Learn How Comics Can Reflect Life

Take the heartwarming messages of the Peanuts treasury and easily implement them into a classroom discussion about emotional intelligence. With this free printable social-emotional learning activity, students will have the chance to express themselves artistically and emotionally, all while learning how to craft a good story. First, encourage students to think deeply about impactful events in their lives and how they reacted to them. Happy or sad, big or small, make your classroom a safe space to think and talk about how to handle the tricky emotions that can accompany these kinds of events. Once they have an event in mind, they can follow the short, easy-to-follow instructions on this printable sheet to recreate the moment in comic form.

Complete with a helpful example straight from the hand of legendary Charles Schulz, middle-grade fans of the AMP Kids Peanuts series will love the opportunity to try their hand at the same craft. Charlie Brown and his friends are always there for one another, setting a great example for readers of all ages. Lucy may tease Charlie, Linus may never return Sally’s romantic affection, and not all of Snoopy’s crazy schemes will work. At the end of the day, though, it doesn’t matter! These friends will help each other through it. Be sure to revisit this idea as your students work on illustrating life’s big moments. It can be challenging to teach emotional maturity to younger readers, but this social-emotional learning activity makes it easy.