Top Tools for Building Mindfulness in the Classroom

Sesame Street winner teaches kids how to keep calm and carry on

Bottom Line: Highly effective tool for whole-class instruction or one-on-one intervention.

Appealing videos inspire kids to move their bodies in new ways

Bottom Line: No-stress introduction to 12 yoga poses and the importance of good breathing captures kids' attention and gets them moving.

Shake up SEL lessons with music and movement

Bottom Line: Fun for students, easy for teachers, QuaverSEL uses the power of music to boost social and emotional learning.

Brief bursts of physical exercise add classroom fun, build brainpower

Bottom Line: In a genre of its own, GoNoodle is a ready-to-go, classroom-friendly exercise program that challenges students to get moving.

Relaxing and serene app helps incorporate peace into daily life

Bottom Line: If you're looking for a captivating app to teach relaxation and calming skills to students, Calm is an essential tool to add to your toolbox.

Abstract art creator is simple, striking, and stress free

Bottom Line: This art and SEL combo invites all students to play, focus, and create.

Care for a cute creature to practice mindfulness and self-control

Bottom Line: Meditation lessons and visual timers act as decent supplemental activities for introducing SEL skills.

Small brain breaks with global impact

Bottom Line: This site has a decent library of movement and mindfulness videos that give kids an energizing way to help themselves and some charities.

Calming program with cute characters helps center kids

Bottom Line: If you're someone who needs mindfulness-based approaches, Mind Yeti's characters could be the right fit.

Popular mindfulness app offers daily, guru-guided meditation practice

Bottom Line: This expert-guided SEL tool can help students -- and teachers -- build lifelong habits for relaxation, reflection, and focus.

Immediate help for teens struggling with harmful urges

Bottom Line: Powerful therapeutic tool teaches positive coping skills and mental wellness.

Quick and easy meditation practice for busy classroom lives

Bottom Line: This easy-to-follow meditation program can help reduce stress and support social and emotional learning.

Songs and activities help kids express, recognize, understand emotions

Bottom Line: Daniel Tiger and his friends present excellent examples for kids who are just learning healthy emotional expression.

Thorough, thoughtful multimedia social-emotional learning experience

Bottom Line: Important info for all kids is especially helpful for at-risk students.

Outstanding collection of original audio stories promotes SEL

Bottom Line: Must-have, free, comprehensive audio resource that promotes way more skills than sleep.

Complete multimedia SEL units in a neat and tidy package

Bottom Line: Detailed social and emotional learning lessons provide teachers with almost everything they'll need to spark positive character development and reflection in their students.

Activity-oriented video lessons encourage emotional exploration

Bottom Line: This detailed yet easy-to-implement curriculum can provide classrooms and schools with a common language for social skills.

Quirky game helps kids recognize and regulate anger in self and others

Bottom Line: If they can get through the confusing bits, students will be able to identify, label, and perhaps manage strong feelings of anger or frustration.

Strong learning approach to mastering SEL competencies

Bottom Line: Excellent program for teaching young kids emotion identification, regulation, and social relationships.

Research-based social game has terrific assessment potential

Bottom Line: A powerful and focused social problem-solving game designed to reach kids who need direct instruction.

Thought-provoking structured program simplifies SEL skills

Bottom Line: If teachers take advantage of the extension activities, students can get great in-depth instruction and practice in SEL skills needed for life.

Rewarding mental health game might kickstart positive habits

Bottom Line: This trustworthy app could be a playful supplement to a mental health curriculum, but might be challenging to implement in classrooms.

Quirky, fact-filled videos help adults answer tweens' sex-ed questions

Bottom Line: This approachable and contemporary content can help teachers and caregivers field tough questions, but the firmly progressive approach could prevent use.

Realistic comic book-style stories help build healthy relationships

Bottom Line: A valuable series of modules to get kids thinking about how their choices help build strong character.

An avant-garde journey of group dynamics sparks discussion

Bottom Line: An unusual app that will confuse and entertain classrooms, generating discussion on a number of societal and philosophical topics.

Well-designed tool encourages kids to reflect on and manage emotions

Bottom Line: Appealing, thought-provoking tool builds emotional intelligence.

Uplifting one-stop shop for social and emotional learning resources

Bottom Line: inspirED delivers exactly what it claims: empowering, easy-to-search content for social and emotional learning.

Insightful, minimalist app gets students tracking emotions and values

Bottom Line: A practical tool to use in combination with discussion about emotional intelligence and character development.

Real-time participation tracker shows who's talking

Bottom Line: If used delicately, this is a potentially eye-opening tool that can help teachers modify discussions.

Cool assessment targets kids' strengths; sprawling content overwhelms

Bottom Line: A great starting point for conversations about students' strengths; skip some of the digital content.

Compact process for positive praise builds classroom community

Bottom Line: Great for a quick bonding activity when led by a positive instructor.

Unique take on self-exploration relies on prompts to guide reflection

Bottom Line: With plenty of ways to express and document their thoughts and more, this app can help students learn something new about themselves.

Expert feedback and tools designed for individual learner profiles

Bottom Line: This impressive tool uses normed digital assessments to create a specific learning profile and provide authentic tools for individual learners.

Messaging tool helps classrooms forge and foster meaningful dialogue

Bottom Line: This tool opens up avenues for conversation and relationship building between teachers and students.

Cultivate a growth mindset with reflective, student-driven learning

Bottom Line: If developing a growth mindset is an important part of your teaching practice, this is a solid choice.

Pose questions, spark thoughtful video responses with stellar tool

Bottom Line: This accessible, approachable tool offers connection, multiple means of expression, and creativity to apply to almost any topic.

Individualized STEM career exploration targets students' values

Bottom Line: Students identify career values and use them to evaluate STEM options.

Robust personality survey for students results in real-world insights

Bottom Line: For educators who have the time, drive, and buy-in, this program is a great data-analysis and character-development tool.

Sifts through daily news content to offer a deep dive on hot topics

Bottom Line: Sift can supplement students' study of a few hot-button topics -- and open up a conversation about media balance -- but it's lacking some learner supports.