Feelings Face Paper Plate
Suggested Age Group(s): Pre-school, Young
Purpose: To identify emotions and also learn to express them
Task/need: Move toward the pain of the loss
Activity Setup Ideas: Discuss with the children different feeling words they may have had recently. Try to explore not just the feeling words, but also the ways that the feeling is experienced in the body as well as how the feeling is displayed; such as how a person's face looks when feeling the emotion. Have the children act out a time they felt each feeling and then discuss what made them feel that way.
Materials:
- Paper plate
- Small poster board
- Markers/crayons
- Scissors
- Brads
Description:
- Trace around the paper plate onto poster board so that a circle is made the size of the paper plate.
- Cut out this circle on the poster board or allow the child to do it.
- Divide the circles into four different sections, each being equal in size.
- Discuss what four feeling words the child feels most often. Write each feeling in one of the quadrants.
- Along with the word, allow the child to draw a picture of how a person's mouth looks when feeling that emotion. For example, a turned down mouth would indicate sad.
- Cut out a fourth of the paper plate. Try to match the size to what was drawn on the poster board.
- Tell the child that the cut out part of the paper plate will be the mouth and have him/her decorate the face on the paper plate. The more creative and involved the child is, the more likely he/she will utilize the tool.
- After decorated, place the paper plate over the poster board circle.
- Place a brad at the apex of the cut-out section of the paper plate, allowing for the poster board to be behind the paper plate. They will both now be connected but the plate can be turned to display each of the four sections.
Activity Wrap Up Ideas: Discuss with the group how to use this tool at home.
