Social-emotional learning is gaining traction in being recognized as an important part of early childhood curriculum. This type of learning is presented in the form of both one-on-one and group activities.
Social-emotional activities for preschoolers are wonderful tools to teach young children about their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
Below are some social-emotional activities that are great for the classroom, as well as the home.
1. Emotions Discovery Bottles
This set of emotions discovery bottles is Inside Out-themed, however, the set of bottles you make with your preschooler does not have to be. Have your child pick out the ingredients for each bottle and make corresponding faces to put on each one.
Learn more: Laly Mom
2. Feelings Check-in Chart
Making a chart about feelings is a helpful social-emotional tool for preschoolers. You can hang it in your classroom and, throughout the day, accompany students to the chart to practice identifying their feelings.
Learn more: Pre-K Pages
3. Stomping Out Big Feelings with Dinosaurs
Stomping out dinosaur-size feelings is a fun social-emotional activity that helps children identify their feelings and express them in productive ways. It's also a great proprioceptive activity, much like heavy work.
Learn more: The OT Toolbox
4. Setting Up a Calming Corner
You are probably familiar with calming corners/peace corners. They are areas in a classroom where preschoolers can go to have some quiet time - on their own terms.
Setting this area up with your students and sharing ideas on calming items and activities to use in the calming corner is a wonderful social-emotional activity.
Learn more: The Montessori-Minded Mom
5. Make a Set of Worry Dolls
Preschool-age children are not so different from adults in that some of them are worriers. Crafting a set of Worry Dolls is a great social-emotional activity that pairs well with the book, Silly Billy, by Anthony Brown.
Learn more: Happy Hooligans
6. Making Emo Dolls
Using cardboard rolls, preschoolers can help make these cute emo dolls. Each doll expresses a different emotion.
They can be used for role-playing by children to help them identify their own feelings and develop empathy for the feelings of others.
Learn more: Danya Banya
7. People Playdough Mats
This is a fun social-emotional activity for preschoolers. Using playdough, children get to make a person that represents them physically and assign emotions to them.
Viewing the facial expressions they make helps them identify their own emotions, as well as others.
Learn more: Picklebums
8. Make Emotions Masks from Paper Plates
Making emotion masks from paper plates is a fun idea that can help preschoolers express their own emotions and identify others' emotions. Since many young children are still in need of emotional vocabulary, this is a no-pressure, informal, and fun way to introduce it.
Learn more: No Time for Flashcards
9. Talk About Emotions During Morning Circle
Morning circle is an opportunity to talk about the date, weather, what's going to happen during the day, and to do music and movement activities. It's also the perfect time to talk about emotions and come up with some healthy strategies students can use throughout the day.
Learn more: No Time for Flashcards
10. Calming Sensory Bins
Sensory bins are a great social-emotional tool for preschoolers. They provide sensory feedback that can have a calming effect on young kids.
Preschoolers can visit a sensory bin on their own when they are feeling overwhelmed or in groups where they can talk with each other about how the bin activity makes them feel.
The lavender sensory bin linked below is just lovely.
Learn more: The Chaos and the Clutter
11. Story Telling Social Stories
Preschoolers have active imaginations and they love telling stories. Storytelling is introduced in the early childhood learning environment to help prepare children for reading.
It's great for social-emotional learning, as well.
Learn more: How We Learn
12. A Sticky Cutting Tray of Emotions
Cutting trays are appealing to preschoolers - an unrestricted space where they can cut and create. Add a social-emotional aspect to your students cutting trays by giving them magazines with close-ups of faces for them to cut out and reconstruct.
Learn more: Picklebums
13. Feeling Matching Game
Playing a matching game with feelings cards put a social-emotional spin on the classic game of memory. There is room for teachers to get creative with the "feelings challenge" when preschoolers make a match.
Learn more: Kiddie Matters
14. Emotions Guessing Game
This emotions guessing game is a lot of fun. It helps develop social-emotional skills in large or small groups.
After practicing with this game, preschoolers will be able to more confidently and accurately identify their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
Learn more: Childhood 101
15. Emotions Sorting Mats
Presenting an "emotions sorting mat" to preschoolers helps them better understand that different emotions can present in a variety of ways, but still be recognizable.
Learn more: File Folder Heaven
16. Play "Catch" a Feeling
This activity is so much fun and it's also incredibly easy to set up. All you need is an inflatable beach ball and a marker.
Learn more: Pam Dyson
17. Social-emotional Board Game
Making a social-emotional board game is a way for teachers and parents to get creative, as well as focus on the emotional skills with which their preschoolers are struggling.
Learn more: Kristina Marcelli
18. Emoji Feelings Faces
Using emojis to express emotions is an internet trend that seems to be here to stay. These cute little faces are actually great social-emotional learning tools for kids, too.
Learn more: Kiddie Matters
19. Happy and Sad Face Sorting
Sorting faces based on emotions is a fun social-emotional activity that helps preschoolers identify social cues and learn empathy. It also helps children understand that not every expression of negative emotion involves crying.
Learn more: Having Fun at Home
20. Paper Plate Feelings Spinner
This is a neat social-emotional activity for preschoolers. Making a paper feelings spinner starts out as a fun craft and ends up as a social-emotional tool that can be used again and again.
Learn more: Meaningful Mama
21. Color By Emotions by Code
Coloring emotions by code is a fun activity that helps children develop fine motor skills and learn colors - all while teaching them how to identify and name their own emotions.
Learn more: Frogs and Fairies
22. Scribble Art
Scribble art is a social-emotional activity that gives children the chance to identify, name, and express their emotions all at once.
Learn more: The Art of Education
23. Mega Block Feelings
Making Mega Block feelings is an extremely simple activity to set up. Preschoolers can match facial features to create emotional expressions.
Learn more: Twitchettes
24. Story Stones
Story stones have a lot of opportunities for social-emotional activities for preschoolers. One such activity is painting facial expressions and having preschoolers piece together faces and name the corresponding emotion.
Learn more: Where Imagination Grows
25. Create a Flipbook
Preschoolers have a difficult time understanding that emotions are fluid - that they can be sad, but not be a "sad person". Creating a flipbook that lets young children identify the feelings they are having at the current moment can help them understand this concept and apply it to others.
Learn more: The Mad House Mummy
26. Make a Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down Jar
A thumbs-up, thumbs-down jar is a really neat activity that helps preschoolers consider how their actions can make other people feel in a fun, no-pressure, no-shame way.
Learn more: Things to Share and Remember
27. Making a Self-portrait
This is another fun self-portrait activity. This one has preschoolers look in a desk mirror while they express an emotion. Then, they are to draw a portrait of themselves.
Learn more: Still Playing School
28. Fishing for Feelings
Playing a fishing game to learn social-emotional skills is a perfect idea for preschoolers. This game can be played in so many different ways and as a one-on-one activity, or as a group.
Learn more: Little Page Turners
29. Feelings Hop
Preschoolers benefit from social-emotional learning as much as they do from gross motor activities. Combining the two is a great idea for social-emotional activities for preschoolers.
Learn more: Kiddie Matters
30. Make a Feelings Jar
Making a feelings jar is a beautiful idea for teaching emotional regulation and social-emotional skills to preschoolers. This activity works well in groups or as a one-on-one activity.
Learn more: Mosswood Connections
31. Feelings Slap Game
This is a fun card game that teaches social-emotional skills by helping preschoolers identify and name different emotions. This game can be played in small groups or emotions can be called out to students at their spots on the rug.
Learn more: Kiddie Matters
32. Rainbow Breathing
Improve focus, self-control, and mindfulness in the classroom while practicing breathing techniques that will also improve motor skills.
Learn more: The OT Toolbox
33. "I Can Show Kindness"
Worksheet with images that gives suggestions of ways students can show kindness in their home and community.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
34. The Gratitude Game
Using colored sticks or candies, students will choose a color, then have to express gratitude related to the color. It gets students to appreciate little things and others in their daily lives.
Learn more: Seattle's Child
35. Practice Social Interaction
Help kids learn how to work through specific social scenarios by using social stories to practice these interactions.
Learn more: Whimsy Workshop Teaching
36. Impulse Control Cards
Great for preschool children who are impulsive. This is a simple game that uses images and speech to "stop and think" before calling out the answer.
Learn more: The Dabbling Speachie
37. Good Friend
This sort and paste activity teaches students the difference between a good and a bad friend through concrete examples.
Learn more: Keeping My Kiddo Busy
38. Spatial Awareness Puzzle
Let students show their artistic expression while learning about spatial awareness. Using an outline of a simple shape and objects found in nature, children will create a puzzle that fits the objects inside the border.
Learn more: Little Pine Learners
39. Reading Body Language
This game uses images to help students identify the meaning of body language.
Learn more: Annie's Classroom
40. Calming Kit
Create a calming kit for children to use when they are upset. The kit will teach them how to self-regulate and build calming skills for when an undesirable feeling comes.
Learn more: Perfection Pending
41. Learn Through Literacy
Teach children about the concept of charing through the read-aloud text, "The Doorbell Rang", which also introduces them to basic math skills.
Learn more: Pre-K Pages
42. Identify Body Feelings
Children identify an emotion and then use images to relate it to how it makes their bodies feel. It helps students not only be conscious of their emotions, but also aware of how their body reacts.
Learn more: The Responsive Counselor
43. Alphabreathes
This book is a fun way to teach a variety of breathing strategies to students created by a psychologist and appropriate for toddlers. It relates the different strategies to a familiar object and letter of the alphabet.
Learn more: Mindful Schools
44. Puppet Play
Children learn about strong emotions through interactions between the puppets. You can also have them create their own puppets that they identify with.
Learn more: Raising Children
45. Build A Flower Emotions
Support students in identifying different emotions by using this adorable sort and match game.
Learn more: Frogs and Fairies
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some social-emotional activities?
The above list has many great social-emotional activities. In addition to the above activities, role-playing with a caregiver also teaches many important social skills and emotional skills.
How do you teach emotions?
Emotions can be taught in many ways. Books, conversations, and social-emotional activities are all great ways to teach emotions.
What are examples of social activities?
Social activities are activities such as group art projects, pretend play involving serving or helping, and circle time group activities.
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