Emotions

Personal Social Emotions

Encourage the children to pass their smiles around the circle by taking it in turns to smile at their friend on their right. The smile can then pass all the way around the circle. During circle time, share children’s experiences from the day and talk about specific emotions.

Communication and Language

Play ‘Simon Says’, to develop attention and listening skills, where the adult asks the children to make a sad, happy, or angry face.    Using different pictures of emotions, ask the children to identify the emotions in the pictures. Extend children’s vocabulary by introducing new vocabulary for these emotions.

Physical Development

Play some music and when the music stops, ask the children to freeze in their position until the music starts again, give the children a different emotion to show when they freeze.

Literacy

Read the story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. Discuss with the children how the characters are feeling, e.g. Baby Bear feeling sad and why?   Sing the song ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’. Add extra verses to include other emotions, such as angry, sad, and excited.

Mathematics

Hide in a tray of sand 2D cut out shapes with facial expressions on them. Then ask the children to explore the sand to find the shapes. Can they name the shape and the facial emotion on it? Ask them to count how many happy, sad faces etc…, they find.

Understanding of the World

Encourage children to bring in photos or objects from home to discuss their favourite memories.

Expressive Art and Design

Provide a range of instruments and noise makers for children to use to create sounds representing different emotions and feelings. Using different media, such as paint, pens and crayons encourage the children to draw emotion faces.

Focused Vocabulary                   

Happy, sad, upset, angry, excited, nervous, scared, shy, surprised, tired, worried.