Games

Create a set of cards featuring two different children. Use the cards as a matching game. Place the cards face down. Have a child randomly select a card and act out the feeling. Have the other children guess the emotion. Many of the cards are in pairs (e.g. happy, sad). Turn the cards over and play an opposites matching game. Pass out each of the cards. Act out the emotion or say a phrase that is a clue to the feeling (e.g. “Wow! For me?” “I am ready for bed.” “I don’t want to do this anymore”). Have the child holding the card with the matching emotion raise their hand. Put children in pairs. Have them select an emotion and act it out together. Pick a feeling to discuss. Have the children talk about what they do when they feel a certain way and what they do for another person if they are feeling that way.

Literacy

Create a Feelings Book. Have children color the cards, cut them out, and glue one feeling to the top of each page. Ask them to write about a time when they felt this way. Have children write short sentences above each feeling. For example, “I feel sad when I fall down.” Write or type the words that match the drawing on a separate piece of paper and have children match the drawings to the words or have children write the feelings on the backs of the cards. Print cards featuring a number of students. Pass the cards out and have children write a story about the child in the illustration and their feelings. For example, “Sarah feels bored. She wanted to go outside but it is raining. Sarah can play a game or read inside so she is not bored.”

Modifying for Different Ages and Ability Levels

The cards have a variety of feelings that may be more or less difficult for children to identify. The easiest feelings to identify are on page one and they become increasingly difficult. Teach a set of feelings by printing one page at a time. Start with page one then print page two, three, and four. Words are not included on the cards. To increase or decrease the level of the cards use more or less difficult synonyms. For example happy/joyful; sad/gloomy; tired/exhausted. Increase the level of difficulty for the cards by writing sentences about the feeling on each card (e.g. When I am angry I go to the quiet area to calm my body.) Give each child one of the cards and ask them to read the sentences for the class. The level of difficulty can be increased further by increasing the level of vocabulary used in the sentence(s) and/or increasing the length of the sentence(s).