Traffic light for emotional regulation
The emotion garland is a simple tool for naming, discussing and categorising feelings. For example, each child can take turns attaching their clip to an emotion while sitting in a circle. Smileys are used to illustrate the six basic emotions: joy (yellow), surprise (orange), disgust (green), anger (red), fear (purple) and sadness (blue).
Naming feelings yourself:
If the children are a little older, they can also name their feelings or find a comparison:
- „I'm excited today.“
- „I feel sad“
- „I am cheerful.“
- "I feel like a volcano"
- "There is a soft cloud inside me"
Help the children find the right words for their current emotions:
- „Are you feeling cheerful?“
- "Look inside yourself and see where you feel this sensation. Does it feel like excited butterflies fluttering around in your tummy?"
- "It looks as if there is a cloud of grumpiness inside you. Are you feeling annoyed?"
Perhaps the children can even say why they feel that way, whether they have had an argument, miss their pet or have been happy about something.
What are feelings?
Feelings are emotions such as fear, sadness, anger, surprise, disgust and joy that accompany us throughout our lives. These emotions embody our inner desires, goals and needs. They occur as a reaction to a state or situation.
Children often experience their feelings very intensely. This makes it all the more important for them to learn how to deal with their feelings and express them appropriately. Children first have to learn to name their feelings, explore their causes and accept all emotions. To this end, we can create a safe environment in which feelings can be held and experienced.
Playful tools such as books, pictures or hand puppets are helpful in promoting emotional skills. It is important to listen openly, to talk about feelings in everyday life and to show children that even emotions that are perceived as negative or stressful, such as anger or sadness, are allowed and can be expressed constructively.
Mood glass and facial expressions:
The mood glass can be printed out for each child. During morning circle time, they can then colour in the heart that matches the day in the colour that reflects how they are feeling at that moment. It is important to note that this is only a snapshot of the many feelings they may experience throughout the day.
The faces have different expressions. The eyebrows and mouth indicate different feelings. Children can draw eyebrows, mouths, noses and eyes on the blank faces themselves. How does it look when the corners of the mouth point upwards or downwards? Try out different faces with the children, pull faces with them and smile broadly with them. Observe with the children what changes in the face.
Engaging in conversation with children
These puzzles and hand puppets are a fun way to get kids talking about their feelings:
