Emotions Fan

IUnderstanding emotions is a key social-emotional learning goal for young children. When children can identify and label their own feelings and recognize emotions in others, they gain skills that benefit social relationships and self-regulation abilities. This engaging emotions fan activity helps teach children to connect emotional words and facial expressions.

The resource includes 15 illustrated fans depicting different emotions. Vivid facial expressions clearly convey the feelings happy, sad, scared, tired, worried, excited, angry, disappointed, silly, jealous, confused, poorly, disgusted, surprised and embarrassed. By matching the facial cues to emotion words, children build their emotional vocabulary and recognition skills. Caregivers can prompt conversations about each feeling, as well as when and why we experience different emotions.

Learning about emotions builds self-awareness. Children will gain tools to articulate their own feelings, rather than acting out. The fan pieces also encourage nonverbal children to communicate emotions through visuals. Beyond self-understanding, these materials teach valuable empathy and social skills. Recognizing others' emotions helps foster supportive social relationships.

With colorful illustrations and essential vocabulary, this activity engages children in learning about feelings. By linking facial expressions and words, children will gain emotional awareness and language to express themselves. This promotes self-regulation and social-emotional competencies that allow preschool and early elementary students to identify, understand, and navigate emotions effectively.

Clipart images courtesy of Kari Bolt Children’s Illustrator.