Emotion Charades

Objective: Students will practice recognizing and expressing four basic emotions through nonverbal play, strengthening their emotion vocabulary and observation skills.

Materials:

• Emotion Flashcards

Prep (5 minutes):

• Print and cut out all emotion flashcards.
• Place cards face down in a hat or box.

Instructions:

1. Group Formation (2 minutes)
   • Divide the class into small groups of 3–4 students.
   • Explain: “Today we’ll play a guessing game using only our faces and bodies!”
2. Charades Rounds (6 minutes)
   • One student from each group draws a card without showing it to others.
   • The student silently acts out the emotion on the card (happy, sad, angry, surprised).
   • Group members guess the emotion. The actor nods or shakes their head to indicate right or wrong.
   • Rotate so each child gets 1–2 turns acting and guessing.
3. Group Reflection (2 minutes)
   • Bring everyone back together.
   • Ask: “Which emotion was easiest to guess? Which was hardest?”
   • Encourage children to share times they’ve felt one of these emotions and how they showed it on their faces or bodies.

Follow-Up Point:

• Highlight how noticing others’ faces helps us know how friends feel—and that naming our own feelings is the first step to taking care of them.

Session 1 Story Script

Teacher stands in front of the circle holding the Emotion Flashcards

Teacher: “Good morning, friends! Today we’re going to meet a very special hero named Captain Calm. But first, let’s warm up our feeling muscles. I’m going to hold up a card, and I want you to tell me how this person feels. Ready?”

Show the Happy flashcard
Teacher: “How do you think this person feels?”

Teacher: “Yes! They look happy—smiling from ear to ear!”

Show the Sad flashcard
Teacher: “What about this one?”

Teacher: “That’s right—sad. You can tell by those droopy eyes.”

Show the Angry flashcard
Teacher: “And this face?”

Teacher: “Perfect—you spotted angry!”

Show the Surprised flashcard
Teacher: “Last one—how about this?”

Teacher: “Great job—surprised, with big wide eyes!”

Teacher sets the flashcards aside and adopts a story‐teller voice

Teacher: “Once upon a time, High above the clouds, lived a kind hero named Captain Calm. Captain Calm’s job was to help all the children on Planet Feelings. One sunny morning, Captain Calm flew past a little house and heard a soft sniffle…”

Teacher pauses, leans in
Teacher: “What do you think that was? A sneeze? A giggle?”

Teacher: “A sad sniffle—someone felt sad!”

Teacher: “Captain Calm landed gently and saw a little bear with tears in her eyes. ‘Oh dear,’ said Captain Calm, ‘I can help you name that feeling.’”

Teacher: “Next, Captain Calm visited the Busy Bear Market, where a big bear waved his arms and stomped his feet…”

Teacher: “What feeling do you see in those stomps?”

Teacher: “That’s right—he’s angry!”

Teacher: “Captain Calm knelt down and said, ‘I know just the trick to help you calm your roar.’ Then off he flew to the Surprise Meadow…”

Teacher: “Suddenly, the meadow burst with fireworks and everyone gasped…”

Teacher: “Yes—you guessed it—surprised!”

Teacher: “Last, Captain Calm floated over to the Happy Hill, where a giggling bear bounced like a spring…”

Teacher: “How does it feel to bounce like that?”

Teacher: “Happy, of course!”

Teacher returns to normal voice

Teacher: “Captain Calm knew that naming our feelings is the first step to taking care of them. And he had a special trick called star-breathing to help calm big feelings. We’ll learn that trick in just a bit! But first, let’s stretch our bodies and play a fun game to remember all four feelings.”

Teacher smiles
Teacher: “Thank you for listening. You did an amazing job identifying feelings with me!”

Session 1 Coloring Worksheet

1. Color Captain Calm in the picture below:

2. Draw your own breathing star:
(Trace the points with your finger and breathe in on one side, out on the next.)

3. Circle one feeling you remember:
Happy Sad Angry Surprised

Session 1 Cool Down

Time: 5 minutes

Materials:

• Session 1 Coloring Worksheet

Instructions:

1. Breathing Star and Coloring (3 minutes)
   • Play soft, calming music.
   • Invite students to trace their breathing star on the worksheet, inhaling as they trace one point and exhaling on the next.
   • Encourage them to color Captain Calm quietly while keeping those slow, steady breaths.
2. Feeling Reflection (1 minute)
   • Gather students back into a small circle.
   • Ask: “How do you feel now? Which feeling did you color?”
   • Give each child a moment to share one word or show a thumbs-up/thumbs-down to express their calm.
3. Calm Goodbye (1 minute)
   • Lead a gentle group clap or a quiet “wave hello” to Captain Calm.
   • Remind students: “Whenever you feel big feelings, just use your star breath and remember Captain Calm!”

Breathing Star Game

Objective: Children will practice the star-breathing technique in a playful, hands-on way—strengthening inhaling/exhaling coordination and self-regulation skills.

Materials:

• Breathing Star Template (one per child)
• Small dot-stickers (5 per child) or dot stickers that fit on each star point
• (Optional) Soft, calming music

Prep (2 minutes):

• Give each child a Breathing Star Template and a small sheet of dot-stickers.
• Model how to place stickers on star points in sync with slow breath.

Instructions (8 minutes):

1. Model One Cycle (1 minute)
   • Hold up your template and point to the first star tip. Say: “Breathe in as you place a sticker here.”
   • Move to the next valley and say: “Breathe out as you place a sticker there.”
   • Continue around the star so children see one full inhale/exhale cycle.
2. Sticker Breathing Race (5 minutes)
   • Explain: “When I say ‘Go,’ place your stickers one at a time, breathing in on a tip and out on a valley—just like Captain Calm’s star breath!”
   • (Optional) Play soft music to guide the pace.
   • Say “Go!” and let children work at their own pace to place all five stickers in sync with their breathing.
   • Celebrate everyone when they finish—there’s no single winner, just high-fives for calm breathing!
3. Switch and Share (2 minutes)
   • Invite a few volunteers to show their decorated star and take the class through one breathing cycle.
   • Ask: “How did it feel to breathe in and out on each point?”

Follow-Up Point:

• Remind children that whenever they feel big feelings, they can grab their star and do the sticker breath—inhale on one point, exhale on the next—to help calm their bodies and minds.

Breathing Star Template

Instructions for Students:
Trace the star shape below with your finger.
• Breathe in slowly as you move to each ★ point.
• Breathe out gently as you move through each valley (space between points).

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