lenny

Feelings Friends

Lesson Plan

Feelings Friends Lesson Plan

Students will learn to recognize and understand emotions in themselves and peers, and practice responding empathetically through stories, visual aids, and interactive games.

Developing empathy helps Pre-K children build positive peer relationships, manage emotions, and create a caring classroom environment.

Audience

Pre-K

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Interactive stories, discussions, and matching games.

Materials

Empathy Storybook, Feelings Faces Chart, Feelings Cards Deck, Empathy Response Cards, and Music Player For Transitions

Prep

Prepare Empathy Materials

5 minutes

Step 1

Welcome and Introduction

5 minutes

  • Gather students in a circle on the carpet.
  • Show the Feelings Faces Chart and introduce the word “empathy” as noticing and caring about others’ feelings.
  • Play a short settling song (use Music Player For Transitions) to focus attention.

Step 2

Story Time

8 minutes

  • Read the Empathy Storybook aloud.
  • Pause at key pages and ask: “How do you think this character feels?”
  • Encourage children to point to faces on the chart and name emotions.

Step 3

Emotion Matching Activity

7 minutes

Step 4

Empathy Response Game

7 minutes

  • Give each student one Empathy Response Cards.
  • Present simple scenarios (e.g., “Your friend is sad because they lost a toy”).
  • Have students choose a response card and explain why it shows empathy.

Step 5

Closing Reflection

3 minutes

  • Ask students to share one way they can help a friend who is sad or happy.
  • Reinforce the term “empathy” and praise thoughtful ideas.
  • End with a short goodbye song (Music Player For Transitions).
lenny
0 educators
use Lenny to create lessons.

No credit card needed

Slide Deck

Feelings Friends!

Let’s learn about empathy together!

Welcome the children warmly. Introduce yourself as their friend for today’s lesson. Explain that over the next 30 minutes they will become Feelings Friends and learn about empathy.

What is Empathy?

“Empathy” means noticing and caring about how others feel.

Define empathy in simple terms. Ask: “Have you ever felt sad when a friend was sad? That’s empathy!”

Meet Our Feelings Chart

😊 Happy 😢 Sad 😠 Angry 😨 Scared

Show the chart you hung up earlier: Feelings Faces Chart. Point to each face and name the feeling.

Story Time!

Let’s read our Empathy Storybook.

Hold up the Empathy Storybook. Tell students you’ll read and pause to talk about the character’s feelings.

How Is the Character Feeling?

Point to a face on the chart and tell what emotion you see!

Pause on a picture page. Ask: “How do you think this character feels?” Encourage pointing to the chart.

Emotion Matching

Find the matching face on the chart using your Feelings Cards Deck.

Spread the Feelings Cards Deck on the floor. Invite each child to choose one and find its match on the chart.

Empathy Response Game

Pick a response card to show how you would help a friend.

Hand out one Empathy Response Cards to each child. Read a scenario and have them show their card.

Let’s Reflect

Share one way you can help a friend who is sad or happy.

Gather children back in the circle. Ask each: “How can you help a friend who is sad or happy?” Praise all ideas.

Great Job, Feelings Friends!

Let’s end with our goodbye song!

Celebrate the learning. Play a short goodbye song on the Music Player and sing together.

lenny

Worksheet

Feelings Faces Chart

Use this chart to help us notice and name our feelings.

FeelingFace
Happy😊
Sad😢
Angry😠
Scared😨

(Teacher tip: Hang this chart at student eye level so children can point to each face when we talk about how characters or friends feel.)

lenny
lenny

Worksheet

Feelings Friends Cards

Print this page and cut along the lines to create your emotion cards. Use them for the Emotion Matching Activity.

😊 Happy😊 Happy
😢 Sad😢 Sad
😠 Angry😠 Angry
😨 Scared😨 Scared
😊 Happy😊 Happy
😢 Sad😢 Sad
😠 Angry😠 Angry
😨 Scared😨 Scared

(Each page has two copies of each feeling card. Cut along the cell borders to make individual cards.)

lenny
lenny

Worksheet

Empathy Response Cards

Print this page and cut along the lines to create your Empathy Response Cards. Use them for the Empathy Response Game to show how you can care for a friend’s feelings.

I can give you a hug.I can share my toy.
I can say, “I’m sorry you’re feeling sad.”I can ask, “How can I help you?”
I can say, “You are not alone.”I can smile to show I care.
I can say, “I like being your friend.”I can say, “It’s okay to feel this way.”
I can sit next to you quietly.I can listen if you want to talk.
I can give you my hand to hold.I can draw a picture together.

(Each page has two sets of empathy response cards. Cut along the cell borders to make individual cards.)

lenny
lenny

Reading

Empathy Storybook: The Sharing Sunshine

Page 1

It was a sunny morning in Rainbow Meadow.
Bunny Bella hopped over to her friend Turtle Tim.
“Good morning, Tim!” she said with a big smile.
Tim looked at his shell and frowned.

Page 2

“Is something wrong, Tim?” asked Bella.
Tim sighed. “My favorite ball rolled into the tall grass, and I can’t find it.”
Bella’s ears drooped. She saw Tim felt sad.

Page 3

Bella hopped back to her little den and grabbed her extra ball.
She carried it carefully to Tim.
“I want you to have this ball,” Bella said.
Tim’s eyes shone.

Page 4

“Thank you, Bella! You are so kind,” Tim cheered.
Bella smiled. She felt warm inside knowing she helped her friend.

Page 5

Just then, Squirrel Sam bounced by, looking worried.
“My acorns rolled down the hill!” Sam sighed.

Page 6

Bella remembered how good it felt to help Tim.
She and Tim raced Sam down the hill to gather the acorns.
Together, they found every acorn under a tall oak.

Page 7

Sam clapped her paws.
“Thank you, friends! You made me feel happy again.”
Bella and Tim waved as they walked home, their hearts full of sunshine.

The End

Remember: When you notice someone feels sad, you can show empathy—help them feel better, just like Bella!

lenny
lenny

Cool Down

Empathy Cool-Down

Look at the picture below of two friends giving each other a hug.

(Teacher: Display or draw a simple picture of two children hugging.)

1. How do you think the friends feel? Why?







2. Finish the sentence:

"I can show empathy by _______________________________________________________"










Invite students to share their responses with the group.

lenny
lenny