Free Stuff to Use at Home & School
Social Emotional Support Strategies
In this time of social isolation, we know many of you are looking for free, timely information and tools to help your students, clients and children. Please know we are working as quickly as possible to give you accessible information, while also making sure it is of the highest quality and include critical information on how to best use our work. We always prioritize quality over quantity. That said, we will still be posting new, social-emotional support strategies as quickly and as often as we can. Each update can be found on this page and will address one of these four areas: 1. Read Aloud Books and Thinksheets, 2. Video Lessons, 3. Articles, and 4. Webinars.
We thank you for NOT reading our books aloud and posting them on other online platforms because once that genie is out of the bottle we will never get it back. Instead come HERE to this page to see what’s new.
How to Teach Social Thinking Materials by Age
Teaching our 10 Core Social Thinking Concepts
Our Newest Webinars
Face-to-face communication is a thing again! Wait, how do we teach that?
How Social Emotional Learning Can Ease the Transition Back to School
Exploring Our Children’s Stress
Tips & Tools for Adapting Teaching to Students’ Needs
The Other Side of the Friendship Pyramid: Dealing with Dislike
Working with thirteen year olds can be tricky, especially when they are resistant to treatment and appear to revel in being “the most hated kid in school.” In our first-ever Aha! Teaching Moment video, Michelle Garcia Winner discusses developing the Pyramid of Dislike thinksheet to help a client realize it will be tough to make new friends when he spends most of his attention on the people he dislikes.
Anxiety and Social Competencies (The Spirals)
Based on our growing experience, it appears that some of our students have high levels of anxiety, but also have solid social knowledge. For these students, we still find that helping them through their anxiety has a lot to do with helping them explore and practice their social competencies. The Social Thinking teachings helped to put this all into context. Thus, these same lessons have shown to be helpful to them as well. In this article, we will review of concepts that led me to create what my students now call, The Spirals (i.e., Spiral of Social Success and Spiral of Social Failure).
All the Zones are OK! Tips for Managing the Zones You’re In
The Zones of Regulation was created to help individuals manage the feelings they experience by identifying their shifting emotional states as existing in different “Zones”. It is important not to label one Zone as "good" and another "bad", rather that ALL Zones are OK as long as we MANAGE our Zone and express ourselves through behavior that is as adaptive and pro-social as possible given the situation and the student’s self-regulation abilities.
Taking a Deeper Look at Whole Body Listening: It’s a Tool Not a Rule
Listening with your whole body involves integrating all of the body senses (sensory processing), along with executive functioning (self-control of brain and body), and perspective taking (thinking of others and what they are saying). This is not an easy task. Many children do not fully understand what is expected of them or may not be able to meet the expected demands when it comes to listening. In teaching whole body listening we are providing a tool not a rule. We know this concept will continue to be challenging for many people but through this teaching we can encourage all individuals to expand their idea of how they listen to what is going on around them in a more meaningful manner.
Become Closer with Social Distancing
Times of stress and hardship can drive us apart—but they often can also bring us together in positive ways we never imagined. The “social distancing” now required by the COVID-19 pandemic can actually foster better real-time communication and forge stronger, supportive relationships through flexible thinking, mindfulness, and socially smart technologies. Here are five ways to overcome the spiral of negative thinking, take control of what you can control, and positively contribute to the social emotional well-being of your community, as well as your own.
PDF download available to print and share.
Social Metacognition: Using Social Emotional Learning to Defeat Helplessness and Engage Hope
We don’t learn helplessness—it’s an innate brain default. We do learn how to create hope in our minds to avoid feeling helpless. By using language and metacognition in an internal dialogue, we can teach our social minds to push toward social emotional learning for new ways to handle ourselves in a range of situations. Aspects of the Social Thinking Methodology® provide pathways for creating and sustaining hope in our lives.
Remote Learning Tips & Resources
This is a continuously evolving document developed by www.quadprep.org, updated regularly as they sift through appropriate digital resources and at home activities that will stimulate critical thinking and engage with all aspects of your student’s intellect and interests.
- Books & Games
- Online Training
- Free Webinars
- Article Library
- Digital Products
Books & Games
Professionals and parents around the world are using our expansive collection of curricula, books, games, and posters to teach social competencies to ages 4 and up.
While our deeper work is for individuals with social learning challenges (autism spectrum levels 1 and 2, ADHD, twice exceptional, social communication disorders, etc. or no diagnosis,) a subset of our work is being adopted into mainstream classrooms and workplaces around the world to improve social-emotional learning for all.
Online Training
Social Thinking has helped more than 1 million educators, clinicians, and families teach social learners essential life skills including social-emotional learning and self-regulation. Wherever you are in your professional career or level of understanding as a caregiver, we can help.
Browse our entire collection of Online Training options, taught by our experienced practitioners and clinicians.
Free Webinars
Explore how to teach a variety of core Social Thinking concepts—for free. Browse our entire webinar collection and discover strategies to help people of all ages develop social competencies, self-regulation, social skills, social-emotional understanding, flexible thinking, and more!
Our webinars are not pre-approved for credit by continuing education organizations. However, all participants can download and print a Certificate of Completion.
Article Library
Social Thinking is proud to provide an extensive collection of free articles devoted to helping individuals build stronger social awareness and social functioning using the Social Thinking Methodology.
Browse our library of 100+ free articles and learn strategies you can start using right away. We’re constantly adding material based on the latest research and our evolving client work—so visit our library often and stay informed!
Digital Books
eBooks make it easy for children to explore social-emotional strategies to become stronger social problem solvers.
Build social awareness and vocabulary with Social Thinking and Me—a powerhouse of social knowledge to help children in upper elementary and middle school become stronger social problem solvers.
Teach social awareness and self-regulation with Superflex. Kids around the world are having fun learning strategies and practicing new skills to boost their “Superflex powers."
New & Best Selling
Hey Awesome - a book for kids about anxiety, courage, & already being awesome
‘Hey Awesome’ explains how the same brain that can make children feel anxious sometimes, also comes with amazing strengths. It also includes powerful tips for children on how they can manage their anxiety. First, we let them know how awesome they are, then we give them what they need to feel it for themselves.
Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain
The achievement gap remains a stubborn problem for educators of culturally and linguistically diverse students. With the introduction of the rigorous Common Core State Standards, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement and facilitating deeper learning.
Tenacity in Children: Nurturing the Seven Instincts for Lifetime Success
Tenacity in Children provides a solid foundation to prepare children for a resilient and happy future. It offers well-defined guideposts for adults committed to providing every child with the opportunity to access, strengthen, and employ instincts as they negotiate childhood and passage into adult life.
2-Storybook Set | The Zones of Regulation Series
These two storybooks provide engaging social scenarios and strategies to help children at developmental ages 5-11 explore how lessons from The Zones of Regulation curriculum book can be used at school and at home. Kids learn along with the characters that they can manage how they feel by using tools to meet their goals.
The Road to Regulation Poster | The Zones of Regulation Series
Adapted from the colorful layout in The Regulation Station storybook, this 24” x 18” poster is a flexible, real-time reminder of the four steps needed to (1) recognize your feelings, (2) identify your Zone, (3) choose a tool, and (4) use the tool to help regulate your feelings experienced across different situations.
Get Started with Ages 5-11 Bundle | The Zones of Regulation Series
Ready to start teaching The Zones of Regulation to children at developmental ages 5-11? This bundle includes The Zones of Regulation curriculum, two brand new storybooks, and a multisensory regulation strategy card deck, which includes over 50 direct instruction tool cards.
Get Started for Tweens & Teens Bundle | The Zones of Regulation Series
Want to learn about The Zones of Regulation and work with tweens & teens? Start with this powerhouse bundle that includes the best-selling The Zones of Regulation curriculum, the Navigating The Zones board game and its extended play Advanced Pack, and our Tools to Try Cards for Tweens & Teens.
Tools to Try Cards for Tweens & Teens: Regulation Strategies to Focus, Calm, Think, Move, Breathe, and Connect | The Zones of Regulation Series
A choice rich, portable, strategy card deck to help adolescents ages 11+ metacognitively explore and practice over 50 self-regulation tools at home, in school, or in therapeutic and community settings.
The Zones of Regulation: Tools to Try for Kids | Regulation Strategies to Focus, Calm, Think, Move, Breathe, and Connect
A choice rich, portable, strategy card deck to help kids ages 5-10 metacognitively explore and practice over 50 self-regulation tools at home, in school, or in therapeutic and community settings.
Social Thinking Frameworks Collection | A Set of 26 Social Thinking® Teaching Frameworks
The social world is vast and complex, kids are complicated, and there’s so much information! Here’s where you’ll find the best of the Social Thinking® Methodology distilled into a two-set collection of our 26 core teaching frameworks for helping social learners unpack and figure out how to navigate the social world in a concrete, visual way.
You Are a Social Detective! Explaining Social Thinking to Kids, 2nd Edition
Boost kids’ observation and clue interpretation skills in social situations. Expanded and revised, this 2nd edition provides an all-new structured approach to observation, illustrations that reflect a broader range of inclusion and diversity in characters, and lessons for deeper learning.
Hey Warrior: A Book for Kids About Anxiety
Empower children to manage their anxiety by learning that it comes from a place of protective strength within their brains—the amygdala—a tiny but fierce personal “warrior” that prepares us to fight or flee danger, even when we don’t need or want its protection!
The Zones of Regulation
A Curriculum Designed to Foster Self-Regulation and Emotional Control
We Thinkers! (Ages 4-7)
Our premier social emotional learning series for helping social learners ages 4–7 develop foundational social competencies.
Superflex (Ages 7-10+)
Dive into the foundational products in our Superflex series to teach children the fundamentals of self-regulation and give them a world of characters to make social learning fun.
Tweens & Teens
Help tweens and teens navigate their social worlds, develop strong social competencies, deal with flirting and dating, and manage social anxiety.
Young Adult & Adult
Learn strategies to foster social competencies, relationship development, and independent living skills while helping individuals experience deeper well-being.
Our Newest & Most Widely Attended Courses Ever!
Part 1: Understanding and Supporting the Social Emotional Learning needs of Challenged Social Communicators
Friday, Oct 22, 2021 | 9:00 AM Pacific
Part 2: Strategies for Expanding Social Emotional Learning in Emerging Social Communicators
Friday, Oct 29, 2021 | 9:00 AM Pacific
What’s a Friend, and Do I Really Need Friends?
Tuesday, Nov 9, 2021 | 9:00 AM Pacific
Resilience in an Uncertain Time: Supporting Students and Families Now and Later
Recorded Replay Expires November 30th
Defining 7 Aspects of Tenacity & Exploring Strategies for Social Problem Solving
Recorded Replay Expires November 30th
Raising an Organized Child: Strategies to Promote Executive Functions
Recorded Replay Expires November 30th
Creative Strategies for Teaching Social Thinking in Schools, Clinics, Homes and Through Tele-Education
Recorded Replay Expires November 30th
Our Newest Webinars
Face-to-face communication is a thing again! Wait, how do we teach that?
How Social Emotional Learning Can Ease the Transition Back to School
Exploring Our Children’s Stress
Tips & Tools for Adapting Teaching to Students’ Needs
Must-Read Articles
Making the Connection Between Dynamic Assessment and Treatment to Develop Social Emotional Competencies
Spaced-Out Kids Are Not Just Spaced-Out
What Teachers Need to Know, What They Can Do…and Why They Can’t Do It All!
Break Through Students’ Social Anxiety Barrier: A Strategy for Student-Teacher Communication
Social Thinking® in the World of Online Learning with More Literal-Minded Social Learners
Social Metacognition: Using Social Emotional Learning to Defeat Helplessness and Engage Hope
Help Avoid Frustration While Working From Home
Moving Forward with Your Family During the Pandemic
