Let's play with emotions: activities to do with children at school and at home

Playing with emotions is one of the most effective ways to help children develop emotional awareness, empathy and relational skills. Activities on emotions to do with children, both at school and at home, represent a valid educational support to teach the little ones to recognize, name and express what they feel.

Through games, creative workshops and simple but engaging tools, it is possible to build emotional education paths that make children the protagonists of their inner world. And often, to make them, very little is needed: a notebook, scissors, colors and a great desire to listen and share.

The thermometer of emotions: a creative activity to build together
Among the best-known and most appreciated proposals is the thermometer of emotions, a visual and interactive activity that allows children to communicate how they feel during the day.

Just take a notebook and draw a colored thermometer: from the green of happiness to the yellow of fear, up to the red of anger. Each child can then cut out their own "mark" or symbol and place it on the color that represents their mood at that moment. The notebook can be used every morning, at school or at home, as a moment of sharing and dialogue.

This simple tool:

• Helps give a name to emotions
• Encourages mutual listening
• Creates a safe space in which to feel welcomed

Other activities on emotions to do with children

In addition to the thermometer, there are many activities on emotions to propose to children to play and reflect together:

Emotions game of the goose

Building a personalized game of the goose in the notebook is a creative and engaging activity. Together with the children, you can:

• Draw a path with boxes
• Insert an emotion in each box (fear, anger, happiness, surprise...)
• Create dice with cardboard
• Play in turns: when you get to a box, tell an episode in which you felt that emotio. Involving children in creating the game increases motivation: they feel it is "theirs" and have more fun.

The game of smileys

On the notebook you can draw faces with different expressions (sad, angry, happy, surprised...) and then cut them out. Children must:

• Associate each smiley with an emotion
• Tell a moment in which they felt it
• It is an excellent exercise to develop empathy and emotional recognition.

Emotional stories

Reading stories to children and then asking questions about the feelings of the characters helps them to reflect on emotions in an indirect and profound way. After reading, each child can write or draw in their notebook what they felt or experienced together with the protagonists of the story.

The calm jar

Inspired by the Montessori method, it is a useful tool for managing anger or agitation. It can be created at home or at school with a jar, water, glitter glue and glitter. When the child is agitated, shake the jar and watch the glitter slowly fall, helping them to calm down.

Activities on emotions: simple to do at home

Even within the family, it is possible to create precious moments to talk about emotions:

The emotions notebook: every evening, the child can write or draw the “emotion of the day” in their notebook.
Cut-out faces to use to represent the mood before going to sleep.
Emotional posters shared in the kitchen or in the bedroom.
The important thing is to give value to each emotion, even the most uncomfortable ones, and to create an authentic listening environment.

Playing with emotions to grow better

Playing with emotions is much more than a simple pastime: it is a way to help children become more aware, empathetic and serene. Activities on emotions, such as the emotions thermometer, the emotional goose game or the faces to draw in the notebook, are effective tools that teach while having fun.

Choosing to deal with emotions with creativity – using a simple notebook, a bit of glue and imagination – makes each child the protagonist of their own emotional journey. And when they create the game, the learning is even deeper.