in Brooklyn, New York, guest teacher and Child’s Play NY founder Jocelyn Greene leads the students in a game called Pass the Hello. To play, students circle up and select three different emotions: excited, bored, and frustrated, for example. Starting with the first one, each student turns to the classmate next to them and passes the word “hello” along, using facial expressions, body language, and the way they choose say the word aloud to convey the designated feeling. After everyone has had a turn, the class starts again with the next emotion. This activity not only helps students release energy but also builds emotional literacy by encouraging them to explore and articulate a range of feelings.   

To strengthen social connections and trust within the group, Greene suggests varying the circle’s direction or having students switch places to interact with different classmates in each round. The simple but impactful game allows students to take ownership of their emotional expression—and connect with their peers in a playful way—while developing their overall social and emotional skill set.

Especially in preschool and early elementary, teaching students to label and express their emotions helps them establish a foundational skill that enables them to better understand and verbalize how they are feeling. This emotional fluency is crucial for young learners, as it sets the stage for them to communicate more effectively, navigate social interactions with greater empathy and awareness, and ultimately regulate themselves better. 

Child’s Play NY works with schools across New York City to help teachers realize the many benefits of theater games in the classroom—more student voice and choice, stronger classroom community, and deeper curriculum connections. 

Find more drama games that build emotional literacy by reading Jocelyn Greene’s article for Edutopia, “Using Theater Games to Reinforce SEL Skills.”

Editor’s note: This summary was written with support from Edutopia’s custom AI tool, which prioritizes information from our archive of educational content.