Ideas for Teaching Children about Emotions

Daily Ideas

 Make different emotion faces and have children guess what you might be feeling.
 Throughout the day, help children learn to label their own emotions (e.g., it looks like you are
feeling mad that we can't go outside; what can we do to help you feel better?)
 While reading stories to children, have children guess how the characters in the story are
feeling. Ask questions like “How can you tell that the character is feeling that way? Can you
make a face that shows that feeling?”
 During mealtime, tell children about a situation that makes you feel a particular emotion (e.g.,
happy, sad, frustrated, angry, jealous, etc.). Then ask children to share the things that make
them feel that same emotion.
 Make up silly songs about different emotions, using any tune. For example (to row row your
boat) — I feel happy when I play outside. Let me show you my happy face (everyone makes a
happy face together). I feel angry when someone takes my toy. Let me show you my angry
face (everyone make an angry face together).I feel scared when I hear a loud noise. Let me
show my scared face (everyone make a scared face together).
 Use puppets to act out different situations (e.g., one puppet takes a toy from another puppet);
ask the children what emotion(s) the puppets might be feeling (have them choose from
pictures of children making different emotions). After labeling the emotions, have children
practice making the emotion with their own faces. Then ask what the puppet should do next to
help when feeling the emotion. Have the puppet model coping with the emotion.
 Play an emotion walking game while outside. Ring a bell and have everyone walk around the
playground like they are sad. Ring the bell again and have the children walk like they are
mad. Repeat the activity until you have practiced several emotions.
 Sing an Emotion Hello Song to start the day. Start with "Hello, Hello, Hello and how are you?
I'm fine, I'm fine, and I hope that you are too." Ask the children to volunteer other ways they
could feel and/or have pictures of feeling faces to choose from. Sing the song with that
emotion in your expressions, voice, and actions.
 In any storybook you are reading, ask children to identify how the characters are feeling. They
don't have to be "emotion books." Even familiar stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears
has lots of opportunities to talk about emotions (disappointed they have to wait for the
porridge to cool, curious what the beds feel like, surprised to see Goldilocks, scared to see
the bears...).
 Frequently direct children to look at each other's faces and think about how they are feeling.
This should happen not only when children are expressing sad or angry emotions, but also
happy, excited, etc. "Desiree, look at your friend Grayson's face! He is so happy that you
gave him some play dough!" Share your own emotions. At meal times, talk about something
that happended in your life that made you feel frustrated, sad, happy or scared. Talk about
what you did to feel better. "I was at the store yesterday and somebody got in front of me in
line! I was so frustrated.... have you ever felt that way”
 Play an emotion guessing game. Take a piece of paper or small blanket and hold it in front of
your face. Slowly lower it down to reveal your face showing an emotion. Children guess the
emotion you are feeling, and then show everyone their face with that same emotion. Then,
talk about what might make you feel this way.
 Change familiar songs (Twinkle, Twinkle, your classroom weather song, or Happy Birthday
work great) by singing it with a different emotion. Have a child pick which way they want to
sing the song (in a sad voice, in a silly voice, in a frustrated voice, in a bored voice). It takes
some creativity, but is really fun!
 Model the silliest face you can make and have the children participate as well.
 As children come in for the day have them say how they are feeling. Ask the rest of the class
for appropriate ways to respond to their feelings. For example, if a child says they are happy,
a friend could give them a high five. If a child says they are shy, a friend could hold their hand
during circle.
 While reading books have the children raise their hands when they can tell how the
characters are feeling. Then have them act out those feelings or make faces that correspond
with the feelings as you read the book. For example, maybe the mom in the story is feeling
frustrated, all the kids can make frustrated faces until she lightens her mood and is happy and
then they will change their faces as well. This is a neat activity because we kind of do this
naturally with wrinkling of the brow and laughter. If you have kids do this everyday as a part of
the story routine, it will become more and more natural.
 Have a “feeling face” snack time! Pull a feeling face and ask kids to eat snack showing the
matching emotion. For example, during “sad snack” kids might eat while frowning and
pretending to cry. This can facilitate some great conversations about how our friends look
when feeling these emotions and what might make them feel that way.
 At recess play Feelings Ring Around the Rosie. Have each child take a turn choosing an
emotion and the sing the song and act it out using those emotions. Change the end action to
match the emotion. Instead of “all fall down”, for angry say “take a deep breath” or for excited
say, “all shout HOORAY!”
 At the end of the day, have a debriefing session when each child gets to express an emotion
they had during the day. Give them a prompted sentence to work with such as "Today, I felt
________ when ________ happened." As kids get onto the bus or into cars with their parents
encourage them to tell the caregiver their emotion sentence, which will hopefully encourage
discussion on the way home. Give the child a picture of a feeling face to help them remember.
 Join in play in the pretend area and start conversations about how the imaginary characters
they are acting out feel. Help them to make their characters even more real by giving them
emotions and acting those out.
 Communicate on eye level with all children and show them how your face looks when you feel
different emotions. For example, you might say, “ I'm feeling sad because my friends weren't
listening to me when it was my turn to talk, see how my mouth and eyes turn down and I got
really quiet.”
 Praise children specifically when they use emotion words to talk to their friends or teachers.
Explain to them and nearby peers how using emotions words helps those people around
them to know exactly how they are feeling which is why you are so proud of them.
 Always use emotion words when talking to other teachers and other children. Use any
examples of what is going on in your life to teach the kids how you are responding to
emotions. Have children look in mirror and practice making mad/sad/happy faces. Provide
small individual mirrors for each child to use at large or small group.
 Say the silliest sentence you can think of without laughing. Have the children do the same
and see who can say the longest sentence without laughing.
 Make an excited face and explain to the children the facial features that would indicate you
are excited. Have the children make an excited face after you have modeled the expression.
 Sing when you're happy and you know it with verses using happy, mad, sad, excited, scared
etc. Include the actions you might do when you are feeling each emotion. For example, “If
you're mad and you know it, scrunch your face, give a growl, cross your arms, etc.” Have
children generate different ideas. Have each child look in the mirror when they arrive. Label
what emotion you think they are feeling by describing the facial features of that emotion.
 At lunch, tell the children what is your favorite food and why. They ask them what their
favorite food is and why.
 Mirror Faces: Have children line up in pairs that face each other. One child pretends he is
looking in the mirror and makes an emotion face. The other child acts like the reflection and
copies the emotion with his/her own face.
 Include emotion words in your discussion of letters and letter sounds. For example: What
emotion words start with /s/? Sad, Sulky, Surprised, Silly, etc.
 Visit the home living center today and talk about how the children's characters feel. For
example, “Dinner fell on the floor. I bet you are so frustrated! Let me help you.” Or “You look
so excited about being a waitress.” “My food is cold. I'm getting a little angry.”
 Look in the mirror together. Help the child describe him/herself, and you.
 Transition children out of a large-group activity by asking them to make an emotion face
("Carmen, show me a sad face. Great! You may walk to the door." )
 During mealtime, tell children about a situation that makes you feel a particular emotion (e.g.,
happy, sad, frustrated, angry, jealous, etc.) Then ask children to share the things that make
them feel that same emotion.
  Share your own emotions. At meal times, talk about something that happended in your life
that made you feel frustrated, sad, happy and scared. Talk about what you did to feel better. "I
was at the store yesterday and somebody got in front of me in line! I was so frustrated.... have
you ever felt that way?"
 Call out emotions and have the children show you the emotion. Adapt songs like "If You're
Happy and You Know It" to include a variety of emotions--surprised, tired, shy, angry--to help
children practice the faces and vocabulary.
 While children wait on the carpet for the rest of the class to finish cleaning up, play a game
like charades. The teacher will whisper an emotion in the child's ear who will then act out
something that makes him/her feel that way. The rest of the children should guess what the
emotion is.
 When discussing new seasons, discuss certain things that occur in that particular season that
make the children feel a certain way. For example, "Summer makes me excited because it is
warm outside and I get to go to the pool. But summer also makes me sad because I miss my
friends from school during the summer."
 Pretend play is a great place to talk about emotions. Jump into their play and use emotions to
talk about the stories they are creating! (" It's time for a birthday party - I'm so excited, are you
excited?", "Daddy has to go to work, I'm so sad!")
 Circle time: make a list of who feels happy, sad, lonely, etc and ask the child to share why
they feel that way
 At art: children draw faces and label the people's emotions
 Tell children to choose a feeling such as happy, mad, sad, surprised etc. and let the children
draw picture of a time they felt that way
 Use different colors for different feelings: for example red for mad feeling, let the children
draw something that makes them feel mad
 Make different emotion faces and have children guess what you might be feeling.
 Listen to different types of music during Music and Movement. Talk about what kind of things
the music reminds them of or how it makes them feel.
 Throughout the day, model labeling your own emotions (e.g., I feel frustrated because I
cannot open this jar of paint).
 Throughout the day, help children learn to label their own emotions (e.g., it looks like you are
feeling mad that we can't go outside; what can we do to help you feel better?)
 While reading stories to children, have children guess how the characters in the story are
feeling. How can children tell that the characters are feeling that way? Can the children make
a face that shows that feeling?
 Make up silly songs about different emotions, using any tune. For example (to row row your
boat) — I feel happy when I play outside. Let me show you my happy face (everyone makes a
happy face together). I feel angry when someone takes my toy. Let me show you my angry
face (everyone make an angry face together). I feel scared when I hear a loud noise. Let me
show my scared face (everyone make a scared face together).

Weekly Ideas

 During sensory play (e.g., sand, shaving cream), have children draw what a happy, sad,
frustrated, etc. face looks like.
 Have children identify how they are feeling (e.g., put their name tag on the emotion face that
describes how they feel or pointing to picture of emotion face that describes how they feel)
when they arrive at school.
 Children can make their own puppets out of paper bags, making different emotion faces on
each puppet. The puppets can be used during dramatic play or during a circle time activity to
talk about or act out different emotions.
 Draw or take pictures of happy and sad faces; let the children match or sort the faces
 During art, make paper plate feeling faces. Use skin tone paint and lots of collage materials
so children can create different feeling faces. Hang all of the emotion faces the children make
on the wall and pair with real photographs of the children in your class expressing the same
emotions.
  If you write a newsletter or notes to parents, incorporate the emotion words the children have
been practicing or have identified during the day into the note. This may help to encourage
discussion of emotion words in the home setting as well.
 Make the CSEFEL feeling faces (or your own paper plate creations) into masks by cutting out
eyes and placing them on a popscicle stick. Have them in the book center for children to act
out stories. Be sure to have a mirror there so children can see how they look!
 Take pictures of the children making different emotion faces and make different posters for
each emotion.
 Take pictures of the children making an emotion face (let them choose) and make a fun class
book. Each page has a child's picture with the top half of the face covered by a paper flap.
The text says, "Who is this scared boy?" Under the flap, write "It's Greg! He is showing us his
scared face."
 For a math activity, create happy and sad faces, let the children create patterns with those
faces
 Listen to some different types of music such as rock music, classic etc., let the children dance
to the music, ask children how the song made the children feel
 Let children cut out people from magazine showing different emotions, let children sort them
based on the emotions
 Emotion Password: Hang an emotion face card on the door jam. In order to pass through,
children have to make that face.
 Play a “Mystery Emotion” game. Put an emotion face card in an envelope without showing the
children. Act out that emotion, and encourage children to guess what Mystery Emotion is
hiding in the envelope
 Build excitement for a special snack or a meal. Talk about how “excited” you are about a
special treat at lunch today. Act “surprised” when you see the treat and talk about your
feelings.
 When eating small snacks like raisins or Cheerios, let children arrange the raisins or Cheerios
so they look like “emotion faces” before eating it. Happy, sad, surprised are all easy faces to
try.
 Use emotion faces for patterning on your calendar. Draw a face on each number card and
help children identify the pattern.
 During art, have children use glue to draw a face displaying a particular emotion. Pour sand
or glitter on the drawing.

Home Ideas

 Throughout your routines, model labeling your own emotions (e.g., “I feel frustrated because I
cannot open this jar of pickles!”).
 Use meals and routines at the end of the day as a time to discuss the day with your children.
Talk about events during the day that made you happy, times when you were frustrated and
work you did that made you proud of yourself. Ask the children to share their experiences.
 Throughout the day, help children learn to label their own emotions (e.g., it looks like you are
feeling mad that we can't go outside; what can we do to help you feel better?)
 While reading stories to children, have children guess how the characters in the story are
feeling. How can children tell that the characters are feeling that way? Can the children make
a face that shows that feeling?
 During bathroom routines, have children look in mirror and practice making mad/sad/happy
faces
 When children are doing art activities, ask them to draw people displaying certain emotions.
Have them come up with a reason why those people could be feeling that particular way.
 In the morning, discuss things you are excited about for the upcoming day.
 During mealtime, tell children about a situation that makes you feel a particular emotion (e.g.,
happy, sad, frustrated, angry, jealous, etc.) Then ask children to share the things that make
them feel that same emotion.
 Add more complicated emotion words to daily talk as children start to understand the basic
emotions. Some appropriate examples are “proud,” “disappointed,” “embarrassed,”
“surprised,” and many others.
  Have a special snack where you give children raisin or cheerios and have them make as
many emotion faces as they can with the food. After, they get to eat a fun, nutritious snack.

Game Cards: Feelings

Play with your students with this set of vocabulary game cards about emotions.

Numerous studies have shown the importance and positive impact of games on learning. After all, you
know your students love playing in their free time, be it video, mobile or tabletop games. This is why
by incorporating games in your classroom you can help your learners develop a positive relationship
with the language and English lessons. While working with games, the teacher’s role changes from an
instructor to a guide. This helps you to reduce teacher talking time and make the students the centre
of the lesson.

Try this game with your students using our Feelings Game Cards!!!

 How are you today? (All levels; practice pronouns + verb to be, speaking skills, why/because)
 Divide the class into pairs and give a set of cards to each pair. Ask students to place the
cards down randomly.
 Student B should ask How are you feeling today?
 Student A takes a card and mimes the chosen feeling without saying the word.
 Student B should guess and say the feeling aloud, e. g., sad
 Then Student B should ask, Why are you feeling [sad] today?
 Student A has to give a creative answer. Encourage students to use Why/Because sentences
 Then swap places to play several rounds.

Play as many rounds as possible and correct possible mistakes at the end, anonimously if possible (I
heard someone say...)

When working with games, let loose your creativity to build a motivating environment in your
classroom. Remember that emotions are an important part of the learning process! Enjoy this material
with your class and let us know how you liked it!
Teach students to identify their emotions

Identifying and labeling feelings (your own and others’) is a valuable life skill that takes lots of practice.
These social-emotional activities are not only fun and engaging for little ones; they spark essential
conversations that lead to deeper understanding.

Read, read, read! 

There are TONS of children’s books featuring interesting main characters and storylines that teach
social-emotional skills. Reading about characters they can relate to, in situations they can relate to,
helps young children learn valuable lessons.  

Play a monster emotions match game

Download the free game cards here. Before the game begins, gather students on the rug and show
them each card. Have them practice making a face that demonstrates the emotion on each card. Next,
give each student their own card and tell them to keep it secret.   
The game begins as students walk around the room making the feeling face that matches their card. As
they walk, they look for another student who seems to be demonstrating the same feeling. Once
everyone thinks they have found their matching feeling friend, let them check their cards to see if they
are right. Play a few rounds to give kids a chance to try out different feelings. 

Make emotion masks 

These masks are a great tool for talking about feelings. And all you need is paper plates (cut in half),
craft sticks, tape, and markers. The activity will focus on four emotions: happy, mad, sad, and silly. For
each emotion (and each mask), make a face and then ask the class to identify the emotion it
represents. Once they correctly identify the emotion, have them use the marker to draw that face on
one of the plates.

You can use these masks during read alouds (hold up the mask that shows how the main character is
feeling) or during class conversations to reinforce their understanding of what different feelings look
like.  

Start each day with a check-in

This chart is a fun one to help students communicate how they’re feeling. Position it next to your
classroom door, and have students point to the emoji that most closely matches how they’re feeling as
they enter. This activity helps students get in the habit of monitoring their emotions and gives you
valuable information about your students’ moods.

Use strategy cards

These free downloadable cards offer 23 different strategies (with
pictures and words) that kids can use to manage their emotions.
Print them out, punch a hole in the corner of each card, and attach
them to a ring. 

Teach them yoga poses and breathing techniques

Teach your students simple yoga poses to help them get control
of their bodies when emotions are running high. For best results,
pair poses with deep-breathing techniques.
Anger Management for Kids: 185 Calming Strategy Cards

There are 185 color cards and 185 black and white cards suitable for both US and UK
English.

Any blank cards are editable. Simply place your cursor where the word would be on the card
and type your own strategy. Then draw a representative picture.

The following strategies are included:

 To slow breathing: blow a balloon, blow bubbles, blow softly, greathe, count, drink,
hiss like a snake, sing a song, sing the ABC song, stop, wash face, wash hands.
 My Feelings: cry, happy thoughts, how do I feel?, journal, laugh, my face, say, ‘I’m
angry’, think.
 My body: be a pretzel, crouch, go outside, hide, quiet place, relax, robot/flop, strap
into seatbelt, squeeze, take a bath, take a shower, walk away, weighted blanket.
 Gross Motor / Big Muscles: ballet, basketball, bounce, bowling, dance, dress up,
exercise, exercise video, hide and seek, hula hoop, jump, jump rope, jump (trampoline),
karate, kick, kick a ball, lift, mini golf, punch a pillow, push, rap, ride a bike, ride a
tricycle, roll, run, scooter, skateboard, sit on a ball, soccer, spin, stretch, swing, throw a
ball, throw a beanbag, tug on a rope, twister, walk, wheelbarrow, yoga.
 Communicate: call someone, chat with a friend, chat via walkie talkie, hug a friend,
pray, send a text, Skype someone, write a letter.
 Heavy work: carry, clean, dig, knead dough, mop, rake leaves, scrub, shovel snow,
sweep, tug on a rope, vacuum, wear a backpack.
 Fine motor / small muscles: board game, build a tower, chalk, cut, design something,
dominoes, draw, experiment, four in a row, ice cakes, knit, legos, make a video, make a
necklace, make cookies, measure objects, origami, paint, play an instrument, play
cards, play dough, play with blocks, play with magnets, pottery, puppet play, scan
codes, sewing, shaving cream, SMART board, SMART table, squeeze, stamp, take a
photo, tic tac toe, toy play, use a computer, use an iPad, water play, wear a disguise,
weigh objects, wood work.
 Be a helper: carry snacks, dust, feed a pet, make your bed, pass books, pass a
message, take out trash, walk the dog, wash the car, wash the dog, water plants, wipe
the table.
 Mouth: chew candy, chew gum, do a taste test, suck ice.
 Nose: aromatherapy, do a smell test, scent.
 Eyes: close eyes and ears, happy photo, read a book.
 Ears: bells, listen to a shell, listen to iPod, listen to music, noise-cancelling
headphones, play a drum, rainstick, sing/hum, What sounds can you hear?.
 Skim: brush hair/skin, feel a breeze, fidget, hug a bear, pat a pet, take a bath, take a
shower, textures.
 CALM DOWN IDEAS

As always I like to recommend that you try teaching in your learning environment with as
little of these sorts of management support strategies as possible. Wait and see if you need
them, and build up, adopting them one by one as needed. Otherwise you are creating a lot of
unnecessary work for yourself.

INCLUDED IS:

 a header 'I can calm down'

 3 step process visuals - Stop, Think, Act
 one page 5 stage emotion scale visual (direct students here for the 'think' step)
 30 calm down strategy idea visuals - choose those that fit your classroom context
best (direct students to these for the 'act' step)
We have included an MS Powerpoint file that includes the visuals in text editable format so
you can change the words to suit your students or create your own visuals for your unique
strategies. The stop/think/act cards are not editable.

INCLUDED STRATEGIES ARE:

1. I can count to ten

2. I can blow bubbles
3. I can draw a picture
4. I can have a drink of water
5. I can talk to someone
6. I can go for a walk
7. I can squeeze a ball or squeeze toy
8. I can hug myself
9. I can make fists and release
10. I can listen to music
11. I can color in
12. I can close my eyes and think of my happy place
13. I can blow a feather
14. I can do my star breathing
15. I can watch a liquid timer
16. I can smell the cake and blow out the candle
17. I can smell the flower and blow out the candle
18. I can play with dough
19. I can read a book
20. I can go to my calm down spot
21. I can sit with my cushion
22. I can blow a pin wheel
23. I can play with blocks
24. I can so my heavy work
25. I can jump
26. I can hug my soft toy
27. I can do a puzzle
28. I can do my yoga
29. I can rest in my tent
30. I can .... (blank for your strategy)