Free Printable Emotion Faces for Preschool Students to Help them Recognize Feelings
Get your free printable emotion faces for preschool children and learn how to help your child learn emotions with these real-life photo cards.
Do you want to help your preschoolers or kindergartners learn how to identify their emotions? If so, this free printable resource is the perfect tool for teaching kids about different facial expressions and how they are associated with various feelings.
The free printable emotion faces come with labels that will help young children understand what each expression means, as well as illustrations of people making these various expressions on their faces. With this free printable, it's easy to teach kids how to identify different feelings in an engaging way!
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Free Printable Emotion Faces for Preschool and Kindergarten Students
This free printable resource is ideal for preschoolers and kindergarteners as they begin to learn how to recognize emotions. They will be able to learn to identify and recognize various emotions to help them learn the first step in emotional regulation skills.
The Importance of Teaching Kids to Recognize Emotions
It is important to teach kids to recognize emotions. With this free printable resource, preschoolers and kindergarteners can learn how to identify different facial expressions that are linked with different feelings. Teaching kids to identify emotions is one step to teaching emotional intelligence. Helping your child develop emotional intelligence is very important. You can read more about it here.
The free printable emotion faces come with labels that will help young children understand what each expression means, as well as illustrations of people making these various expressions on their faces. This free printable will help kids understand how to identify feelings in an easy and fun way!
The Emotion Cards will Help Young Children Understand Different Expressions
This free printable resource will help preschoolers and kindergarteners learn about different facial expressions and how they are connected to different feelings. The free printable emotion face cards have labels that explain what each expression means, as well as pictures of people making the expressions on their faces.
Emotions your Child will be able to Learn
- Mad
- Angry
- Sad
- Happy
- Afraid
- Scared
- Frustrated
- Surprised
- Excited
- Bored
- Proud
- Loved
- Tired
- Nervous
- Shy
- Silly
Ways you can Teach Emotions to Children using the Emotion Cards
Here is a list of ideas for activities and teaching strategies using the emotion cards:
- Hold the stack of cards face down and flip them over one at a time to name each emotion.
- Place a set of cards face down on a stack. Turn over the top card. Have your child name the emotion and make a face to match.
- Put the cards face down on the floor or table in rows (like you are going to play a traditional matching game) and ask your child to flip them over one by one as they name the emotions
- Place a selection of cards on the table face up (you may like to experiment with 3 at first, and eventually display up to 10 at a time) – name one of the emotions showing and ask your child to identify which card you have described
- Show your child a card at random and ask them to copy the face pictured, then name the emotion together
- Spread out a set of cards face up. Take turns to choose a card but don’t tell the other players which you have chosen. Make a face and see if the other players can guess which card you chose.
More Challenging Ideas to use the Emotion Cards
- Choose a card at random from a stack (as if you are playing “Go Fish”) and try to guess what situation the person was in to cause the particular emotion they are showing
- Hold the cards fanned out in your hand, and ask your child to pick them one by one until they find the emotion that they are feeling right now – this will help them briefly consider what the other people pictured are going through, and compare it to their own feelings
- Spread out a set of cards face up. Take turns to choose a card but don’t tell the other players which you have chosen. Tell a short story about a time you felt like that and see if the other players can guess which card you chose.
- Sort a set of cards into positive and negative emotions. Discuss why each emotion is in the group.
- Choose a card, name the emotion, and discuss what you could do if someone around you was feeling this way
- Set out several stuffed animals and dolls and put an emotion card on each one; then speak to the figures as if they were feeling those emotions – this will help your child practice how they can respond to people in different emotional situations
- Pair up and have each partner pick a card they will “act out,” then have a conversation taking on the various emotions – see if you can make each other feel better or share each others’ excitement, etc
- Ask your child to select a card and tell a story about a time they saw someone else exhibiting the emotion displayed, how they felt, what they did (or what they could have done)
- Ask your child to pick a card and draw the emotion they see on the card, or the situation the person was in to cause this emotion – this will help them think about someone else going through the emotion more in depth
Using Body Language and Facial Expressions to Help Identify Emotions
Help your child learn to identify the emotions by describing the body language and facial expressions you see on the emotion cards. Here are some examples you can use when teaching your child. Or you can purchase the body language and facial expressions posters and flashcards already done for you in the the bundle here! Use the free printable emotion faces for preschool and kindergarten students to help them identify body language and facial expressions with the real life photos of other children.
Surprised
The child may show a wide-eyed expression and mouth open when surprised
Sad
Child may be frowning and have downturned mouth when sad
Happy
The child is smiling with a toothy grin and eyes crinkled shut when happy
Scared
Child may have raised eyebrows, eyes wide open and mouth slightly agape when scared
Mad
Child may have furrowed brows, scowling face, and crossed arms when mad.
By showing children these different expressions, they will be able to identify and understand the emotions associated with them. This free printable resource is an easy way to help young kids learn how to recognize various feelings.
Get your Free Emotion Face Cards Here!
You can click the link here to get your free emotions face cards with real life photos of kids or you can enter your email address down below.
Instructions on how to use the Free Printable Emotion Face Cards for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners
Instructions on how to use free printables for preschoolers and kindergarteners:
- You will want to print out the emotion cards and then cut out the individual cards.
- You can laminate them or print them on card stock for more durability.
- Once they are printed out and cut out you can use them to teach your child to identify emotions.
- Please refer to the activity ideas above for ways you can use the emotion cards.
Tips for Helping kids Identify Different Feelings
One of the best ways to teach preschoolers and kindergarteners how to identify different feelings is through storytelling. Storytelling can help children visualise the emotion and connect with it in a more personal way. Encourage them to use their imaginations, draw pictures that represent their stories, and role-play different characters to help them better understand the feeling.
Another great way to help kids identify emotions is through art and drawing activities. Ask them to draw a picture of how they may feel when they are angry or scared. This can be a fun and creative way for children to express their feelings.
You can also use these fun playdough mats to help your child learn to identify emotions.
Or you can use these engaging and simple activity ideas from the identifying emotions bundle here.
Please share this Free Resource with Parents and Educators
If you found these free printable emotion faces for preschool students helpful, I would love for you to share this blog post with them so they can also download their free copy of the emotion face cards.
Get your Free Emotion Face Cards Here!
You can click the link here to get your free emotions face cards with real life photos of kids or you can enter your email address down below.
Other Helpful Emotion Resources for Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Kindergarteners
Free Emotions Matching Game for Preschoolers to Learn about Feelings
Feelings and Emotions Activities for Preschoolers to Learn to Identify Emotions
Fun and Simple Playdough Faces Activity to Teach Kids Emotions
Emotional Development Stages in Early Childhood: What to Look For and How to Help