Your May SEL Calendar: Changemaker Month
- Kikori Team
- Apr 13
- 6 min read
Updated: May 3
Turn Ideas into Action
There’s something about May. You can feel it in the classroom - the energy shifts. Students are ready for something more. More voice, more ownership, more meaning in what they’re doing each day.
This month, we’re leaning into that! This May becomes an opportunity for students to step into being changemakers to notice what matters, share their ideas, and actually try something that could make their classroom or school a little better.
At the heart of it is a simple, student-friendly version of the design thinking process—the same process used by designers, innovators, and problem-solvers to bring ideas to life:
Each week follows a clear arc:
🌱 Find what matters (Empathize & Define - What do we actually care about?)
💡 Build your idea (Ideate - What could we do about it?)
🛠️ Make it work (Prototype - How would this actually happen?)
🚀 Bring it to life (Test - Try it, learn from it, improve it)
By the end of the month, students will have:
👉 identified a real problem
👉 developed and refined an idea
👉 tested it in real life
👉 reflected and made it better
Each day is anchored in a National Day (yes—Paper Airplane Day, Burger Day, Composting Day 👀), used as real-world entry points into the design process.
Think:
testing ideas by building and flying paper airplanes
planning ahead using the logic behind sunscreen
designing something that actually works for people (Burger Day is a favorite)
turning what didn’t work into something better through composting
We’ve also included a simple Changemaker Project Tracker, so students can see their progress each week and stay grounded in what they’re creating.
This month isn’t about perfection.
It’s about helping students experience what it feels like to try something that matters, adjust when it doesn’t go perfectly, and realize they can actually make an impact
Everything is organized week-by-week, with slides and activities ready to go—so you can simply click and lead. Let’s make May one where students don’t just learn - they design, build, and bring something to life. 🌿
Ready to get started?
May SEL Calendar + 1st Week FREE!
Go to the National Day activity
Click Slides under Materials
Hit play - ready to go, no prep needed!
2️⃣ Download Kikori’s May SEL Calendar
Click into your grade-level Calendar
👉 PK-K | 1st-2nd | 3rd-5th | Middle School | High School
Follow the built-in instructions, materials, and reflection prompts
This May, let’s turn ideas into action and help students reconnect—with purpose, with each other, and with their ability to make a difference. 🚀✨
🌱 What is the Kikori Experiential Connection (SEL) Calendar?
The Kikori SEL Calendar is a research-based tool designed to help PreK-5 students grow their social-emotional skills in meaningful and joyful ways. Aligned with CASEL’s core competencies and built around Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, the calendar features daily activities connected to national days, monthly themes, and reflection prompts that support self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship-building, and more. Each month offers four learning intentions tailored to different grade levels, making it easy for educators to integrate SEL into their daily routines—no extra prep required!
Explore the May SEL Calendar
Morning Meetings & Advisory marked with a ⭐ are available for free!
🌸 May Week 1: Empathize
SEL Focus: Self-awareness | Self-confidence
“What do I care about—and how could I make our school better?”
Mon, May 4: Anti-Bullying Day 💗
Tues, May 5: Teacher Appreciation Day 🍎
Wed, May 6: School Nurse Day 🩺
Thurs, May 7: Nat'l Children's Mental Health Awareness Day 🧠
Fri, May 8: School Communicators Day 📣
🌼 May Week 2: Define
SEL Focus: Self-management | Goal-setting
“What is our clear SMART goal to improve our school?”
Tues, May 12: Nat'l Limerick Day ✍️
Wed, May 13: Fair Trade Day 🌍
Thurs, May 14: Nat'l Decency Day 🤝
Fri, May 15: Int'l Family Day 👨👩👧👦
🌿 May Week 3: Ideate
SEL Focus: Social Awareness | Respect for Others
“How can we use everyone’s ideas to make our project better?”
Mon, May 18: Int'l Museum Day 🏛️ & Speech Pathologist Day 🗣️
Tues, May 19: Plant Something Day 🌱
Wed, May 20: World Bee Day 🐝
Thurs, May 21: World Meditation Day 🧘
Fri, May 22: Int'l Day for Biological Diversity 🌎
🌞 May Week 4: Prototype & Test
SEL Focus: Relationship-building | Leadership & Followership
“How can we lead, work together, and bring our idea to life?”
Mon, May 25: Memorial Day 🇺🇸
Wed, May 27: Nat'l Sunscreen Day ☀️
Thurs, May 28: Int'l Burger Day 🍔
Friday, May 29: Learn About Composting Day ♻️
Here’s what you’ll love about the Kikori May SEL Calendar:
SEL activities to increase connection to self, others, and the planet!
Proven SEL activities help students build students’ sense of CONNECTION!
Easy to FIND and USE during Morning Meetings, Advisory Sessions, and more!
Relevant and FUN National day themes and activities!
SEL Standards-aligned and simple to integrate into lesson plans!
How to Use the May SEL Calendar
Download Kikori through Apple, Android or Desktop for free! Each of the activities for the calendar are available within the Kikori platform along with 600+ more experiential activities.
BONUS: We understand how important SEL frameworks are so we've aligned each activity with CASEL's Social Emotional Learning standards and 21st Century Skills to make finding the RIGHT activity for your youth easier than ever!
What are the Kikori daily themes?
Each day, the SEL Calendar provides you with an activity focused on the following daily Kikori themes:
Mindful Monday activities include meditations, visualizations and mindfulness
Together Tuesday activities involve team building and initiatives that build trust
Wellness Wednesday activities focus on ways to build physical and emotional health
Thoughtful Thursday activities use problem solving and reflection to help grow inward
Fun Friday activities are energizing activities that reinforce the importance of joy
How does Kikori ensure these activities build social emotional skills like self-awareness and relationship skills?
Each activity provides you with instructions that follow the experiential learning cycle. This means the activities help youth actively engage and then provides reflection questions related to the activity.
These questions help youth reflect and build self- and social-awareness (what happened during the activity?), make meaningful connections to their own lives (how did what happened during the activity connect to other experiences?), and engage in personal growth (what are they going to take from this activity into their lives?)
And the National Day Activities?
Here at Kikori, we think it's important to educate our students on important days of the year and learn what they stand for. To make team building in the classroom or at youth development programs MEANINGFUL, we've included a special National Holiday for every day and a corresponding team building activity. We did our homework to find the best days for kids to celebrate!
Burger Day for design thinking is not something I expected to read today LOLOL... @TAG game
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