Feelings Flashcards and Posters for Kids to Help Learn to Identify Emotions

Emotions are something we all experience, from birth all the way into adulthood. It is important that children learn how to identify their emotions early on to prevent later problems. That’s why our Feelings Flashcards are so beneficial to kids, as well as parents, guardians, teachers, and counselors!

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Feelings Flashcards and Posters for Kids

One of the best ways that children learn is through visual cues. They see something being done and can repeat it until it is mastered. Visual representations of common emotions are a great way to help kids identify and cope with their feelings.

Help Your Kids Learn about Emotions in a Fun Way

With our Feelings Flashcards and Posters, children can see a real-life representation of emotions and body language. They aren’t simply listening to adults tell them what happiness or anger looks like, but they are actually being shown.

They can act out the different facial expressions and body movements as they work through the cards. You can also create fun games for your children to play with our flashcards, depending on their age.

Play ideas for how you can use the Feelings Flashcards and Body Language Posters

Our flashcards and posters can work for toddlers as well as school-aged children. Print out the posters so you can refer back to them when discussing different emotions. You can hang them in your classroom or your child’s bedroom for quick reference during real-world emotions!

The smaller Feelings Flashcards are great for playing charades. Take turns having one child act out an emotion while the others guess the correct feeling they are acting. Younger children may also benefit from a memory game – simply print out the emotion pictures twice without the descriptive language, flip over the cards, and have fun making matches.

Incorporate these cards into reading time as well. As you are reading books with your children, ask them to point out the character’s emotions using the flashcards. This can lead to further discussion as you read the story. You can ask the children how they would handle the emotion in question, or how they would feel if they were in a similar situation as the book character.

Benefits of Teaching Kids to Identify Emotions

There are many great reasons for teaching children how to identify their emotions.

Firstly, being able to recognize their feelings makes it easier for kids to handle their emotions. When they realize they are angry, sad, confused, or frightened, they can locate the triggers and then adapt acceptable behaviors that help them alleviate the big feelings.

For example, some children are very afraid of the dark. At night, they may stall going to bed. They may also have trouble sleeping or cry a lot before falling asleep. Once the child can recognize they are afraid because of the darkness, they can work together with their parents to find a solution – such as a nightlight – that relieves the fear.

Recognizing emotions also promotes healthy emotional intelligence. Dealing with emotions isn’t an innate ability for humans. We must learn how to best cope with our feelings so that we aren’t destructive to ourselves and others. Identifying our emotions is the first step in knowing how to deal with them.

Being able to identify emotions also helps children develop good relationships. This applies to self awareness as well as relationships with family and peers. When a child can successfully identify and cope with emotions, they are happier overall. Likewise, relationships flourish when children recognize their feelings and can handle them appropriately.

Another perk for proper emotion identification in children is that it leads to better problem solving skills. According to Pennsylvania State University, “when children are able to problem solve challenges, they are better able to focus on tasks, to learn, to form friendships and to navigate social situations.”

For example, a child may be worried about an upcoming test. She may be afraid of making a bad grade or feel unprepared for the exam. By identifying the worry and its source, she can begin studying to alleviate the fear of failure.

A final benefit to teaching children to identify emotions is the foundation for good coping skills. As children start to recognize their feelings, they can develop healthy habits for working through them. This may include listening to music, going for a walk, or simply screaming into a pillow. Kids that lack the ability to identify and deal with their feelings may resort to negative behaviors as they get older, such as fighting, drugs, or alcohol.

How you can use Feelings Flashcards and Posters to Teach Emotions

We have already mentioned several great ways you can incorporate our emotion flashcards and body language posters into your children’s daily lives. The real-life photos on the cards and posters make it easy for your child to relate to the emotions being expressed.

There is lots of helpful text, as well, that you or your child can read that describes the facial expressions and body languages common with each emotion. As your children enjoy these cards, they should be able to tell you how to recognize each common emotion they experience.

Along with play, real-world application of these cards is also important. When your child is feeling some big emotions and isn’t sure how to talk about them, they can use the cards to communicate. This can lead you in fostering a discussion on why they feel the way they do and how to solve the problems causing the emotions.

The Emotions your Child will Learn with the Feelings Flashcards and Body Language Posters

Our set of flashcards and posters include the following 26 common emotions children experience:

happy, mad, angry, sad, scared, afraid, surprised, tired, bored, excited, nervous, ashamed, proud, shy, disappointed, hurt, sick, confused, frustrated, embarrassed, curious, jealous, thoughtful, interested, silly, disgusted

Instructions on how you can use the Feelings Flashcards and Body Language Posters

You will receive all of the flashcards and posters in a single PDF file ready for you to download. Simply download, print, cut, and use!

Setting up the Feelings Flashcards and Body Language Posters

Print out the flashcards and posters onto cardstock paper. You can also laminate them to ensure durability – children aren’t always so easy on paper items!
Cut out the flashcards.
Store in a small box.
Hang the posters for easy reference in real-world application.

Get your Feelings Flashcards and Emotion Posters Here

Click the button below to purchase your own copy of the feelings flashcards and emotions posters for only $4.00!

Get the Feelings Flashcards and Emotion Posters Here for $4.00!

In Conclusion

We hope your children will enjoy using our Feelings Flashcards and Body Language Posters to identify their emotions. Consider the number of different ways of playing with the cards, and use those that are appropriate for your children’s age and grade level. Mix up the different options to keep the emotional learning fun!