Exploring My EmotionsActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning works for emotions because young children express feelings through movement and play before they can articulate them. When they mimic faces, act out scenarios, and draw reactions, they connect abstract feelings to concrete actions, making empathy and self-regulation visible and memorable.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify happy, sad, and angry facial expressions and body language.
- 2Explain two healthy ways to express frustration or sadness.
- 3Predict how a peer might feel based on their facial expression and body language.
- 4Demonstrate appropriate ways to manage feelings of anger or sadness in a group setting.
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Mirror Pairs: Emotion Faces
Pair children up with hand mirrors. Call out an emotion like happy or sad, and have partners make the face while describing it. Switch roles after one minute, then share with the group what they noticed.
Prepare & details
Differentiate between happy, sad, and angry feelings.
Facilitation Tip: During Mirror Pairs, model slow, clear expressions so children can match both face and posture.
Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging
Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet
Circle Share: Feeling Charades
Sit in a circle. One child acts out an emotion without words while others guess and share times they felt that way. Use a timer for 30 seconds per turn, rotating until all participate.
Prepare & details
Explain healthy ways to express frustration or sadness.
Facilitation Tip: In Circle Share, pause after each charade to let the group whisper their guesses before confirming.
Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging
Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet
Small Group: Emotion Role-Play
In groups of four, present scenario cards like 'friend takes your toy.' Children act out healthy responses, discuss, and vote on the best one. Rotate roles twice.
Prepare & details
Predict how a friend might feel based on their facial expression.
Facilitation Tip: For Emotion Role-Play, give each child a card with a feeling word and one scenario starter to keep scenes focused.
Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging
Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet
Individual: Feelings Draw
Give paper and crayons. Children draw themselves feeling happy, sad, or angry, label with words or lines. Share one drawing in pairs.
Prepare & details
Differentiate between happy, sad, and angry feelings.
Facilitation Tip: With Feelings Draw, provide crayons in colors that match the emotion words to reinforce connections.
Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging
Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet
Teaching This Topic
Approach emotions with calm repetition and clear routines. Avoid rushing to fix feelings; instead, name them and offer time to process. Research shows children learn emotional vocabulary best when they see it modeled in context, so use your own facial cues and tone during transitions. Keep activities short, 5-7 minutes, so focus stays high and frustration stays low.
What to Expect
Success looks like children using words or gestures to name emotions, showing care when a peer seems sad, and choosing safe ways to express frustration. They should respond to scenarios with at least one helpful idea and use materials thoughtfully during tasks.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Mirror Pairs, watch for children who think sadness must end immediately.
What to Teach Instead
Pause the activity and say, 'Let’s copy your partner’s sad face. Notice how their shoulders are down and their mouth is turned down. Sadness is okay to feel for a little while. You can tell your friend, I see you are sad, and give them a quiet minute.'
Common MisconceptionDuring Circle Share, watch for children who believe emotions show only on faces.
What to Teach Instead
After the charade ends, ask, 'What did you notice about their arms or legs? How did they stand? Let’s try acting out ‘angry’ with our whole body so we all notice the clues.'
Common MisconceptionDuring Emotion Role-Play, watch for children who say anger cannot be controlled.
What to Teach Instead
Hand the child a small stress ball and say, 'Let’s try counting while we squeeze this ball. One, two, three… Now let’s try saying, I need space. Can you show me that with your voice?'
Assessment Ideas
After Mirror Pairs, show three emotion faces on cards. Ask students to point to ‘happy’ and then make the face and body together. Note who matches both face and posture correctly.
During Circle Share, present the scenario ‘Your friend’s tower falls.’ Listen for predictions like ‘They might feel mad’ and suggestions like ‘I can say, It’s okay, try again.’ Record responses that include both a feeling and an action.
After Feelings Draw, collect papers and ask each child to point to their drawing and say one safe way to show sadness or frustration. Tally responses like ‘drawing,’ ‘talking,’ or ‘deep breaths.’
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge: After Feelings Draw, ask students to write or dictate a sentence about their picture using the sentence stem 'I feel ___ when ____.'
- Scaffolding: During Mirror Pairs, pair students with a peer who can model slower expressions and give gentle feedback.
- Deeper exploration: Create an emotion wheel with photos of classmates showing different feelings and add new words as they appear.
Key Vocabulary
| Emotion | A strong feeling such as happiness, sadness, or anger. |
| Happy | Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. |
| Sad | Feeling or showing sorrow; unhappy. |
| Angry | Feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility. |
| Express | To show or communicate a feeling or idea. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for Self & Community
5E Model
The 5E Model structures lessons through five phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), guiding students from curiosity to deep understanding through inquiry-based learning.
Unit PlannerThematic Unit
Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.
RubricSingle-Point Rubric
Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.
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