Studying Emotions

At the beginning of the year, I like one of my first lessons to be about EMOTIONS.



It helps so much to study emotions at the beginning of the year. Children, especially ones new to the classroom and even those who aren't, are going through a big transition and it helps them to be able to talk about how they are feeling. Leaving mom can be scary. Sleeping in a different classroom can be stressful. Sitting next to different friends can be nerve-wracking, and coming to a lesson with a teacher can be intimidating!

I hope that this ridiculously easy, CHEAP and fun DIY can help begin the conversation on the different emotions we experience and help make your classroom a calmer, more peaceful place. 

Materials:

• Markers
• Those Foam sheets from Michael's I love so much
• some sort of tray to hold them (I found this used tray at Goodwill, and I love that there are built in compartments to sort the eyes, nose and mouth)

• 

I made:

• one round orange circle for the face
• 5 different eyes (sad, happy, scared, mad and sleepy)
• 5 different mouths (sad, happy, scared, mad, and all teeth)
• 5 different noses (a clown nose, a regular nose, a nose with a mustache, a super long nose, super short nose)

You can add:

       EARS

        HAIR

     or ACCESSORIES

But because my tray only had 3 holding spots, I decided to keep it simple so that the child could focus on the EMOTIONS. I was afraid if i added too many extra elements, the child would be too distracted. 

Language to introduce in this lesson:

Sad

Happy

Scared

Mad

Sleepy

How do you look when you feel......