Anger Triggers for Children: Stormy Triggers Activity

Help children understand what can trigger their anger.

This anger triggers for children activity gives pupils a visual way to explore the situations, experiences and events that can make them feel angry, frustrated, cross or annoyed.

The Stormy Triggers for Anger resource encourages children to think about their own individual anger triggers and recognise the things that can cause their feelings to build. This can be a useful first step in helping children understand their emotional responses and notice patterns in situations that they find difficult.

Use the activity with an individual pupil or as part of a small-group session. Encourage children to think about the different things that can trigger anger and discuss how these may be different for everyone. A situation that feels manageable to one child may feel very difficult for another.

Once children have identified their triggers, you can extend the discussion by exploring what happens next. What do they notice in their body? What thoughts might they have? What do they feel like doing? What could help them when they recognise that their anger is beginning to build?

This resource can help children to:

• identify situations that can trigger anger
• develop greater awareness of their emotional responses
• recognise that everyone can have different triggers
• explore what happens when their anger begins to build
• develop vocabulary for talking about difficult feelings
• begin to think about strategies that may help them when they experience strong emotions.

The activity can also be a useful starting point for exploring anger, emotional regulation, frustration and coping strategies in greater depth.

A simple visual activity to help children understand their anger triggers and what happens when their feelings begin to build.

Download: Stormy triggers anger