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Simple Back-to-School Gift Ideas: Sharing Optimism & All Your Favorite Feelings

back-to-school feelings kimochis social emotional learning Jul 27, 2022

Simple Back-to-School Gift Ideas: Sharing Optimism & All Your Favorite Feelings

by Katie Raher, PhD, PPS

While last year was rough and I have done and continue to do a lot to feel into all the hard-to-have feelings that have come up, I'm also holding onto my optimism and sharing it with the teachers at my school through some fun and simple back-to-school love notes.

As a Kimochis Certified Trainer and lover of all things Kimochis, I had fun sprinkling Kimochis into my love notes this year. If creating cute little love notes to start off the school year is your jam too, you might enjoy using my template for a simple back-to-school gift and other ideas below. These can all be adapted to be shared with colleagues, students, or families.

And... if this isn't your jam and simply showing up as authentically you without any ounce of this sort of thing feels more aligned, I celebrate that too!! (For whoever is reading this - no matter if you like to give out cute notes, are feeling the optimistic vibes, or not, please give yourself full permission to feel into your current experience and prioritize some self-love. If you want some simple inspiration and ideas to help you do that, reading about Adding YOU to that New Planner of Yours might be just the thing for you.)

Now, for those of you who are interested in some simple Kimochis-inspired gifts that will take you no more than 10 minutes tops, you can grab this template to spread optimism. (and subscribe here so you never miss any free content on SEL and SELf-care).

Then add your name, make as many copies as you need, cut them up with good old fashioned scissors or a paper cutter, highlight the "bright," pop on a highlighter, and bam - you're ready to go!

If sharing optimism doesn't feel like quite the right fit, yet you still want to share some of your other favorite feelings, you can also grab some Free Kimochis Feeling Flashcards in English or several other languages and design whatever you heart desires. Simply print out the page that has the feeling(s) you want to use, cut it/them out and pop a few on a page, add your note and name, make some copies, cut them up, and voila!

Here are some love note ideas to inspire you:

  • LOVED feeling: Sharing my love as we kick off another school year.
  • HOPEFUL feeling: I'm feeling hopeful that we are all going to grow and learn so much together.
  • FRIENDLY feeling: I wanted you to know how very welcome you are in this class.
  • EXCITED feeling: I'm so excited to have you in my class. 
  • KIND feeling: A kind classroom is heading your way!
  • BRAVE feeling: Let's bravely explore new learning together.
  • HAPPY: It makes me so happy to be able to support you.

The possibilities are endless. Drop your ideas and what you're going to use in the comments below, so we can tap into our collective wisdom!

On top of using these feeling flashcards for simple love notes, these flashcards in general can be so powerful in helping you do feeling check-ins and supporting so much other social emotional learning all year long.

Have fun using these amazing resources and spreading all your favorite feelings to all your people!

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