This unit couldn't come soon enough for us! My toddler is very much a 2 year old and all about himself and his needs. He is completely oblivious to the needs of others. This has been especially challenging with the birth of his baby brother. He doesn't understand that brother gets sad/mad too and needs attention. I wanted him to identify these emotions, not only in himself, but in others as well to hopefully help him develop some empathy.
Lofty goal with a 2 year old, right!?
Here's what we did this week:
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| You can get my blank thematic planner here. |
Feelings Wall:
This wall got a lot of use this week! Anytime anyone was showing an emotion we identified it on the wall. I chose happy, sad and mad to focus on since those are the most basic emotions and definitely the ones we see most in our house.
To
prepare the activity:
Decide which feelings you want to focus on with your little one. Print out
feelings posters and post on the wall to refer to throughout the unit.
💡 You can also use construction paper to
make a happy face, a sad face and an angry face.
💡You can use pictures of your own child to identify emotions too!
💡You can use pictures of your own child to identify emotions too!
The
activity:
Read The
Feelings Book by Todd Parr and The
Way I Feel by Janan Cain
and talk about different feelings. Use the mirrors to practice the facial
expressions that go with each emotion. Cohen got a little too good at his fake sad face, sound included.
We also used this to identify how he was feeling throughout the week.
"I see that you are feeling mad because _______"
"I see that you are sad. Why don't we find something to help make you happy?"
"You look so happy! That makes mama so happy."
"You look so happy! That makes mama so happy."
Feelings Sort:
Now that we had mastered our own facial expressions and identifying our own emotions I really wanted to start taking it to the next level and focus on other people and how to identify how they are feeling.
To
prepare the activity:
Print out the feelings posters or use construction paper faces from previous activity. Find real images of people expressing different
emotions to use for sorting.
The
activity:
Read
Llama
Llama
Mad at Mama by
Anna Dewdney and Glad Monster, Sad Monster by
Ed Emberley. Talk about the emotions and the facial features that help us identify them. Practice sorting the real
life pictures into the right categories.
Look at this boy. He is crying. Does he look happy, sad or mad?
Look at this girl, she has her arms crossed and she isn't smiling. Does she look happy, sad or mad?
Feelings Dice:
I always love making dice when I get a chance. They have so many purposes and Cohen loves rolling them over and over. This one was no exception! He enjoyed rolling the dice and making the faces to go with the expressions.
To
prepare the activity:
Print out the feelings dice and fold along the tab lines. Glue or tape
together.
The
activity:
Take
turns rolling the dice and acting out the emotions.
Feelings Flip:
To
prepare the activity:
Print out the feelings character and facial expression tabs.
The
activity:
Have
your little one color the pieces for the feelings flip. Cut out (or help your
child cut out) the facial expressions tabs. Glue down the tabs. Flip through
the emotions!
Emotions 4 Corners:
This is a fun little gross motor activity to get your little one moving! We have spent many hours playing this game throughout the week and it is super easy to set up too!
To
prepare the activity:
Place emotion posters around the house (or outside if weather permits).
The
activity:
Played like 4 corners! Call
out an emotion and have your child run to it!
💡 Play with your child and make it a race!
💡 Have your child make the expression to go with the emotion once they reach it!
Want all of this week's printables and plans? You can grab them here!
