What is a naming emotions activity?

This is a fun and playful activity to help your child learn about emotions.

This activity:

helps your child recognise emotions
gives your child practice with naming emotions.

Why learning about emotions is good for children

Learning about emotions can help children to:

respond appropriately to everyday experiences
recognise, name and manage strong emotions
communicate their needs to others
develop and maintain relationships
understand other people’s points of view.

What you need for a naming emotions activity with your child

You just need your face and your body to do this naming emotions activity with your child.

You can do this emotions activity anywhere and anytime you play with your child.

How to play naming emotions with your child

Choose an emotion – for example, ‘excited’.
Talk with your child about a time you felt that emotion and when they might feel it too. For example, ‘I get excited when it’s my birthday. When do you get excited?’
Show your child the emotion with your face and body. For example, show your child an excited face, clap your hands, jump up and down, and so on.
Say the emotion while you show it. For example, ‘I’m feeling excited’.
Ask your child to show you the same emotion with their face and body.
Take turns showing and guessing different emotions and talking about times when you feel these emotions.
If your child is finding it difficult to identify emotions, start with emotions your child already recognises, like ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘angry’, ‘scared’, ‘embarrassed’ or ‘excited’.

You and your child could also try drawing emotion faces for each other to guess. Or you could use favourite puppets or toys to act out emotions and then talk about the emotions the toys are ‘feeling’. For example, a toy might be feeling too scared to play or very excited about a party.

How to adapt this emotions activity for children of different ages

Younger children

Praise your child for trying to name emotions. If your child gets it ‘wrong’, give hints. For example, ‘Yes, someone could be tickling me. Or maybe I’m happy. Do you think I look like this when I’m happy?’

It can also help to do this activity using simple emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, anger or excitement.

Older children

Your older child will have words for more complex emotions, like ‘confused’, ‘jealous’ or ‘irritated’. Your child will probably find it easier to connect the names of emotions with their own experiences.

How to adapt this emotions activity for children with diverse abilities

Anxiety

Use a doll or puppet to act out emotions. Your child can guess the emotion, talk about when the doll or puppet might feel it, or show you what the puppet could do.

Communication

Model the emotion word and give your child different ways to show or identify the emotion. For example, you can say, ‘I’m feeling excited!’ while showing an excited face. Then invite your child to:

point to a picture
use a gesture or sign
make a sound
use their communication device
show the emotion with their face or body.

Difficulty with eye contact

Focus on hands and arms instead of looking directly at faces. Or use a doll or puppet for the activity.

Energy

Do this activity with your whole bodies. You could use big movements like jumping, swaying arms, stretching, crouching or shaking.

Low vision

Children with low vision or blindness might need you to clearly describe facial expressions and body movements. You can also use tone of voice to show emotions.

Restricted mobility

Try this activity using facial expressions, different tones of voice, gestures, sounds or movements that are comfortable and accessible for your child.

Sensory sensitivities

Reduce other sensory stimulation. For example, lower the volume or turn off background music and avoid flashing lights or screens.
Use movements, sounds or materials that your child finds comfortable.
Take breaks so your child doesn’t get overwhelmed.

You can get more ideas for adapting this activity from our articles on play and autistic children and play and children with disability. You might also like to explore our other activity guides. They can all be adapted to suit children with diverse strengths and abilities.