Helping kids understand and express their emotions is crucial for their emotional development. These 10 fun activities are designed to make learning about feelings both engaging and educational, encouraging children to explore and manage their emotions in a positive way.
1. Stories full of emotion
Stories are a powerful tool to help children understand emotions. There are many books focused on teaching kids about emotions from a young age. It really helps children to see their own feelings reflected in everyday stories that could easily be part of their own lives.
Read how Ana and Carlos have a daughter named Maria, who often felt frustrated and struggled to manage her emotions.
Looking for a solution, Ana found the story "You Are the Owner of Your Emotions" in Storybokk App and decided to share it with Maria.
The story talked about a boy who learned to recognize and handle his emotions in everyday situations, like when he didn’t want to brush his teeth or when he got upset during a game.
Maria realized that by understanding and managing her emotions, she could feel better and have better relationships with others. 👀 ⬇️
2. Emotion wheel
Create an emotion wheel with different feelings such as happy, sad, angry, excited, and calm.
Have your child spin the wheel and, depending on which emotion it lands on, they should share a time when they felt that way.
You can also add a twist by asking them to act out the emotion or draw a picture representing it.
The emotion wheel helps children recognize and label their feelings, promoting emotional awareness.
It also encourages open communication about emotions and provides a fun, interactive way to practice expressing how they feel.
This activity supports emotional intelligence and can improve a child's ability to cope with different emotions in a healthy way.
3. Guided meditation moments for kids
Meditation is a great activity to help children relax and manage their emotions. You can guide your child through a meditation that helps them recognize and accept their feelings.
One helpful resource is the meditation "Life Is a Gift" which is perfect for starting meditation with your little one.
The meditation invites them to close their eyes, take deep breaths, and imagine their emotions as bright colors. Guided meditation not only teaches children about their emotions but also helps strengthen the bond between you and your child as you practice it together.
4. Feelings charades
In this game, one child picks an emotion (like happiness, surprise, anger, or sadness) and acts it out without speaking, while the others guess the emotion.
You can use emotion cards or simply write down a list of feelings on pieces of paper. Each turn, the child must act out the emotion as clearly as possible for others to identify.
Feelings charades helps kids recognize and understand different emotions by physically acting them out.
This encourages empathy, emotional expression, and communication skills.
It also allows children to explore how different emotions feel in a fun and interactive way, building their emotional awareness and social understanding.
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5. Emotion matching game
Create cards with pictures of faces showing different emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised, etc.) and separate cards with the corresponding emotion words.
Mix the cards up and have your child match the emotion word with the correct facial expression.
You can make it more challenging by adding more complex emotions or having them act out the emotions after matching.
The emotion matching game helps kids connect emotions with facial expressions, improving their ability to recognize feelings in themselves and others.
It enhances emotional vocabulary and helps develop empathy.
This activity also encourages children to be more aware of their emotional state and understand the facial cues associated with different feelings.
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6. Feelings journal
Encourage your child to keep a daily or weekly journal where they can write or draw about their emotions.
Each day, they can reflect on how they’re feeling and what events or situations may have contributed to those feelings.
You can guide them by asking prompts like, "What made you happy today?" or "What made you feel upset?".
A feelings journal helps children process and articulate their emotions, promoting emotional awareness and reflection.
It also encourages self-expression and helps kids identify patterns in their emotional responses. By regularly checking in with their feelings, children can develop healthier coping mechanisms and emotional intelligence.
7. Emotion sorting
Emotion sorting involves providing a set of images or scenarios that depict various emotional situations.
Children then categorize these images or situations into different emotions like happy, sad, angry, excited, etc.
How to play:
- Prepare a set of pictures or describe different scenarios that represent different emotions.
- Ask your child to sort the images into categories, such as happy, sad, angry, or surprised.
- After sorting, discuss each image or scenario and why they think the emotion fits that situation.
- For an added challenge, you can ask your child to explain a time they experienced each emotion.
Benefits:
Emotion sorting helps children improve their ability to identify and categorize emotions in themselves and others.
It promotes emotional recognition and understanding, making it easier for kids to express how they feel.
This activity encourages empathy and enhances their emotional intelligence by connecting abstract feelings to real-world scenarios.
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8. Feelings bingo
Create a bingo card with different emotions in each square, such as happy, sad, excited, angry, and scared.
As you play, call out different situations or scenarios, and the child must match the emotion to the correct square on their card.
For example, “You got a surprise gift! What emotion do you feel?” The child would then mark the “excited” square if they feel that way. The first to fill a row wins!
Feelings bingo helps children recognize and understand different emotions in various contexts.
It promotes emotional literacy and encourages kids to think about their own feelings.
By connecting emotions to real-life scenarios, it enhances their ability to express themselves and understand others' emotions. Plus, it’s a fun way to practice emotional recognition through play!
9. Emotion collage
In this activity, children cut out pictures from magazines, newspapers, or draw images that represent different emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, or excitement.
They then assemble these images into a collage that visually represents various feelings.
How to play:
- Provide your child with magazines, newspapers, or drawing materials.
- Ask them to find or draw images that represent different emotions. For example, they could find a smiling face for happiness or a rainy scene for sadness.
- Have them cut out the pictures and arrange them on a large sheet of paper to create a collage of emotions.
- Once finished, ask your child to describe each image and explain why it represents that emotion.
Benefits:
The emotion collage helps kids explore and understand emotions through visual representation.
It promotes creativity while fostering emotional awareness.
By thinking about which images represent specific feelings, children learn to connect emotions to visual cues and gain a deeper understanding of their own emotional responses.
This activity also encourages self-expression and communication about feelings.
10. Feelings thermometer
How to play:
Create a “feelings thermometer” where each level represents a different emotional state, from calm to very upset.
You can draw a thermometer with sections labeled with emotions like calm, frustrated, angry, or furious.
Ask your child to rate how they feel at different points throughout the day by pointing to the corresponding level on the thermometer.
You can also use this tool to help them identify triggers and practice calming techniques when their emotions rise.
Benefits:
The feelings thermometer helps children understand and manage their emotions by giving them a visual way to gauge their feelings.
It teaches emotional regulation, encouraging kids to recognize when they need to calm down before their emotions escalate.
This activity also fosters self-awareness and can help children communicate their feelings more clearly.
11. Storytelling with emotions
How to play:
In this activity, children create or listen to stories where emotions are central to the plot.
After reading or telling a story, encourage your child to identify the emotions the characters felt and how those emotions influenced the story.
You can also have them create their own stories with characters experiencing different feelings.
Ask them to describe the emotions of the characters and how those feelings changed the course of the story.
Benefits:
Storytelling with emotions helps children develop empathy by encouraging them to step into the shoes of others.
It enhances emotional vocabulary and understanding by relating feelings to real-life situations.
This activity also encourages creativity and self-expression while fostering emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills, as children reflect on how emotions affect behavior and decisions.
The Johnson family had a great experience with the "Breathe with Me" story on the Storybook app! 🌟
Their son, who had been feeling overwhelmed and anxious, found calm through the breathing exercises in the story.
After practicing together, he felt more in control of his emotions and ready to face his day.
If you're looking for a fun and effective way to help your child manage stress and emotions, give Storybook a try!
It's a simple way to bring calm and positivity into their routine. 😊
12. Emotion sculpting
Emotion sculpting is a hands-on activity where children use clay or playdough to create facial expressions that represent different emotions. This activity allows kids to visually and physically explore feelings by shaping their sculptures to reflect emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, or surprise.
How to play:
- Provide your child with clay or playdough in various colors.
- Ask them to sculpt faces showing different emotions, such as a smiling face for happiness or a frown for sadness.
- Once the sculptures are complete, discuss the emotions each face represents and ask your child to explain what might make someone feel that way.
- You can also challenge them to make faces for more complex emotions like confusion, excitement, or pride.
Benefits:
Emotion sculpting helps children explore emotions in a tactile and visual way, which can make abstract feelings easier to understand. This activity fosters creativity while improving emotional recognition and communication. By physically creating emotions, kids can learn to express their own feelings more effectively and understand those of others.
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Written By
Francisco Cornejo, a dynamic entrepreneur with a Masters in Communication from RMIT University in Australia, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Storybook. As a serial entrepreneur, he notably served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Honda Motors in Latin America, shaping the brand's regional presence. Passionate about family well-being and communication, Francisco leads Storybook in its mission to improve children's health globally, aiming to create positive impacts in both corporate and societal spheres.
Medically Reviewed by:
Deborah Pedrick is a pioneer in child sleep consulting, having educated families since 1999 on establishing healthy sleep foundations. She created the Child Sleep Consultant Certification program, co-founded the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants, and founded the Family Sleep Institute. Based in Pennsylvania, she holds a degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Loyola University of Chicago and has been featured in publications like The Wall Street Journal and Parents Magazine, as well as a sleep expert on "The Doctors."
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