Naming emotions activity for kids

How do you teach your kids to recognize what they’re feeling and name those emotions in a healthy and positive way? We have a few fun activities here for you to try!

Besides being an excellent film, the movie Inside Out took a big step forward in bringing to life the emotions and feelings each of us has. It transformed some of our most fundamental feelings – joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust – into characters with unique personalities. Instantly the characters become likable and most importantly, they become relatable to kids.

emotions naming activity for kids

Teaching kids to talk about their emotions

Developing a language for each emotion is not an exercise reserved just for children. In helping children, we as adults often find we’re lacking in our abilities to articulate what we’re feeling inside. For many of us, feelings were intangible emotions that were labeled either good or bad. There wasn’t much complexity to them, and they rarely got attention or validation, unless they were becoming too much. Working with children to develop their understanding of each of their feelings becomes an exercise that benefits us as much as them. There are times during the year where children start to feel like they’re coming undone. Summer vacation is a good example. Usually, they’re adjusting to the slower pace, allowing their emotions to really surface. They’re also in close proximity to their caregivers, all leading to a build-up of emotions. Don’t see this as a negative thing. Rather, use it as an opportunity to give them the tools that they need to build some emotional resilience. Your job as a parent or caregiver is to guide them in understanding their emotional world. The more tools they have, the less overwhelming feelings feel, and the easier it becomes for them to express their needs to us.

Try this naming emotions activity

Here’s a free picture card activity to help get you started talking about emotions with your kids. Download the ‘What Are You Feeling?‘ chart below – it can be used for all ages. Don’t let the simplicity put you off.

Then try these three ways to adapt the chart to different age groups.

Download naming emotions [PDF]

1. Feeling pictures for kids [print & display]

All kids feel big emotions, whether they’re little or teens. The goal is not to stop them from feeling big emotions, rather it’s to teach them to recognize and communicate what they’re feeling inside.

Print a few copies of the ‘What Are You Feeling?’ chart. Tape a copy on the fridge, on the bathroom mirror, in your child’s bedroom, or in any other visible places. Even keep a copy in their backpack or your bag. As often as you can, ask them to tell you what each of the faces means. Ask them to tell you which face (color) represents what they’re feeling inside. Ask follow-up questions and keep reinforcing that you know just what that feels like.

Tip: Keep encouraging your child that all emotions are normal, we all feel them, and that we don’t have to get rid of them. It’s okay to feel sad, it’s okay to feel angry.

2. Feeling jars

This is a fun way to use up old jars! Collect six jars and print a ‘What Are You Feeling?’ chart. Let your child cut each of the six colored blobs out. Stick them onto the sides of each of the jars. Use clear tape to protect them or craft glue that dries clear.

Now you decide what works best for you. Choose either some different colored tokens, beans, beads, pom-poms, or buttons and assign each to a different jar. When your child is happy, sad, frustrated, or even having a tantrum, once you’ve resolved the moment, take them to the jars and let them put one of your items into the jar that represents what they were feeling. It’s a great way of visually seeing how many different types of emotions we feel and how often we feel them.

Tip: For older kids, get them to write down their feelings throughout the day on a bit of paper. Then let them fold them up and put them into the jars.

3. Make your own feeling pictures

Use your creativity! If you’re feeling up to it. Why not spend some time with your kids (young or old) and make up characters for each of our basic emotions. Draw them, build them, model them out of clay – there are endless options!
Download naming emotions PDF here
Return to resources page
Tags: , , ,

Leave a Reply