How to Help Preschoolers Understand Emotions
Preschool is all about preparing students. Preparing them to enter elementary school with specific skills. This includes teaching them skills that will help them in their academic learning and in socializing. Another important skill to teach preschoolers is how to recognize and understand their emotions.
Why It’s Important to Include Emotion Activities for Preschoolers
Preschool is one of the first areas that kids explore outside of their homes. They get to meet new people and try new things. They also start recognizing a lot of new emotions!
They may be excited about being at school, but sad that they are not at home. They may feel joy when they make a new friend but upset when that friend plays with someone else. Your preschoolers may even feel a bit anxious or get stressed.
Today’s young kids are living in a world quite different from what most of us grew up in. Sadly, our little preschoolers are surrounded by a lot of outside influences that can cause emotions like anxiety and stress. Even if they don’t feel these emotions themselves, they may pick up on these emotions around them.
With so many different emotions it is important to teach young kids how to recognize these emotions. To recognize what they are feeling and why they are feeling that way. Moreover, teaching them ways to manage these emotions in a healthy way.
Let’s not forget the most important reason why we teach emotions – to help students learn what they are feeling is normal!
Emotion & feelings activities help preschoolers become aware of their emotions. This awareness is one of the most important tools you as a teacher can give your preschoolers.
Everything You Need for a Feelings Lesson Plan in Preschool
Teaching emotions and feelings can feel overwhelming for teachers. With so many different scenarios and emotions, you may wonder where to begin.
Beyond wondering where to begin, you may wonder if there is enough time in the school day and year to add in feelings lessons.
Yes, there is time! Especially when you include emotions and feelings into your regular lessons!
That’s exactly what we did with our Preschool Feelings Activities. We look at all the different academic and social skills preschoolers need to learn. Then, we created ways to combine these skills with lessons on feelings and emotions.
Even better, we put all these lessons together in a ready to teach bundle! That way you are saving time planning AND teaching!
PreK Feelings and Emotions Lesson Plans
Our Preschool Feelings and Emotions Activities Bundle includes five different activities you can use in your classroom. These five activities cover different academic areas of the PreK curriculum.
- The whole-group Circle Time feelings lessons include songs, games, a read-aloud, comprehension activities, and poems.
- The feelings STEAM exploration activity helps students learn about how the world works through a creative process.
- Feelings Math and Literacy Centers are print-and-go and provide everything you need for independent centers that help review and build preschool math and literacy skills.
- The Read Aloud Color Monster includes lessons and activities that help students comprehend and respond to the story in a meaningful way.
Not only will these ready-to-use activities and lessons teach several different skills, but they cover all parts of your day! Again, saving you time planning and giving you plenty of time to enjoy teaching.
Did we mention these activities are also designed to create independent learners? Many of these activities can be used in centers. Once you set up your centers, students can explore these engaging materials on their own & teach themselves about feelings and emotions!
Feelings Emotions Math & Literacy Centers for Preschool
Teach students about math, literacy, AND feelings in our feelings and emotions math and literacy centers. These centers provide engaging, educational activities that help students review and build preschool math and literacy skills alongside exploring emotions.
Read more about our Preschool Centers here.
Math concepts covered include one-to-one correspondence, counting, number recognition, modeling numbers to ten, comparing numbers, patterns, sorting, subitizing, and writing numbers.
Literacy skills covered include rhyming, syllables, beginning sounds, name writing, handwriting, vocabulary, uppercase & lowercase letters, building words, letter identification, print awareness, and writing.
Each center includes printable materials, teacher preparation tips, and activity instructions.
In total, there are 18 centers included in this one activity packet!
Here are some of the centers that are included:
- How Many?: Count and Write
- Number Friends: Say and Trace Numbers
- Ten Frames: Modeling to Ten
- Same and Different: Distinguishing Differences
- Clip It: Comparing Numbers
- Pattern Puzzles: Feeling Patterns
- Feelings Sort: Happy vs. Sad
- Free Write: Feelings Writing Center
- Sensory Bin: Name the Feeling
Feelings Emotions Activities for Preschool
Beyond teaching emotions alongside academics, it is important to have activities that are focused only on emotions and feelings. That’s how important these lessons are for preschoolers.
Use Exploration Stations to make these feelings lessons hands-on! These station activities are print-and-go and ready to use! Each Exploration Station activity has everything students need to discover the topic of feelings independently.
Here is a preview of the 9 Exploration Stations we created.
- Explore: Feelings informational sheets
- Build: Emoji building cards
- Color: Color by code feelings sheets
- Make: Feelings play dough mat and cards
- Clip: Match the situation to the feeling
- Play: Spin and show feeling in the mirror
- Create: Follow the directions to make an emoji craft
- Match: Feeling face cards to the emoji
- Write/Draw- Write or show feelings
Paint Color Mixing PreK STEAM Activity
It is never too soon to teach STEAM! This Painting Feelings STEAM exploration activity is designed to help your PreK and Kindergarten students learn more about how the world works through a creative process. This Color Mixing STEAM lesson helps young learners explore, plan, and develop their creativity using common, everyday materials.
In this PreK STEAM Exploration activity, students will create one special color for each feeling: happy, sad and mad.
This is a great activity that also allows students to practice their tactile skills. They can use paper or cardboard, paints, brushes, water cups, or anything else you have on hand!
Read more how we teach STEAM in Preschool.
Color Monster Preschool Read Aloud Activities
Reading is an essential part of preschool! So, what better way to engage students in a lesson on feelings than with a great book! Read why Read alouds are important in the Prek Classroom.
In our Color Monster read aloud, there are several activities to teach your preschoolers about feelings. Even better, there is a week’s worth of lesson plans!
Designing lessons that cover a week is great for you AND your students! This allows students an opportunity to dive deeper into the text, make connections to the characters and events, and most importantly, fall in love with the story – one day at a time!
Grab yourself a copy of Color Monster by Anna Llenas, download this resource, and you are ready to go!
Circle Time Activities for Preschool
Circle time is an important part of the preschool classroom. Read more about how we do Circle Time in a PreK Classroom. It helps create community and build positive relationships. It is also the perfect place to teach about feelings and emotions.
In our themed circle time that is all about feelings and emotions, we provide you with fun, engaging, and educational activities for your preschoolers. These lessons are designed to develop positive relationships while introducing important academic and social skills as classmates sit together in a whole group.
Here is what you get in this activity pack:
- Teacher overview
- Detailed circle time lesson plans
- Print or projectable text
- 2 reread/review the text activities
- 3 responding to text activities (interactive writing, vocabulary, text connections)
- Song lyrics with a familiar tune + 2 corresponding activities
- Pocket chart poem + 2 corresponding activities
- 3 game-style whole-class activities
- 6 corresponding independent worksheets
Download the Preschool Feelings & Emotions Activity Bundle today and be ready to teach feelings all year long!
