Connecting Thoughts, Feelings, & Actions | CBT Counseling Activities & Lesson

Help elementary students understand how thoughts, feelings, and actions are all interconnected through scripted scenes, interactive sorting activities, and hands-on practice.

Teaching elementary students to understand how thoughts, feelings, and actions connect is necessary before engaging in any CBT-based work.

Without hands-on materials that make thinking visible, students struggle to distinguish between thoughts and feelings or to understand how their thinking influences their emotions and behavior. This makes it nearly impossible to move forward with spotting cognitive distortions or practicing positive self-talk strategies.

This Connecting Thoughts and Feelings Lesson gives you everything you need to teach the CBT cognitive model through engaging, developmentally appropriate activities that make abstract concepts concrete for elementary students.

With this resource, you'll be able to:

• Build essential CBT foundations without creating materials from scratch: Students need to understand the cognitive model before they can challenge negative thoughts, and this gives you all the materials to teach it effectively.
• Engage students through multiple learning modalities: Move beyond worksheet-only approaches with stories, hands-on sorting, and creative activities that keep elementary students actively involved and learning.
• Make invisible thinking processes concrete: Help students who think in concrete terms "see" how thoughts and feelings connect through the garden metaphor (weeds vs. flowers) and visual sorting
• Differentiate your approach based on student needs: Use the full session sequence or pull individual activities (stories, sorting, or craft) for targeted practice in the moment.

WHAT'S INCLUDED ✔️

1. 3-Step Counseling Session Plan with clear instructions for each activity.
2. 3 Scripted CBT Stories (5 minutes each): Word-for-word guidance using simple scenes where students identify how different people think and feel in the same situation, helping them differentiate thoughts from feelings.
3. What Are You Planting? Sorting Activity (10-15 minutes): Hands-on sorting activity where students differentiate positive and negative thoughts as "flower seeds" or "weed seeds," then predict the feelings and actions that grow from each.
4. Positive Thinking Grows Positive Action Craft OR Worksheet (10 minutes): Independent practice where students map out the thought-feeling-action connection for themselves, with both craft and worksheet versions included.

20+ pages | PDF format | Color and black & white versions included

HOW IT WORKS 📋

This resource follows an "I Do, We Do, You Do" gradual release model that scaffolds learning:

1. I Do: Introduce the concept — Use the scripted CBT stories to help students see how different thoughts about the same situation lead to different feelings and actions (15 minutes)
2. We Do: Practice together — Students work with you on the "What Are You Planting?" sorting activity, identifying positive and negative thoughts and predicting their outcomes (10-15 minutes)
3. You Do: Independent application — Students apply their learning through either the craft or worksheet activity, mapping out the thought-feeling-action connection for themselves (10 minutes)

All the activities can be used individually, too! The CBT stories make for great practice in perspective-taking. The sorting activity helps students understand the impact of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Use the flower craft or worksheet to check other outcomes.

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT ✨

• Complete "I Do, We Do, You Do" gradual release structure: Follows a proven instructional model that scaffolds learning from introduction through guided practice to independent application, not just random activities.
• Concrete metaphor that makes abstract concepts stick: The "weeds and flowers" metaphor gives students a memorable, visual way to understand positive vs. negative thinking.
• Scripted CBT stories for confident introduction: Word-for-word guidance for introducing the thought-feeling-action connection means you can focus on facilitating rather than figuring out explanations on the fly.
• Flexible implementation for real schedules: Use the complete 40-minute sequence OR pull the stories (5 min), the sorting (10-15 min), or the craft for your actual time constraints.
• Developmentally appropriate for elementary students: Makes abstract CBT concepts concrete, breaks learning into manageable steps, and keeps students actively engaged through interactive activities rather than relying on worksheets.

WAYS TO USE THIS RESOURCE 💡

• Small group counseling for CBT skill-building: Use the full session sequence with 3-5 students who are starting anxiety management, anger management, or positive thinking work to establish the foundational understanding they need.
• Individual counseling for students with negative thinking: Work one-on-one with a student who gets stuck in negative thought patterns but doesn't yet understand how their thoughts influence their feelings.
• Quick perspective-taking during teachable moments: Pull just the CBT stories (5 minutes each) when you need to help a student understand that others might view a situation differently. Perfect for friendship conflicts or social challenges.
• Recurring cognitive skills practice: Use just the sorting activity (10-15 minutes) across multiple sessions with students who need repeated exposure to identifying positive vs. negative thoughts.

🩷 PERFECT IF YOU ...

• Need to teach the CBT cognitive model, but don't have time to create concrete, hands-on activities from scratch.
• Work with elementary students who struggle to distinguish between thoughts and feelings or to understand abstract concepts.
• Want to establish CBT foundations before moving into cognitive restructuring or thought-challenging work.
• Need flexible materials you can use as a complete session or pull individual pieces based on time and student needs.

DETAILS 📑

• Grade Levels: Elementary (2-5)
• Group Size: Individual or small group
• Session Length: 30-40 minutes for whole lessons or 5-15 minutes each for individual activities
• Prep Time: Approximately 15 minutes (print and cut)
• Materials Needed: Writing utensils
• Format: PDF. Blank cards included to create your own scenarios.
• Pages: 20+
• Printing: Color and black-and-white versions included. No need to worry about color printing costs

WHAT OTHER COUNSELORS ARE SAYING ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Saved me so much time trying to make my own one! Really helpful for supporting understanding of how thoughts and feelings connect." — Dale F.

"Loved the interactive nature of helping students understand CBT concepts." — Judi D.

"Very helpful and easy introduction to CBT skills for a wide range of grades!" — Josie B.