Teaching Kids to Tame Negative Thinking
You can teach students how to challenge negative thinking with simple step by step activities that help them develop realistic thinking.
ReadAbout This Resource
Teach students to tackle negative thinking using flexible CBT-based activities that work in groups, individual sessions, or as standalone practice.
Negative thinking, defeatist mindsets, and discouraging self-talk are common among all students, especially those referred for counseling. You know using a CBT approach is effective, but you need flexible, engaging materials you can actually use without a scripted manual or turning your office into a therapy session. Most resources are either too rigid or too simplistic.
This comprehensive resource gives you everything you need to help students identify unhelpful thoughts, understand their impact, and develop healthier thinking patterns, using a developmentally appropriate Catch, Check, Challenge, Change framework.
With this resource, you'll be able to:
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Build student awareness through hands-on, interactive activities, such as flip cards that physically transform negative thoughts into positive ones and flowcharts that let students rearrange the thought-feeling-action connection.
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Address the root cause across multiple presenting problems. Use one resource to tackle the negative thinking that shows up in anxiety, behavior issues, low motivation, and friendship struggles.
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Implement CBT concepts without extensive training. Clear guidance and ready-to-use materials translate CBT theory into practical application.
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Adapt to your time constraints and session structure. Use the session plans as written, pull individual activities, or extend the work over multiple sessions.
✔️ WHAT'S INCLUDED
Session Plans & Guidance
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4 Flexible Session Plans
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2 Scripts to Explain Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions
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Comprehensive Thought Traps Guide: which distortions to teach first, which concepts go together, and detailed information for each of the 15 cognitive distortions.
Interactive Counseling Activities
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Thought Feeling Sort: A card-sorting activity (40 thought cards, 40 feeling cards) where students practice identifying and categorizing thoughts versus feelings.
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Thought, Feeling, Action Fill-In: Students explore how one situation can lead to different thoughts, feelings, and actions and how changes in thoughts or feelings affect how we act (4 scenarios plus a blank template).
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Flip It Positive: An interactive folding activity (15 worksheets) where students physically "flip" from negative thought patterns to more balanced, helpful ones by cutting and folding the paper to reveal space for alternative responses.
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Same Situation, Different Thinking: Visual flowcharts (10 total) that present a single situation with three different pathways, each leading to different thoughts, feelings, and actions. Students explore how the same situation can yield completely different outcomes depending on how we think about it.
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Spot the Thought Traps: Students practice recognizing negative thinking patterns by diving into 90 scenario cards, exploring situations and negative thoughts to identify and discuss cognitive distortions (thought traps).
Supplemental Materials & Student Tools
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Thought Feeling Action Posters
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Thought Trap Cycle Poster
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Catch - Check - Challenge - Change Poster
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Thought Traps Poster showing 15 cognitive distortions with illustrated characters
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15 Thought Traps Cards: individual cards with student-friendly definitions, relatable examples, and illustrated characters
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27 Strategy Cards: practical techniques for checking, challenging, and changing negative thinking patterns
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Unhelpful Thinking Survey: short and extended versions
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Thought Record: simple one-page tool to record feelings and thoughts
Over 150 pages | PDF format | Black & white printing options provided
📋 HOW IT WORKS
These materials can be used sequentially or individually based on student needs:
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Start with awareness: Use scripts and posters to help students understand the thought-feeling-action connection
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Build recognition skills: Introduce cognitive distortions using kid-friendly terms, illustrated characters, and the Thought Traps materials
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Practice with scenarios: Use interactive activities (sorting, flowcharts, scenario cards) to help students identify thinking patterns
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Teach challenge strategies: Introduce the 27 strategy cards and practice with Flip It Positive activities
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Support ongoing practice: Provide thought journals and surveys for students to monitor and track their progress
Follow the 4-session plans for structured implementation, or pull individual activities as needed for ongoing counseling work.
✨ WHY THIS RESOURCE
This toolkit offers:
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Comprehensive but modular system: You get everything you need (psychoeducation, practice activities, monitoring tools, session plans) but can use pieces independently based on student needs.
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All 15 cognitive distortions in kid-friendly language: Each thinking trap includes student-friendly definitions, relatable examples, and illustrated characters that make clinical CBT concepts accessible and engaging for upper elementary students.
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True flexibility: Use it three ways! Follow the 4 sample session plans, pull individual activities as needed, or integrate activities into your existing CBT work. Whatever fits your schedule and student needs.
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Interactive activities, not passive worksheets: Students physically flip cards, rearrange flowcharts, and sort scenario cards.
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Use it again and again: Once you print and prep, these materials become go-to tools you'll reach for repeatedly with different students, in various settings, throughout the year. The prep-to-use ratio is excellent.
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Extensive activity directions with built-in support: Each activity includes intro scripts, discussion prompts, ways to extend the learning, and alternative applications. Plus, the comprehensive Thought Traps Guide explains which distortions to teach first and how concepts connect
💡 WAYS TO USE THIS RESOURCE
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Short-term individual counseling series: Use the 4-session plans as an intervention for students struggling with negative self-talk, anxiety, or low confidence. It's a systematic way to teach the Catch-Check-Challenge-Change framework.
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Small group activities focused on developing positive self-talk: Run a small group using the session plans as your foundation, then extend with additional activities based on what the group needs most practice with.
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Supplement ongoing individual counseling: Pull individual activities to support your work with students you see regularly. Use Flip It Positive when a student is stuck in all-or-nothing thinking, or Spot the Thought Traps to practice recognizing patterns.
🩷 PERFECT IF YOU ...
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Want to use CBT approaches but need flexible, engaging materials you can use without following a technical manual.
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Work with students whose negative thinking shows up across anxiety, behavior issues, low motivation, and friendship struggles.
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Need activities that can stand alone OR be used as part of structured session plans.
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Want materials you can use repeatedly across different students and groups throughout the year.
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Are looking for interactive, hands-on activities that engage students beyond passive worksheets.
📑 DETAILS
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Grade Levels: 3-7
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Group Size: Individual and small group sessions
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Session Length: 4 example session plans, each about 30 minutes; materials can be used repeatedly and integrated with other CBT work
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Prep: Print and cut, no difficult assembly
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Materials Needed: Cardstock for printing posters and cards, writing utensils; optional: keyrings for organizing cards
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Format: PDF (150+ pages: 100 pages core materials + 65 pages supplemental materials)
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Printing: Black & white options provided for all color materials
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Theoretical Foundation: CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
👍 MORE CBT RESOURCES YOU'LL LOVE
Looking for more CBT tools? Check out these related resources:
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CBT Bundle for School Counseling - SAVE when you get multiple resources together
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Thought Detective Agency Game - counseling game to teaching cognitive reframing
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
I LOVE THIS RESOURCE. It provided a visual understanding to what was going on in my students minds and allowed them to have actual strategies to help move past negative thinking. - Brette K.
This is a great resource to help students better understand and navigate negative thoughts they might be feeling. We were able to really recognize and discuss what we are sometimes feeling. Excellent resource. - Sanya G.
I've used this product to help a student go beyond just being a "flexible thinker" but clearly identify which thinking error is taking place. It's a great, quality product that launches valuable discussions. - Social SLP
Used this with my 7th and 8th grade anxiety groups. Students really connected to the types of thoughts and the clear strategies for replacing them. - Nicole D.
