"Emotions are central to all human experiences. Our well-being depends upon our ability to understand, express and regulate our emotions and our ability to empathise with others. Being able to empathise comes with experience. Young children can begin to develop the ability to look beyond what appears on the outside and take on board the context in which the feelings are being expressed
Feelings and emotions form an essential part of our lives and our well-being. It is important that children develop a vocabulary for feelings so that they: - can express themselves openly; - are aware that feelings change; and - understand that it is ok to feel different ways at the same time."
For younger children, the emotional vocabulary can be hard to interpret. Visual aids can be invaluable in opening up and understanding the world of emotions.
Our Emooji cards have been developed specifically for primary children. Engaging designs allow for children's interpretation of different thoughts, moods and feelings.
The cards are flexible to use in a number of settings both individually or in group games.
Re-experiencing positive emotions is important for building optimism. Optimism is more than our hope about the future. It is also about the pleasure we experience around us and what we take from our memories because these build the foundation of optimism and hope. Building our sense of optimism can protect us from bad experiences taking their toll on us.
The flexibility of the cards allows for a variety of inclusions- why not try some activity ideas...
Mood Journey: Strengthen self-reflection & emotional intelligence
Invite the young person to select Emooji cards which capture how they have felt throughout the day or week. Get them to lay them out in a timeline and encourage them to tell you about the cards.
Examples might be;
"I was grumpy in the morning getting ready for school"
"Playing with my friends at playtime made me really excited!"
"I was content after dinner when I watched some TV"
Feel Good in 5 Minutes: Building Optimism
Ask the young person to recreate a positive memory using the cards - it could be a specific time (holiday or birthday) or it could be more general like a certain year or "going to the beach"
They can choose as many cards as they like. Ask them to arrange them in a shape that represents the memory- they can be grouped or in a timeline, etc.
Even good memories can have "bad" feelings and it is important to include them.
Invite the young person to talk you through the cards they have chosen.
Our Emooji cards come with a range of activity ideas., more are also available at: