Play Environment
Make social emotional learning a central focus — and not just an afterthought — by making appropriate learning materials and play areas readily available to all children.
The best practices (per GO NAPSACC) and the related resources in this section focus on integrating social emotional learning opportunities into the children’s play environments and materials to allow for a more holistic learning experience. For example, imagine a book or activity that includes learning about nutrition, community helpers, sharing, and respecting others’ food choices. Informal social emotional learning can also be supported by automatic integration of problem-solving opportunities and recognition of different cultures in everyday activities.
Best Practices
Select each GO NAPSACC best practice below to find related resources.
“A large variety of learning materials are available that promote social emotional learning.”
Building Your Classroom Bookshelf
Summary: Book recommendations for toddlers and preschoolers related to building core social emotional skills such as self-regulation and relationship building with oneself and others. Each category includes multiple books, and each book comes with read-aloud versions and lesson plans.
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Classroom Strategies
Summary: Resource library on building core social emotional skills, including relationship building, self-regulation, and communication. Resources under each strategy may include videos, podcasts, and brief downloadable/printable guides.
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Five Anti-Bias Education Strategies for Early Childhood Classrooms
Summary: Strategies that include incorporating activities that share and celebrate differences, using diverse books and stories, preventing and addressing microaggressions, exploring real-life stories about social justice, and providing children with opportunities to discuss bias.
Source: Public Broadcasting System Southern California
Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments
Summary: Free for providers. Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the social emotional assessment opens a suite of planning, learning, professional development, and implementation tools to understand further what the best practices are and how to make them happen in your child care.
Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)
Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books
Summary: Nine tips for screening books for age-appropriate, anti-bias education. The article includes additional resources at the end, including a link to an early childhood anti-bias book list.
Source: Social Justice Books
Practical Strategies for Teachers and Caregivers
Summary: Toddler and preschool-appropriate downloadable resources that include social emotional skill reinforcement materials, scripted stories for different social situations, relationship building tools for caregivers, a book list, activity guides around popular children’s books that provide hands-on ways to embed social emotional skill building activities into everyday routines, and more.
Source: Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
Social Problem Solving - Preschoolers
Summary: Tools for teaching problem solving in advance, as well as supporting it in the moment of conflict. Scroll down for video lessons, or further still for printable resources such as a child care provider guide (linked to visual cue cards and other teaching tools) and a family guide (English and Spanish).
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Teaching Social-Emotional Skills Classroom Strategies
Summary: Practical printable and video tools outlining strategies for both providers and parents to help young children build specific social emotional skills (such as problem solving, friendship building, and behavior regulation). Also find resources specific to infant-toddler classrooms and family home providers. Find scripted stories and “book nook” lesson plans under “Practical Strategies,” as well as recommended books under the “Children’s Books” section.
“A large variety of learning materials are available about various cultures and identities, including all those represented in the classroom.”
Anti-Bias Resources
Summary: Information on culturally responsive strategies, anti-bias practice, and equity in early childhood caregiving.
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children
Building Your Classroom Bookshelf
Summary: Book recommendations for toddlers and preschoolers related to building core social emotional skills such as self-regulation and relationship building with oneself and others. Each category includes multiple books, and each book comes with read-aloud versions and lesson plans.
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Classroom Strategies
Summary: Resource library on building core social emotional skills, including relationship building, self-regulation, and communication. Resources under each strategy may include videos, podcasts, and brief downloadable/printable guides.
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Five Anti-Bias Education Strategies for Early Childhood Classrooms
Summary: Strategies that include incorporating activities that share and celebrate differences, using diverse books and stories, preventing and addressing microaggressions, exploring real-life stories about social justice, and providing children with opportunities to discuss bias.
Source: Public Broadcasting System Southern California
Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments
Summary: Free for providers. Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the social emotional assessment opens a suite of planning, learning, professional development, and implementation tools to understand further what the best practices are and how to make them happen in your child care.
Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)
Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books
Summary: Nine tips for screening books for age-appropriate, anti-bias education. The article includes additional resources at the end, including a link to an early childhood anti-bias book list.
Source: Social Justice Books
Practical Strategies for Teachers and Caregivers
Summary: Toddler and preschool-appropriate downloadable resources that include social emotional skill reinforcement materials, scripted stories for different social situations, relationship building tools for caregivers, a book list, activity guides around popular children’s books that provide hands-on ways to embed social emotional skill building activities into everyday routines, and more.
Source: Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
Social Problem Solving - Preschoolers
Summary: Tools for teaching problem solving in advance, as well as supporting it in the moment of conflict. Scroll down for video lessons, or further still for printable resources such as a child care provider guide (linked to visual cue cards and other teaching tools) and a family guide (English and Spanish).
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Teaching Social-Emotional Skills Classroom Strategies
Summary: Practical printable and video tools outlining strategies for both providers and parents to help young children build specific social emotional skills (such as problem solving, friendship building, and behavior regulation). Also find resources specific to infant-toddler classrooms and family home providers. Find scripted stories and “book nook” lesson plans under “Practical Strategies,” as well as recommended books under the “Children’s Books” section.
“The program’s indoor and outdoor play spaces are designed to promote social emotional learning.”
Key Elements of High-Quality Early Childhood Learning Environments: Preschool (Ages 3-5)
Summary: Concise lists describe how to design indoor and outdoor learning environments to achieve five key elements of high-quality, intentional education.
Source: Michigan Department of Education
Learning Activity Designing Environments
Summary: Template for matching classroom content to learning goals and interests, such as social emotional learning.
Source: National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning
Learning Outdoors in the Early Years: A Resource Book
Summary: Find a comprehensive list of outdoor play learning set-ups that support multiple areas of learning, including social emotional.
Source: Foundation Stage
Tips for Teachers: Designing Environments
Summary: Simple guide to designing environments to optimize physical space, classroom content, and groupings of children.
Source: National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning
Tips for Teachers: Dual Language Learners
Summary: Classroom management strategies that support dual language learnings. These touch upon how to create clear classroom schedules and transitions, group students, and design classrooms to promote language development.
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