Feeling activities for toddlers

EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS - Your Therapy Source

Toddlers experience a wide range of emotions on a daily basis. While it can be challenging to deal with their ever-changing moods, it’s important to help them learn how to express and handle their big emotions. There are plenty of fun and engaging activities you can do with your toddler to help them develop healthy emotional habits. Here are some ideas for emotional activities for toddlers. Don’t forget to download your FREE How Do You Feel Emotions board at the bottom of the post to help little ones learn how to identify emotions.

WHAT ARE EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS?

One of the most important things you can do to help your toddler develop healthy emotional habits is to engage them in a variety of different emotional activities. Emotional activities are any type of activity or experience that allow young children to explore and express their own emotions and feelings in a safe, fun, and supportive environment. This can include playing with toys that help them express their emotions. Or singing songs about feelings, and reading books about emotions together. Any activity that increases the child’s emotional awareness is perfect!

Play – Move – Develop

WHY ARE EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS IMPORTANT?

Emotional activities for toddlers are important because they give toddlers a chance to practice identifying and dealing with their feelings in a healthy way. When toddlers are able to identify and express their emotions, they’re less likely to act out. This decreases negative behaviors, such as hitting, biting, or throwing tantrums.

Emotional activities also help toddlers understand that it’s okay to have different feelings and that everyone experiences a wide range of emotions. At this age, they begin to develop the social-emotional skills they will need for the rest of their lives. They will have better social skills and will be able to form lasting friendships with their peers, as well as cope with the many challenges that come their way.

HOW DO I TEACH MY TODDLER EMOTIONS?

There are a variety of different ways you can help your toddler learn about emotions. Start with including emotion words into your daily vocabulary. These are words such as happy, sad, excited, scared, surprised, etc. Label your child’s emotions sot hey learn to identify different feelings. For example, when your little one is crying, you can say “I see you are sad. Would you like a hug or a tissue?”

When you are showing emotion, label it for your child so they understand. For example, after you laugh at a silly story you can say “I feel happy about that story.” You can use the free printable at the bottom of the page to read and reinforce different emotions.

There are a variety of emotional activities that can help promote healthy emotional regulation and development in toddlers. Some examples include playing with toys and games that encourage them to identify and express their emotions. Provide them with toys that encourage them to express their feelings, such as dolls that cry or laugh, or puppets that show a range of emotions.

You can also sing songs about emotions together, read books about feelings, or act out scenes from stories that involve different emotions. Try using role-playing different scenarios together, or using art or music to explore and express feelings. Emotional activities for toddlers can be done anywhere, anytime – whether you’re at home, out and about, or even in the car!

Ultimately, the key is to create an environment where your toddler feels safe and supported as they explore and express their emotions. With time and patience, your toddler will learn how to effectively manage their feelings and develop healthy emotional habits that will serve them throughout life.

The Infant and Toddler Handbook

One of the best ways to help your toddler develop healthy social and emotional skills is to engage them in activities that promote these skills at home. There are a variety of different activities you can do, but some examples include reading books about emotions together. Or playing games that encourage sharing and turn-taking.

Be sure to promote social and emotional development at home by creating a supportive environment where your toddler feels free to express their emotions and explore different feelings. Being an active listener and calming reacting to your toddler’s emotions, helps them to model appropriate emotional regulation.

You can listen to music together and talk about how it makes you feel. Painting or drawing pictures are great too. Playing with toys that encourage empathy, or even just talking and sharing stories about your own experiences can also help.

OUTDOOR EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS

There are also a number of different emotional activities that can be done outdoors. This is a great way to help your toddler get some fresh air and exercise while also promoting their social and emotional development.

Some examples of outdoor emotional activities for toddlers include playing games that encourage cooperation and turn-taking. Other options include visiting local parks and playgrounds, going for nature walks, or even just spending time outside in your backyard or on the patio. Talking about how being outside makes us feel, can help toddlers begin to identify emotions.

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAY ACTIVITIES FOR 1-2 YEAR OLDS

Emotional development activities for 1-2 year olds can help lay the foundation for healthy emotional habits and skills that will serve them throughout their lives. One of the best ways to foster this development is by providing your child with a variety of age-appropriate toys and games. These should encourage exploration and expression of emotions, good examples are puppets, dolls, or art supplies.

Some emotional play activities for 1-2 year olds include:

– Using puppets or dolls to identify and mimic different emotions. Clay Faces will work perfectly for the two year olds and up!

– Drawing pictures or finger paint to express feelings. Happy, sad, angry and excited faces are easy ones to draw.

– Playing music together and dancing.

– Building towers or block structures and then knocking them down in a controlled way.

– Go on a Scavenger Hunt – find things that make you feel different emotions. Find something that makes you feel happy, sad, scared, and safe.

The key is to provide your child with opportunities to safely explore and express their emotions in a supportive and playful environment.

In Person or Teletherapy Scavenger Hunts

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAY ACTIVITIES FOR 2-3 YEAR OLDS

Emotional development activities for 2-3 year olds can help toddlers learn how to effectively manage their emotions and develop healthy emotional habits that will serve them throughout life.

Some ideas specifically for 2-3 year olds include:

• Playing with toys or games that encourage them to identify their emotions, Use dolls that cry or laugh, puppets that show a range of emotions
• Acting out scenarios from books or stories together, using puppets or toys to represent the characters
• Singing songs about emotions together.
• Using music to express emotions.
• Using art projects like Funny Faces to identify emotions.
• Taking turns sharing stories about times when they felt a certain emotion.
• Breathing activities to help calm down.
• Yoga or other movement activities to help release energy.

The key is to provide your child with opportunities to safely explore and express their emotions in a supportive and playful environment.

GAMES TO HELP TODDLERS RECOGNIZE AND EXPRESS EMOTIONS

There are a variety of different games that can help toddlers learn to recognize and express their emotions. These are fun social-emotional activities. Some examples include:

• Emotion memory game: Use the free printable at the bottom of this post or write or draw different emotions on pieces of paper or cards, mix them up. Then have your toddler match the emotions with the correct facial expression.
• Emotion guessing game: Express a range of different emotions yourself and see if your toddler can guess what you’re feeling. You can also do this with Funny Faces, Clay Faces, puppets, or dolls.
• Emotion charades: Act out different emotions without speaking. See if your toddler can guess what emotion you’re portraying.
• Emotion bingo for when they get older : Create a bingo grid with images or words that represent different emotions. Then see if your toddler can fill in the squares as they identify different feelings.

STORIES TO HELP TODDLERS EXPRESS EMOTIONS

There are a variety of different stories that can be used as good social-emotional learning activities. Here are some of our favorites (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.):

The Feelings Book by Todd Parr

The Color Monster by Anna Llenas

When Sophie Gets Angry by Molly Bang

It’s never too early to start nurturing your child’s emotional development. These activities will help get you started. The games, stories, outdoor activities, and at-home exercises are a great way to promote positive emotions in your toddler. Lead your toddlers in these activities regularly, and watch their emotional intelligence grow!

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE EMOTIONS BOARD HERE

1. Sign up to receive the email newsletters and announcements from Your Therapy Source. If you are already signed up simply enter your email to access the download.
2. Download the PDF.
3. Help teach children about emotions.

Read more about emotional regulation.

Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers

25 Feelings Activities for Toddlers

Little people have big emotions! It is so important to allow toddlers to appropriately express their feelings and emotions that they don't fully understand. Sometimes as adults, we need reminders to be patient with our toddlers and understand that they are learning how to process their emotions and understand their feelings. It is important to teach children about emotions so as they grow and become more mature, they can handle their feelings and strong emotions in a positive way.

It's time to let your child actually play with their food! For this activity, you can use rice cakes and spread peanut butter, raisins, veggies, or chocolate chips to make facial expressions such as happy, sad, or angry faces. This is a very yummy way to learn about emotions!

Learn More: Child Fun

A fun way to teach toddlers about facial expressions is by using paper plate puppets. You will give each child a paper plate that has a smiley face on one side and a sad face on the other. You will share scenarios that prompt happy or sad feelings and discuss them.

Learn More: Child Fun

Creating a feeling wheel is a great way to explore all the toddler's emotions. It includes feeling hungry, shy, sleepy, surprised, sick, happy, sad, angry, funny, and nervous. Your child can select the emotion and corresponding picture to share how they are feeling.

Learn More: Etsy

Feeling flashcards are a helpful way to teach young children about their emotions. These flashcards represent 40 different emotions. It is a simple activity that will help your toddler to recognize the wide range of emotions they feel.

Learn More: Amazon

Paper Plate Emotion Masks help identify overwhelming emotions that toddlers may feel. It will guide them to see a representation of emotions and match them with facial expressions and feelings.

Learn More: Play Inspired Mum

Books are great resources to start the discussion about feelings with your child. There are several titles to choose from, including, "Lots of Feelings" by Shelley Rotner and more. Books are also an effective way to share illustrations of feelings and bond with your child.

Learn More: Zero To Three

7. A Little Spot of Feelings 

A Little Spot of Feelings comes with 9 plush toys and a corresponding activity book. This set will encourage your child to process negative emotions as well as positive emotions in a fun and engaging, hands-on way.

Learn More: Amazon

Labeling feelings is an effective method of validating your toddler's feelings. Some ways children can learn about feeling labels are through activities such as making cards for feelings or putting together feelings puzzles.

Learn More: Our Little Playnest

This learning about feelings activity set is a great way to teach toddlers and preschoolers about feelings. They can learn about emotions and even explore their playful feelings too.  Overall, this is an awesome resource to learn social-emotional skills while playing a fun game with family and friends.

Learn More: Kohls

10. Emotion Matching Game

Does your toddler enjoy matching games? This emotion matching game includes free emotion cards that will allow children to understand emotions using facial features. This activity will cognitively challenge children while engaging them in game-based learning and using motor skills.

Learn More: Outside The Toy Box

Emotion Bingo is a fun idea for teaching children self-regulation and emotion identification. It is also beneficial in practicing visual motor and fine motor skills. During the game, you may find opportunities to allow your little one to ask you questions about feelings or share their current emotions.

Learn More: Your Therapy Source

Creating emotion puppets will be an engaging way to teach your toddlers about emotions while making an awesome craft. Your child will learn about facial expressions and expressing feelings through color. This is a creative activity that can help with teaching your child about emotions. How cute are these puppets?!

Learn More: Montessori From The Heart

This is another excellent emotion game in which children will match the top and bottom portions of the face. They will choose from a wide array of emotions to identify the matching sets. This is a fun activity for your little one to learn matching and emotions simultaneously.

Learn More: Montessori From The Heart

Flip books are the perfect idea for young children to use because they are easy to navigate, and you can draw on them with dry-erase markers. My Feelings: My Choices Flip Book allows children to identify their feeling using the feelings chart and find the corresponding page number.

Learn More: Etsy

This printable pack includes a feelings thermometer, feelings wheel, feeling color chart, feelings list, and feelings alphabet. You can use these with your child on a daily basis to discuss feelings. These activities will promote emotional regulation and emotional expression. Even simple games can make a big difference.

Learn More: Etsy

The emotion board game is a fun social-emotional activity for children to interact and have fun playing board games while they learn about feelings and emotions. All of these game pieces are printable so you can have them downloaded and printed in minutes.

Learn More: Etsy

Modeling the feelings flip chart with your child will promote conversations about emotions. I recommend taking turns with your child to identify emotions on the chart and selecting the most appropriate follow-up action. This is a great activity that will open the discussion about emotions with your little one.

Learn More: Amazon

The puppy matching emotion game uses super cute emotion characters to teach toddlers about communication skills and facial expressions. If you have a toddler who loves puppies, you may want to check out this printable activity.

Learn More: Etsy

Who is ready for a fun game of charades? I know I am! Playing feelings charades will help little ones identify and process emotions and how other people express their feelings. As a result, children will start to be more accepting and understand other people's feelings.

Learn More: Centervention

This StoryBots Super Songs video is perfect for teaching your toddler about emotions. Teaching emotions with songs can enable your child to understand emotions in a different way. After watching this video with your child, discuss how your child is feeling along with calming skills.

Learn More: Netflix Jr.

Circle time is the perfect time to talk to your little ones about how they are feeling. As the day is starting, children can share what is on their minds. I love the idea of taking pictures of your child with different expressions and having them pick one to share.

Learn More: No Time For Flashcards

Stack and build emotion kids is a great tool to help teach children about body language. It is important to understand interpreting body language to identify how someone may be feeling. This will help with friendship skills and developing empathy.

Learn More: Lakeshore Learning

Check out this free printable calm down a mini book that serves as a reminder for your child of the positive choices they can make when they are feeling sad or angry. Some of the choices include asking for a hug, counting to five, and taking deep breaths.

Learn More: The Mommy View

Calm down cubes are a fantastic and fun way to assist your child with regulating their emotions. The calm down cubes include 12 different soothing strategies such as, "hug a toy", "draw a picture", and my personal favorite, "dance it out".

Learn More: Lakeshore Learning

Incorporating an affirmation station in your home or school is very beneficial for children of all ages. This special place is set up with a mirror and words of affirmation to remind your child of positive thoughts and feelings when they are feeling down. What a confidence booster, too!

Learn More: Etsy

My children can't get enough of Cosmic Kids Yoga. This particular episode is about exploring feelings. Children will learn about feelings, emotions, and how to appropriately channel their energy using fun yoga poses.

Learn More: Cosmic Kids Yoga

8 months to 2 years, 2 to 4 years, 4 to 7 years

• Baby club
• How are the classes
• Educational activities for children

All types of intelligence are carefully developed in the Baby Club: social, personal, spatial, verbal, digital, spiritual, creative, sensory, physical, sensual. For each age, we choose exactly those tasks that contribute to a comprehensive and harmonious development.

In every club there are always favorite general developmental activities, but in addition to them, many clubs offer a wide range of additional services.

Main activities

Additional activities

The main task of this age is socialization. Children learn to communicate with each other, find a common language, and in exciting games they learn a lot about everything in the world.

• In class, kids actively develop the so-called speech center, for which the points on the palms are responsible: finger gymnastics, the development of motor skills prepare children for speech.
• The development of dexterity and coordination of movements in game tasks helps children maintain a "healthy mind in a healthy body"!
• By developing their communication skills, the guys begin to feel more confident in a new space and when communicating with new people.
• Gradually, kids learn to share, negotiate, sympathize - this is how they acquire social skills that help them find friends.
• Children learn everything new in short games that alternate with no less exciting breaks.
• The guys increase their active and passive vocabulary, get acquainted with the numbers and letters that are so often found around us.
• Children with pleasure try to work with various materials for creativity.
• Toddlers develop their taste in music by listening to classical music in every class.

At this age, children are already actively preparing for adulthood. They strive for independence and independence, try on more and more new roles.

• In game situations, children develop their speech, do speech therapy exercises. After all, this way they will be able to talk about their great ideas and accomplishments clearly and understandably.
• They get acquainted with numbers and acquire the first counting skills, which helps them to better navigate the world around them, for example, to recognize familiar bus numbers, keep track of their toys ;) - everything is grown-up!
• They recognize the letters, get the first reading and writing skills - oh, how the child needs them to show adults that he himself knows where it says "Shop" or the name of his favorite fairy tale . .. Any new word is very quickly associated with the image and enters into vocabulary.
• They gain knowledge about various natural phenomena and about the world: for example, about the change of seasons, about seas and continents, about the human body. That allows you to flaunt your mind and ingenuity in front of adults.
• Although it is still difficult for children at this age to perceive abstract tasks, any game in the classroom is interesting for them - visual materials, beautiful bright manuals and the skill of specialist storytellers leave no one indifferent.
• But the most important thing is that children learn conflict-free communication with their peers, they know how to defend their opinion and argue on a variety of topics.

At this age, they are already thinking about school and preparing for it. It is important that the child is at ease there and does not experience stress in a new environment.

• Assignments remain fun, but become more difficult: the children learn to concentrate on the task and not be distracted.
• In order for development to be harmonious, in addition to mastering reading, counting and communication skills, children must also develop their physical intelligence: they participate in games to develop dexterity, endurance and coordination.
• Even children learn to distinguish between their own and other people's emotions, find the causes of manifestations of character and cope with different life situations.
• Children happily get used to doing everything on their own and with pleasure, so they won’t have to help with homework at school either.
• And from the very first lessons, we train fine motor skills and devote time to hand placement, so children at school will not get tired when writing.

Come to classes at the nearest Baby Club

club - a network of children's development centers, private kindergartens and clubs

For children from 3 months to 7 years

from 3 months to 7 years

• with professional teachers
• in the atmosphere of play and joy
• next to the house

Everything at once in the Baby Club!

You no longer have to choose where to send your child. Classes are structured so that the baby develops immediately
in several directions

• Speech development
• Agility, coordination
• Logic
• Communication
• Creative development
• Articulation

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We train the skills of the future

to make children's dreams come true

• Olesya, 5 years old

  I want to have many friends

  It is necessary to develop communication skills

• Stepan, 4 years old

  I will become an astronaut and fly into space!

  Thinking skills are indispensable

• Elisha, 6 years old

  And I will make cool computer games and play them myself!

  Skill required complex problem solving

• Nastya, 6 years old

  I love animals and want them to live peacefully in clean forests

  The task is not for one person, you need teamwork skills

• Arseniy, 5 years old

  I don't know what I want to become, but when I grow up, I will have the best job!

  How to create something that doesn't exist yet? Will help critical thinking

Choose a convenient schedule

We develop 10 types of intelligence

so that your child grows up happy, healthy and successful

Creative

This is not only the ability to be creative, in a broad sense it is the ability to think outside the box, to be original.

At the Baby Club, we believe it is important to give children the opportunity to think freely and bring something new to play and creative work.

Personal

The development of personal intelligence is in the phrase: "Know thyself!".

In the Baby Club, we teach a child to listen and understand himself, to reflect on his strengths and weaknesses, to develop self-confidence.

Social

In the classroom, children learn to enjoy communication, speak in public and not be afraid of the stage, be able to communicate with peers and adults, listen to others and be sociable.

Physical

Our classes include outdoor games, coordination exercises.

The alternation of training and rest, the constant change of activity are the main components of the development of physical intelligence.

Spiritual

Its foundations are laid at a young age. This is the ability to perceive oneself as part of a vast universe.

Experienced, we introduce kids to objects and phenomena, the world around us, help the child to find a positive meaning in life and a broad outlook.

Sensory

In class, we listen to music or sounds of nature, depict our feelings, experiment, explore and guess smells, taste, discuss.

In this way we develop the five main senses and intuition.

Sensual

From an early age, it is important for children to feel physical contact with other people.

In the classroom, boys and girls learn to take care of each other, give and receive compliments, and discuss the differences between a man and a woman with a specialist.

Spatial

Helps the child to feel the connection of objects in space, to realize their place in society.

In the Baby Club we play chess, learn to navigate with a compass and maps, think spatially, lay the foundations of skills for future doctors and artists, artists and engineers.

Digital

At the Baby Club, we introduce children to numbers from an early age. Leo Tolstoy said: “Counting up to 100 is the basis of mathematics.”

In the classroom, children learn how to measure their height and weight, add and subtract, calculate class time, and even calculate money for their purchases.

Verbal

At the lessons in the Baby Club, children learn to read texts and retell, clearly and figuratively express their thoughts, fantasize and invent their own stories.

Helping to see the strengths of your child

For example, a child needs to learn a poem. How to make it easier and faster? Depends on what skills the child has more developed