Feelings Feelings Games and Activities

Circle Time Activity
Pass The Apple
Play this game like "Hot Potato." Ask the children to sit in a circle and give one child an apple. When the music starts, have the children pass the apple around the circle. But when the music stops, the child who is holding the apple in his hand 'becomes' Alex and yells, "Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!" just like Alex does when he's feeling angry. Then ask him, "What makes you feel angry?" Play until everyone gets a chance to be Alex. You may want to mention that the letter A makes the same sound that Alex makes when he's feeling angry.

Magic Word Book
Before the children arrive, staple some paper together and label it, "MAGIC WORD BOOK." Put Mr. Turtle's magic words on the first three pages. After the children have heard the story, let them think up magic words to add to the book. When somebody is having a difficult time expressing anger appropriately, let him or her carry the book around for a while.

Letter Badge
The children will be making a letter badge for each 'Letter Friend.' Tell the children, "Each friend you meet will have a name that begins with a different letter. At Creative Pre-K Preschool the students don't wear name tags. Instead, they wear letter badges. Alex Apple's name begins with the letter A so he will need a badge with the letter An on it." Give each child a piece of paper with a capital A drawn boldly with a black marker. Collect items that begin with the letter An and let the children glue the items onto the lines. (Remember, the letter badges are being done to introduce the children to the capital letter. This project is not the same as 'Creative Art' so it is OK to encourage the children to stay on the letter lines).

Simon Says "Feelings"
Play Simon says with the children substituting feeling phrases for the usual directions. For example, say: "Simon says, look happy. " In between commands you can ask them questions about those feelings, such as "What makes you feel happy?"

Feely Faces
Make enough happy, sad, and mad faces for the children in your class. When doing circle, you can ask them how they are feeling that day. They would take the appropriate face and put it next to their name on a board.

Flannelboard activity
Cut out several circles to represent faces and draw on different emotions - happy, sad, scared, angry, sleepy, surprised. Put up first face (ex. Happy) and say, Happy face, happy face, what do you see? I see a ______ face looking at me. Put up next face and continue.

The Gift Of Friendship
Remind the children how good people feel when they give someone a gift and the person shows their appreciation. What are some ways to show your appreciation? "Thank you," "it's beautiful!", "It's just what I wanted," "I love it!" Have the children draw names and make a gift (picture) for the name they drew. Give their friend the gift. Then have the children make thank you cards with markers or crayons for the picture.

"Put-ups" Time
Go around the circle and ask each child if there is anyone they want to give a "put-up" to. (Put UP instead of down). Has anyone done something especially nice for you? Shared?, Etc. The teacher and helpers contribute too so you can make sure everyone hears his/her name mentioned. You can also write the comments down and send them home for the parents to read. It does encourage the children to remember the "good" interactions they have with others.

Faces Discussion
Put faces on flannel board:grumpy, sleepy, happy, crying, singing, startled, mad, sly and silly face. Use this story as a lead in to a discussion on how the children feel when they wake up in the morning or after a nap.
Gather a collection of pictures (cut from magazines) showing children or adults experiencing one of the emotions. Glue to identical sizes of heavy construction paper or card stock. Number pictures on the back), laminate. Use them for these activities:

Activity 1: During circle time, hold up one of the pictures and ask the children how this person feels. (If they do not know, tell them.) Ask the children to talk about what they see that makes them think the person feels that way. Point out facial expressions or other features which suggest the emotion.

Activity 2: Stack at least three pictures of each emotion on a table in your daycare. Mix up the order of the pictures. Hand the stack to a child and ask him to group all the sad pictures together, then all the happy ones and so on.

Activity 3: Either at a table or during circle time, show several pictures portraying the same emotion and ask the children to identify how all the people feel.

More:
You can show illustrations from children's books that visually represent emotions.

Mirror Anatomy (game)
Children can practice naming the parts of their bodies while looking in a mirror. They will also enjoy practicing different facial expressions. Observing how they look when they have different feelings inside helps children to understand the body language of others.