Big feelings, taught in circle time
A free twelve-week program for classrooms of four- to six-year-olds. Twice a week, fifteen minutes on the rug: what's in my control, the pause button, naming the weather inside, being brave, and "not yet". Every week has one key phrase the whole class — and every family at home — uses in ordinary moments.
Download the free classroom pack See the 12 weeks
A PDF with the program, a page for families, twelve weekly notes home and the classroom printables. Free — sign in with a code from your email, no password.
Short and concrete
Fifteen minutes, one idea, one game. Each circle time uses real objects — two baskets, a paper button, a scarf for a wave — because abstractions don't land at this age.
One phrase a week
"Stop. Breathe. Choose." "Right now I feel…" "Not yet." The phrase is what the children carry into the block corner and the playground, and it's what teachers and parents repeat.
School and home, the same words
A short note goes home each week with the phrase and one thing to try. Families can follow the full home course for free, so the child hears the same language in both places.
Free, no login for the children
The program and the printables are free. Nothing asks the children to use a screen in class.
How a circle time runs · 15 minutes
- 1 min · Opening. Sit in a circle. One object — a smooth stone, a shell — goes in the middle. While it's there, "we are thinkers". The ritual tells the room that this is a different kind of time.
- 4 min · The picture. Show the idea with real things: the two baskets, the boat and the wind, the wave in a bowl of water. Do it on yourself first, and be a little silly.
- 6 min · The game. Everyone plays: sorting, freezing, being the wave, climbing a drawn ladder. Movement beats explanation.
- 3 min · The phrase. Say the week's phrase together, then act out one real moment where it could be used: a tower falls, someone takes the swing.
- 1 min · Closing. The stone is picked up. One question to carry out of the circle, answered later, not now.
Running it with a group
- Keep it to one idea. A group of fifteen will manage one game well, not two.
- Use turns, not everyone at once: pass the stone, and only the child holding it speaks.
- Model with a puppet or a teacher's story, not with a child's real conflict from that morning.
- Never use a tool as a correction. "Press your pause button!" said to an upset child turns it into a punishment. Invite, then do it yourself.
- Put the week's phrase on the wall at child height, with a picture. Point to it in the moment instead of explaining.
- Leave the materials out after circle time — the baskets in the play corner, the button on the calm-down shelf. Children repeat what they can reach.
- Expect the quiet ones to take weeks. Watching counts as taking part.
The 12 weeks
Two circle times a week, in the same order as the home course, so families can follow along. Each week ends with a short note home.
“That's in my basket.”
Two Baskets. Two baskets — "listens to me" and "doesn't listen to me". Sort picture cards together: the rain, my hands, who wins the game, how hard I try.
Wind and Sail. Blow on a paper boat. The wind doesn't listen — but turning the sail does. Children take turns being the boat and the wind.
Note home: Ask "Is that in your basket?" when something goes wrong this week.
“Stop. Breathe. Choose.”
The Dragon Inside. Everyone has a dragon that wakes up when things go wrong. Children draw theirs and show where it lives in the body.
The Pause Button. Each child cuts out and decorates a paper button. Practice the three steps as a game: stop — hands freeze; breathe — one slow breath out; choose — say what you'll do.
Note home: Practice the pause button in play, when everyone is calm.
“Right now I feel…”
Weather Inside. A class weather map: sunny, calm, cloudy, rain, storm, fog. Go past the obvious four: fog is "I don't know what I feel".
The Wave. Make a wave in a bowl of water, then be the wave under a scarf: rise, biggest, and down. Big feelings always pass.
Note home: At dinner, everyone says their weather today — adults first.
“I thought it — and then I got mad.”
It's Not the Thing, It's the Thought. Two puppets see the same tower fall. One thinks "on purpose", one thinks "he tripped". Which one is angrier?
The Basket Tournament. A friendly review game: fast basket sorting, show the dragon's size, press the pause button, name the weather.
Note home: Ask "What did you think when that happened?" before "why did you do that?"
“Brave means scared and doing it anyway.”
Courage. Start a class compass with four points. The first is courage: a teacher's small, true story about being scared and doing it anyway.
The Bravery Ladder. Draw a ladder: the bottom rung is easy, the top is the whole scary thing. We only ever do one step.
Note home: Say "I'm scared, and I'm going" out loud when you do something a bit scary.
“Is this big or is this small?”
Big or Small? Three circles — big, medium, small. Sort troubles on slips: a broken cookie, the wrong cup, a scraped knee, a friend moving away. Agree what a fair reaction to each size is.
True or Made Up. Two columns: what I can see, and what I made up. Inspect a "scary" coat on a hook with a flashlight.
Note home: When something goes wrong, ask together: big, medium or small?
“I'm the boss of my want.”
Waiting Tricks. A sand timer and a small want. Collect tricks for waiting: turn your back, sing, count, keep your hands busy.
Enough. Start a class jar. Each day one child adds one good, ordinary thing from the day, drawn or dictated.
Note home: Use a timer to make waits visible: "when the sand runs out".
“I play fair. I can help.”
Fair Play. The teacher plays a game and cheats, obviously. The children object — and then make three rules for a new game themselves.
Stepping In. A puppet is left out of a game. Practice three moves: sit next to them, ask what happened, get a grown-up.
Note home: Notice one kind or fair thing your child did, and name it quietly.
“Not yet.”
Not Yet. Read The Most Magnificent Thing, or tell a story of trying and failing. Say "I can't do it" and "I can't do it yet" — which feels different?
Two Roads. Two ribbons on the floor: the easy road and the good road. Children stand on the road they'd choose in small real situations.
Note home: Add "yet" when your child says "I can't".
“There's another way.”
"Oh no!" → "Oh good!" A game: the teacher says a small disaster, the children answer with what it makes possible. Silly answers welcome.
Plan B. Build a bridge with blocks that are too short. Find three ways, including silly ones, and try them in turn.
Note home: When something fails, say together: "There's another way."
“What if I look from up high?”
Imagine It's Gone. Imagine a day with no spoons, no water from the tap. Then: who made these things happen?
The View From Above. Look at a small trouble from the floor, from a chair, from the window, from the sky. How big is it now?
Note home: Ask "How big will this be tomorrow?"
“I can handle this.”
Our Fort. Build a fort from cushions or on paper. Each child chooses one rule of their own to put inside it.
The Little Stoics' Day. Walk through everything made in twelve weeks — baskets, button, weather map, compass, ladder, jar. The children explain each one. Certificates.
Note home: Ask your child to teach you one thing from the fort.
How it maps to CASEL
| Competency | Where it's practiced |
|---|---|
| Self-awareness | Weather Inside, the dragon, thought → feeling (weeks 2–4) |
| Self-management | The pause button, the wave, waiting tricks, the bravery ladder (weeks 2, 3, 5, 7) |
| Social awareness | Two puppets, two thoughts; stepping in; imagine it's gone (weeks 4, 8, 11) |
| Relationship skills | Fair play, stepping in, class rules (week 8) |
| Responsible decision-making | Two baskets, big or small, two roads, plan B (weeks 1, 6, 9, 10) |
What's in the classroom pack
- How to run the program: circle-time shape, group adaptations and the 12-week plan
- A take-home page for families: big feelings at home, in one page
- Twelve weekly notes home, ready to copy into your newsletter or app
- Classroom printables: basket labels and 36 sorting cards, the pause button, the Weather Inside chart, the Not Yet poster and six ways to calm down
Questions from teachers
Is it really free?
Yes. The program, the classroom pack and the home course for families are all free. There is no license fee for using it in your classroom.
What ages is it for?
Four- to six-year-olds: pre-K and kindergarten. Younger threes can join the games; the discussion parts are pitched at fives.
How much time does it take?
Two circle times of about fifteen minutes a week, for twelve weeks, plus pointing to the week's phrase when real moments happen.
Do we need special materials?
No. Baskets or boxes, paper, a scarf, a bowl of water, a sand timer, blocks — what a classroom already has. The printables cover the rest.
Can we share it with parents?
Please do. The weekly notes are written for that, and families can follow the same lessons at home on raisingstoics.com for free.
Can we adapt it?
Yes — change the order within a month, shorten a game, swap a book for one you have. Keep the one-phrase-a-week rhythm; that's what makes it stick.
Want to talk about using it in your school, or tell us how it went? Write to [email protected].