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Apples to Apples: Emotion Edition

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Lesson Plan

Apples to Apples: Emotion Edition

The student will learn to identify and express a range of emotions using descriptive words and personal examples, improving their emotional vocabulary and self-awareness.

Understanding and communicating emotions is a fundamental life skill that helps students navigate social situations, build healthy relationships, and manage their feelings effectively. This lesson provides a low-pressure, engaging way to practice these skills.

Audience

4th Grade Individual Student

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Interactive game-based learning and guided discussion.

Materials

Apples to Apples game, Emotion Cards, and Emotion Expression Worksheet

Prep

Preparation Steps

10 minutes

Step 1

Introduction & Warm-Up (5 minutes)

5 minutes

  • Greet the student and explain the purpose of the session: "Today, we're going to play a fun game to help us talk about and understand different feelings!"
  • Briefly explain how Apples to Apples works with an emotional twist: "Instead of matching nouns to adjectives, we'll be matching emotion words to situations or feelings described on the green cards."
  • Show the student the Emotion Cards and ask if they recognize any of the feelings. Discuss one or two briefly.

Step 2

Apples to Apples: Emotion Round 1 (10 minutes)

10 minutes

  • Deal 5-7 Emotion Cards (red cards) to the student. Explain they are the 'Feeling Cards'.
  • Place a blank green card in the center, acting as the 'Situation Card'. The counselor will verbally provide a situation or a description of a feeling (e.g., "When you get a surprise gift," or "Feeling bubbly and excited inside").
  • The student chooses one of their Emotion Cards that best describes how they would feel in that situation or matches the description, placing it face down.
  • The counselor turns over the chosen card. Discuss why the student chose that emotion, asking questions like: "Why did you pick that emotion? Can you tell me about a time you felt that way?"
  • Play 2-3 rounds, rotating who describes the situation/feeling if appropriate (e.g., the student can describe a time they felt a certain way, and the counselor picks a matching emotion card).

Step 3

Apples to Apples: Emotion Round 2 & Discussion (10 minutes)

10 minutes

  • Introduce the Emotion Expression Worksheet.
  • Explain: "Sometimes, it's hard to put feelings into words, but games like this can help! Now, let's think about how we show our feelings."
  • Play 2-3 more rounds of Apples to Apples, but this time, after the student plays an Emotion Card, ask them to describe how someone might express that emotion. (e.g., For "Happy," they might say, "I smile, laugh, and jump up and down.")
  • Use the Emotion Expression Worksheet to prompt discussion: "What does 'frustrated' look like? What do you do when you feel 'nervous'?"
  • Record some of their responses on the worksheet as examples if they are comfortable.

Step 4

Cool-Down & Reflection (5 minutes)

5 minutes

  • Conclude the game.
  • Ask the student: "What was one new emotion word you thought about today?" or "What did you learn about your own feelings or how you show them?"
  • Reinforce the importance of recognizing and expressing feelings in healthy ways.
  • Remind them that it's okay to feel all emotions and that you are there to talk about them. Give them the Emotion Expression Worksheet to take home if appropriate.
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Slide Deck

Apples to Apples: Emotion Edition

Understanding Our Feelings, One Card at a Time!

Welcome the student and explain the session's focus on understanding emotions. Briefly introduce the Apples to Apples game with an emotional twist.

How to Play: Emotion Match!

Match the best emotion to the situation!

  • Green Card: The situation or feeling
  • Red Cards: Your emotion choices
  • Pick the emotion that best fits!

Let's talk about why you chose it!

Explain how the game works. The green card (imagined or a blank one) will describe a situation or a feeling, and the red cards are different emotions. The student will pick the emotion that best fits.

Emotion Situations: Round 1

Let's imagine these situations:

  • When you lose your favorite toy.
  • When you get a good grade on a test.
  • When you have to wait a long time for something.

Start with some practice rounds. The counselor can verbally give the prompt, and the student can lay down their chosen emotion card. Discuss their reasoning.

Showing Our Feelings

How do we show our emotions?

  • What does 'happy' look like?
  • What do you do when you feel 'frustrated'?

We'll use our Emotion Expression Worksheet to explore this!

Introduce the idea of how emotions are expressed physically and behaviorally. This transitions into the worksheet activity. Refer to the Emotion Expression Worksheet.

Reflecting on Feelings

Today we:

  • Explored different emotions.
  • Talked about how we feel and show feelings.

Remember, all your feelings are important!

Conclude the session by summarizing key takeaways and reinforcing that all feelings are okay. Encourage them to continue thinking about and expressing their emotions.

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Activity

Emotion Cards

Cut out these cards to use as the "red" cards in your Apples to Apples: Emotion Edition game. You can print multiple copies for more variety.

Happy

Sad

Angry

Scared

Excited

Frustrated

Surprised

Nervous

Calm

Confused

Proud

Embarrassed

Grateful

Lonely

Joyful

Worried

Brave

Annoyed

Hopeful

Curious

Disappointed

Content

Shy

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Worksheet

My Emotion Expression Worksheet

How do we show our feelings? Sometimes our bodies or faces show feelings without us even saying a word! Think about the emotions we talked about today and how you (or others) might show them.

Emotion: Happy

  • What does happy look like on your face?



  • What does your body do when you're happy?



  • What do you usually say or do when you feel happy?



Emotion: Sad

  • What does sad look like on your face?



  • What does your body do when you're sad?



  • What do you usually say or do when you feel sad?



Emotion: Angry

  • What does angry look like on your face?



  • What does your body do when you're angry?



  • What do you usually say or do when you feel angry?



Emotion: Scared

  • What does scared look like on your face?



  • What does your body do when you're scared?



  • What do you usually say or do when you feel scared?



My Own Emotion to Explore:

  • Pick another emotion (like Excited, Frustrated, Calm, or any other you thought about today):



  • What does this emotion look like on your face?



  • What does your body do when you feel this emotion?



  • What do you usually say or do when you feel this emotion?



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