Special Educator Survival Guide

You can now teach emotion and feeling words with activities all year long!

All kids need to learn emotion and feeling words. Kids creating an emotion and feeling list will be much more likely to describe what they are feeling.

Do you struggle with emotion and feeling word activities for your preschool, kindergarten homeschool or special education kids? All kids need to learn emotion and feeling words. Kids creating an emotion and feeling list will help them describe what they are feeling.

Emotion and Feeling Activities

Teach simple emotion and feeling words. Reinforce with pictures- visuals are key.
Allow kids to make emotional faces and discuss their feelings.
Create an emotion and feeling list with kids.
Provide opportunities for identifying emotion activities.

activities for identifying emotions — All kids need to learn emotion and feeling words.

Teach this in social skills lessons

Teaching emotion and feeling words give kids the needed tools. This helps to better themselves and reduce stressful situations. In addition, give teaching opportunities to allow kids to express their feelings- no matter how strong. Model, the range of feelings kids are having. Encourage kids to express their feelings appropriately rather than shut down. Next, providing a cool down spot- different from time-out- to calm down also helps kids.

“A primary factor of school readiness is social and emotional development”
Lisa Murphy

allow kids to make emotional faces — Allow kids to make emotional faces and discuss their feelings.

Create an emotion and feeling list

Be intentional about giving opportunities for students to take turns and sharing. This provides identifying emotion activities in a real-world setting. Furthermore, the conflict will arise, but allow it to be a learning moment. Problem-solve what will help the situation with the kid. Guide their thinking but don’t give them the answers. Help the conversation along until feelings have been effectively communicated, worked through and dealt with.

These are the strategies I use in my classroom. I encourage classroom management and provide social and emotional development. I have also created materials identifying emotion activities with several year-long themes. The activities have levels of differentiated instruction so no matter the learners level, they are learning. Set the foundation early with an emotion and feeling list.