Ready to help your little ones explore the big world of emotions? These fun and engaging feelings activities for kids are perfect for fostering emotional growth, building empathy, and making self-expression a whole lot easier – one creative activity at a time!
These activities help kids recognize their own feelings and navigate a wide range of emotions.
Using simple materials like paper plates, play dough, and craft sticks, children can create different faces to match their current emotion or role-play through different scenarios. These activities are not only a fun way to explore social-emotional topics but also a great opportunity for kids to develop important skills like emotional regulation and social skills. Whether using a hand mirror to practice different facial expressions or reading a great book like The Color Monster or Glad Monster, Sad Monster, kids will find creative and healthy ways to express feelings.
For teachers and parents, incorporating emotions activities into lesson plans or pretend play sessions can be a perfect way to introduce these important topics to younger kids and older kids alike.
Activities such as matching games, emotion cards, and printable packs offer a great addition to any social-emotional unit, whether at home or in the classroom.
Plus, these activities can help children understand emotions of the characters in their favorite books or recognize how body language reflects a particular emotion.
So, whether you’re looking to help a child with a bad day, manage temper tantrums, or teach them to take a deep breath in challenging moments, these feelings activities offer different ways to explore various emotions while having so much fun.
Feeling Activities For Kids
This carefully curated list of resources is designed to help parents, teachers, and caregivers support children's emotional development through fun, creative, and interactive activities.
From printable tools like emotions wheels and card games to hands-on crafts such as paper plate masks and sensory bottles, each resource offers unique ways to teach kids about feelings, emotional regulation, and social skills.
Whether you're looking for calming techniques like breathing exercises and stress ball DIYs or engaging activities like matching games and story stones, these ideas cater to a wide range of age groups and learning styles.
Many of these resources integrate play-based learning, making it easy for children to explore and express emotions in a supportive and enjoyable environment.
Perfect for use at home, in classrooms, or in therapy sessions, this collection also includes helpful books, songs, and sensory tools to ensure that emotional learning is accessible, meaningful, and fun.
Emotions Wheel Printable: Fun Ways to Expand your Kids' Emotional Vocabulary
This free printable emotions wheel is a fantastic tool to help children identify and express their emotions. By spinning the wheel to match their feelings, kids can better understand and communicate their current emotional state. Perfect for classrooms or home use.
Get playful with emotions using these free printable playdough mats! Kids can mold and shape different facial expressions while learning to identify and express a variety of emotions.
This creative craft lets kids explore emotions by making flower faces with different expressions! A hands-on way to encourage emotional awareness and spark meaningful conversations about feelings.
A fun and creative way to help kids explore emotions through art. These pixel-style color-by-number worksheets feature different emotions, making emotional learning engaging and interactive.
Help kids manage big emotions with these calming breathing exercises! Perfect for teaching relaxation techniques in a fun and approachable way, whether at home or in the classroom.
Boost kids' confidence with these printable self-esteem activities! Packed with engaging prompts and exercises, they help little ones feel proud of who they are while encouraging positive self-talk.
This list offers practical and effective strategies to help children manage big emotions. From sensory activities to calming routines, these ideas are great for promoting emotional regulation.
A printable emotions card game designed to teach children how to identify and manage their emotions. This resource makes social-emotional learning enjoyable and interactive.
A simple, five-step breathing exercise that helps kids calm down and focus. This mindfulness technique is easy to implement and ideal for managing stress or big feelings.
A guessing game that encourages children to identify and discuss emotions. This engaging activity helps kids recognize different emotions and understand them in a fun and playful way.
DIY Kids Emotions Game + Emotions Words Printable • B-Inspired Mama
A free printable matching game that helps children recognize and match emotions. This game is a great addition to emotional and social skills activities.
This creative activity uses colors to explore and represent emotions. It’s a wonderful way to teach kids about the connection between feelings and self-expression.
Learn how to create DIY stress balls using balloons for a sensory tool that helps children manage stress and calm their emotions.
Story stones featuring emotions provide a creative way for kids to explore feelings and storytelling. They are a versatile tool for play-based learning.
A step-by-step guide to making a calming sensory bottle. These bottles are excellent for helping kids relax and refocus when experiencing big emotions.
A simple and fun craft activity where kids create masks with different emotions. This project encourages creativity and helps children explore facial expressions and feelings.
A twist on the classic “If You’re Happy and You Know It” song, this activity teaches children to express emotions through music and movement.
Combine sensory play and emotional regulation with this DIY scented rainstick. It’s a calming and engaging activity for children to enjoy.
Make emotional regulation a playful experience with these engaging games! Ideal for teaching kids how to manage their emotions while having fun and building important life skills.
These grounding activities are a lifesaver when emotions run high! Simple, fun, and practical ideas that help kids stay present and feel more in control of their feelings.
Teaching children about emotions is an essential step in their social-emotional development. Through creative activities, engaging games, and practical tools, kids can learn to identify, understand, and express their feelings in healthy ways.
The resources shared in this blog post provide a variety of approaches to support emotional learning, from calming techniques like sensory bottles and stress balls to fun crafts like paper plate masks and story stones.
By incorporating these activities into daily routines, parents, educators, and caregivers can help children build emotional regulation skills, enhance their empathy, and improve their social interactions. Whether you’re tackling big emotions, encouraging self-expression, or simply looking for fun ways to connect, these ideas are a valuable addition to any emotional learning toolkit.
Let’s empower kids to navigate their emotions with confidence and creativity, because understanding feelings is the foundation for a happier and healthier future.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
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