At Stable Minds CYP we have lots of techniques to help little children understand their big emotions, but there are a few games you can use at home to help them connect with their feelings.
Helping children understand and express their emotions is crucial for their emotional development and overall well-being. Here are some engaging activities that can make this process both fun and educational:
Creative Expression Activities
Emotion Story Creation
Encourage children to create stories or scenarios around specific emotions. They can draw or write about how characters feel, helping them identify and understand different emotional experiences
Feelings Collage
Provide magazines, art supplies, and stickers for children to create a collage representing different feelings. This activity allows them to visually express emotions and develop their emotional vocabulary.
My Many Colored Feelings
In this activity, children explore their feelings using colors. They can easily relate to attaching colors to their emotions, opening up new ways to talk about and explore their feelings
Comic Strip Emotions
Give kids a set number of panels and challenge them to create a quick story about how they’re feeling or a time they experienced a specific emotion. They can then illustrate their scene in comic book style.
Interactive Games
Emotion Charades
Play a game where children act out emotions without using words. This helps them recognise and understand different emotions while encouraging empathy and perspective-taking
Mirror Exercise
Stand in front of a mirror with your child and take turns making different facial expressions. Encourage them to identify the emotions conveyed by each expression, helping them recognize how facial expressions communicate feelings2.
Music and Movement
Guess That Feeling
Have children listen to various songs and identify what feelings arise when they hear the music. As an added bonus, they can draw and color what the emotion looks like to them
Musical Feelings Bag
Fill a bag with pictures of items that evoke different emotions. Play music and have children pass the bag around. When the music stops, the child holding the bag picks out a picture and discusses how it makes them feel.
Red Light, Green Light
No nothing to do with squid game but many kids may understand the rules from this. This classic game helps children practice emotional and physical control. When the leader calls “Green light,” players move, and when they say “Red light,” players must stop. This game teaches children to regulate their body movements and emotions simultaneously.
Emotion Twister
Modify the traditional Twister game by drawing facial expressions on the coloured dots. This game combines physical movement with emotional recognition, making it a fun way to explore feelings.
Writing Activities
Dear Feelings Letter
Ask children to write a letter to their feelings, explaining what it was like when they experienced those emotions. This activity helps them process and articulate their emotional experiences
Gratitude Journal
Start a gratitude journal with your child. Each day, encourage them to write or draw something they’re grateful for. This promotes a positive mindset and helps children recognize the good in their lives.
By incorporating these activities into your routine, you can help children develop emotional literacy, self-awareness, and healthy ways to express their feelings. Remember, the key is to create a safe, non-judgmental space where children feel comfortable exploring and discussing their emotions.