How to Teach Kids About Their Feelings. When the boys were really little I struggled with that the best way was to teach them about their big emotions. I couldn’t find emotion activities or feelings activities which were suitable for them. For me teaching emotional intelligence to young children is important. Hoping that if they can understand their own feelings better it will limit the temper tantrums. This is something I have definitely found with the boys over the years. I am sure it has also helped them in social situations, limit negative behaviors and emotional health. Charlie in particular is able to take about a wide range of emotions even now as a nine-year-old. And I am certain it is because of emotional clocks that we started to make when he was only three.
I decided that the best way for the children to learn is by making it into a fun game. So when I was nosing around a craft store and came across some foam face stickers which showed different emotions. I knew they would make a great tool in taking that first step to teach Charlie about feelings in a healthy way. Of course, if you can not get hold of similar foam stickers you can make your own with a shapie and some glue. I initially made these emotional clocks with Charlie when he was three years old. At this time I was sure a number of his tantrums were down to pure frustration. As he was having a hard time understanding them. Because he can’t find the words to explain how he is feeling at the time. These emotional clocks were a great way to get his big feelings out. And the end result was less tantrums!
How to Teach Kids About Their Feelings – Emotion for kids
What is an Emotional Clock? – Emotion Activities
It is a great feelings activity. Which allows you to talk about a child’s feelings in a positive way. Once the clock is made they can then use the clock to describe their own emotions and what they are feeling at a point in time. They are very simple to use and as your child gets older you can use them to help explain more complex emotions. Just by updating the faces on the clock and changing the emotional vocabulary.
Materials needed to make an Emotional Clock
The good news about this craft project is that it can be made with things that have around the house. It will take around twenty minutes to half an hour depending on how long you discuss feelings and emotion for kids.
- Coloured card
- Corresponding card for the arrow
- Tack or brad
- Dinner plate to draw round
- Black marker
- Pencil
- Sissors
- Emotion stickers. If you can’t find the stickers then you could draw the different facial expressions on different pieces of card or foam. And use glue to attach them.
Teach Feelings – How to make Emotional Clocks
This emotional activity is so easy that Charlie at three pretty much did it all himself. Until we got to the writing bit!
Step One. Draw around the plate with the pencil to create the face of the clock
Step Two. Make your feeling face. Ether draw your own or use stickers as we did. At this point, I encourage Charlie to put the stickers into different feelings. This also gave us a chance to talk about each one. If you are making your own you can use a whole range of feelings. As he was only three we focused on basic emotions. After this, we took a sticker from each group and stuck it around the outside of the clock.
Step Three. We then discussed each one. Charlie decided the names of the emotions that the faces were trying to express. Once he decided I wrote next to each sticker. In this way with Charlie’s help, we actually label feelings to help him understand further. You can use any feeling words that you want.
Step Four. We used the brad to attach the arrow cut from the coordinating card to the centre of the clock. Monkey started playing with it straight away – he decided he was feeling happy and that daddy was grumpy! Meaning that he can now try and understand other people’s feelings as well as his own.
Where to hang your clock? – Emotion for kids
I decided to put it somewhere within easy reach so stuck it to his wardrobe. This would allow him to discuss basic feelings at any point. It may also help him with emotional regulation. As next time he is feeling sad, angry or worried he can show me on his clock and express emotions. And then we can talk about his strong emotions in appropriate ways and teach feelings. The whole idea is to help to develop social-emotional learning. It is such an easy and simple craft but it really helped Charlie and Harry when they were younger. It can also be used after a day at school when you want a child to talk about their day. Or you could use the same idea to make picture cards for older children.
Unsurprisingly he decided he was feeling grumpy when it came to bedtime despite having his favorite toy – that figures!! He is also going to be looking at it first thing in the morning, which could be interesting since he’s not keen on going to nursery at the moment.
What have you been doing to help your child’s emotions and social skills? Have you a better way to talk about children’s feelings. Or emotion activities and feeling activities which you are using. Please let me know in the comments below.
If you’ve liked this post please follow me on my social media channels:
Mudpie Fridays: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | LinkedIn
PIN for later – Emotion for kids – Feelings Activities –
How to Teach Kids About Their Feelings
37 Responses
What a great idea. This would work really well with autistic children. Thanks for sharing.
Another brilliant idea! I think us mummies could do with one too so everyone knows what mood we’re in 🙂
A great idea! As you say, children sometimes find it difficult to express their emotions so that is a very useful way of engaging them with their feelings and giving them the vocabulary to use. #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
Such an amazing idea. I completely agree, I’m sure that T’s tantrums were down to frustration. I really love this and think T and I will make one.
Thanks so much for linking to #toddlerapprovedtuesday this week x
What a great idea! I hope this will help him express himself! Awesome job! #kidscorner
Thanks for popping by 🙂
Oh this is such a great idea. My son has a speech delay and is being evaluated for possible ASD and we aren’t sure if he understands emotions at all. This would be a really really good way of trying to help him understand so thank you for sharing this 🙂
#kidscorner
great idea, I also love how it was made at home as it will mean so much more. #Kidscorner
This is a really wonderful idea! So creative for the child to make this and then so useful to learn about emotions! #KidsCorner
What a fabulous idea you have here! I really do like it! We are working on clocks at the moment -learning to tell the time. There are so many fab ideas- but this is an idea i’ve not seen before!
Pinteresting it now! Angela xx
Angela recently posted Peach and Blueberry Crumbles and the Margarine Song http://wp.me/p5XRN6-1Vq
Love this idea for toddlers – they really need a visual to understand complex ideas. Pinning this!
Such a great idea and a great talking prompt for toddlers. I am going to have to this with Oliver as he confuses happy with sad, bless him.
Becky xx
#KidsCorner
Ha ha mine would probably be flicking between stressed and more stressed!! Lol x
Thank you 🙂 x
Brilliant – hope it helps 🙂 xx
Ah thanks lovely x
I hope it helps 🙂 thanks for stopping by xx
Thank you x
Thank you honey x
Ah thank you honey x
Thank you 🙂 x
Ah great – let me know how you get on 🙂 xx
Lovely idea! Thanks for sharing! #momsterlink
Love love love this!! I am going to need one of these in about a year for Little L, she is definitely an emotional one! Thanks for sharing in #KidsCorner x
Love this idea! How is it working? I have 3 different toddlers with 3 totally different personalities. It would be interesting to see what moods they’d choose throughout the day. Thanks for linking up with #momsterslink.
The best kind 🙂 just with a little bit of taming Cx
What a lovely wat to get children thinking about how they are feeling I find most of the time for my girls its finding a way to express how they feel is the most frustrating thing for them so this would be so helpful thanks for linking up to #kidscorner x
He gets up every morning and tells me how he’s feeling, thinking as he gets old may try and incorporate more feelings – you never know I may even daw them!! lol xx
I love to draw…yet I never seem to find the time to do so. My husband bought me an entire art set for my bday in March. Haven’t even opened it 🙁 sad very sad. Thanks for popping over and saying hello my friend!
It’s always the way isn’t it 🙁 I hope you find time soon xx
This is a fantastic idea, I bet it would help my 3 year old express how he is feeling a bit better too
Really clever idea. I’ll have to remember this one for when Little B is older!
#TwinklyTuesday
Aw thanks, and thank you for stopping by x
Aw what a lovely idea and a nice way to teach little ones about emotions. We’ve been doing similar with Monkey with a lovely book and I do think it helps to talk about their feelings xx
This is a great idea. Photos cut from magazines could work very well too, I imagine. Thanks for linking with #TwinklyTuesday.
Thank you 🙂 which book have you been using? Xx
Ooo I like the idea about cutting up magazines will give that a try too – thank you x