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Feelings Garden

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Lesson Plan

Feelings Garden Lesson Plan

Kindergarteners will explore grief through a garden metaphor by identifying and expressing their feelings, then creating a ‘feeling flower’ to share and support one another.

This lesson builds emotional awareness and empathy, giving young students language to understand loss in a safe, developmentally appropriate way and fostering a caring classroom community.

Audience

Kindergarten

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Metaphor-based storytelling, visuals, hands-on art

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

Step 1

Welcome & Grounding

3 minutes

  • Greet students in a circle and introduce the idea that sometimes we feel sad when we miss someone or something
  • Establish that it’s okay to have big feelings and that we’ll explore them together

Step 2

Story & Discussion

7 minutes

  • Share a short, simple story: “In our feelings garden, each feeling is like a plant.”
  • Ask: “What happens when a plant loses its leaves? How do we care for it?”
  • Connect leaves falling to feelings of loss or sadness

Step 3

Garden Metaphor Visuals

5 minutes

  • Point to Feelings Garden Visual Chart
  • Explain: “A seed is like the start of a feeling, roots are our support, flowers are how we show feelings.”
  • Emphasize that watering is like talking or sharing what we feel

Step 4

Feeling Flower Activity

10 minutes

  • Distribute Feeling Flower Coloring Sheet and crayons
  • Prompt: “Draw or color your flower using colors that show how you feel inside when you’re sad or missing someone.”
  • Circulate and ask each child to name their color/feeling

Step 5

Share & Water

5 minutes

  • Invite volunteers to show their flower and say one word about their feeling
  • After each share, use the toy watering can to “water” the potted plant, reinforcing that sharing helps our feelings grow strong
  • Praise efforts: “Thank you for sharing — you watered our garden!”
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Slide Deck

Welcome to the Feelings Garden

• Hello, friends!
• Today we’ll talk about a feeling called grief – the sadness we feel when we miss someone or something.
• It’s okay to have big feelings. We’re here to learn and share together.

Welcome students warmly. Introduce yourself and invite them to sit in a circle. Explain that today we will explore a feeling called grief, which is what happens when we miss someone or something we love. Encourage them that it’s okay to have big feelings and that we will learn together.

Story & Discussion

“In our feelings garden, each feeling is like a plant. When a plant loses its leaves, it looks sad. Just like a plant, our hearts can feel sad when we miss someone.”

Questions:
• What happens when a plant loses its leaves?
• How do we help a plant feel better?

Ask children if they’ve ever felt sad because they lost a toy or someone moved away. Validate their experiences. Transition into the garden story.

Garden Metaphor Visuals

• Seed = the start of a feeling
• Roots = our support (family, friends, teachers)
• Stem & leaves = growing through our feelings
• Flower = how we show our feelings
• Water = talking or sharing what we feel

Display the Feelings Garden Visual Chart. Point to each part of the plant as you talk.

Feeling Flower Activity

  1. Take a flower coloring sheet and crayons.
  2. Color your flower in the colors that show how you feel inside when you miss someone.
  3. Think about why you chose each color.

Hand out crayons and the Feeling Flower Coloring Sheet. Encourage use of colors that match their feelings. Circulate to ask each child: “Which color shows your sadness?”

Share & Water

• Who would like to show their flower?
• Tell us one word about how you feel inside.
• Let’s water our plant to help our feelings grow strong!

Invite volunteers one at a time. After each child shares their color and word, pour a little water from the toy watering can onto the potted plant. Praise each child: “Thank you for sharing – you watered our garden!”

Closing & Reflection

• Sharing our feelings helps us grow strong, just like plants.
• It’s okay to feel sad and to talk about it.
• Remember: you are not alone in your garden of feelings.

Reinforce that talking about our feelings, like watering a plant, helps us feel supported and strong. Thank everyone for sharing.

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Worksheet

Feeling Flower Coloring Sheet

Instructions: Use your crayons to color each petal of the flower below. Choose colors that show how you feel inside when you miss someone or something you love.

[Draw and color your flower here]












  1. What colors did you choose for your petals? For each color, write one feeling word that goes with it.

Color: ________ Feeling: ________


Color: ________ Feeling: ________


Color: ________ Feeling: ________

  1. Why did you pick these colors? Tell us about your feelings.






  2. How do you feel after coloring and sharing your flower with a friend?






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Discussion

Feelings Garden Discussion

Discussion Guidelines

  • Eyes on the speaker 👀
  • Use kind words 🗣️
  • Raise your hand to share ✋

Discussion Prompts

  1. Who would like to share one feeling they chose for their flower?



  2. How did it feel inside when you thought about someone you miss?







    • Follow-up: Did sharing your feeling help you feel better?



  3. What does watering our plant mean for our feelings?







    • Follow-up: Can you think of someone you can talk to when you feel sad?






  4. What other things can we do to help our feelings grow strong, just like a plant?






Closing Reflection

  • Remember, talking about our feelings helps them grow strong, just like watering a plant. 🌱
  • Thank you for sharing and caring for our garden together! 💚
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Warm Up

Garden Greeting Warm-Up

Time: 5 minutes

Purpose: Quickly engage students in the garden metaphor while sharing how they feel.

Instructions:

  1. Seed to Flower Movement (2 minutes)
    • Teacher invites students to pretend they are seeds waking up in the garden.
    • Seed: Crouch low and make a small ball with your hands.
    • Roots: Wiggle your fingers on the floor like growing roots.
    • Stem: Stand up tall and stretch your arms overhead.
    • Flower: Open your arms wide and reach for the sky.

  2. Flower Share (3 minutes)
    • While in the “bloom” position (arms wide), each student says:
    – Their name
    – One word that describes how they feel today (e.g., happy, calm, curious, a little sad).
    • After each share, classmates “water” the flower by gently tapping one finger on the speaker’s shoulder.

Goal: This warm-up helps children connect physical movement to the garden metaphor and practice naming their feelings in a supportive circle.

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Cool Down

Garden Reflections Cool-Down

Name: ________ Date: ________

Instructions: Use your crayons or colored pencils to complete each part.

  1. Draw one thing you can do when you feel sad.
    [Draw here]












  2. Draw or write one person you can talk to when you feel sad.
    [Draw or write here]












  3. How do you feel after doing this drawing?






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