Valentine’s Emotion Coloring Activity
This activity helps children practice emotional identification by recognizing facial expressions and associating them with different emotions. By using colors to represent feelings, kids strengthen their emotional vocabulary and self-awareness.
Instructions + worksheet PDF
Materials Needed:
• Printed Emotion Hearts Worksheet (with different facial expressions)
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• Yellow 🟡 for Happy
• Red 🔴 for Angry
• Blue 🔵 for Sad
• Green 🟢 for Scared
Preparation:
1. Print the worksheet and gather coloring materials.
2. Introduce the four emotions—happy, angry, sad, and scared—by making faces or giving examples of when we might feel each one.
3. Explain the color association:
• “We’re going to match colors to emotions! Happy hearts are yellow, angry hearts are red, sad hearts are blue, and scared hearts are green.”
How to Play:
Step 1: Identifying Emotions
• Ask your child to look at each heart’s facial expression and decide what emotion it shows.
• If they’re unsure, ask guiding questions:
• “Does this face look like someone who is happy or mad?”
• “What do you notice about the eyes and mouth?”
Step 2: Matching Emotions to Colors
• Once they’ve identified the emotion, have them color the heart using the matching color, for example:
• 🟡 Happy – Smiling, cheerful eyes → Yellow
• 🔴 Angry – Furrowed brows, frowning mouth → Red
• 🔵 Sad – Downturned mouth, teary eyes → Blue
• 🟢 Scared – Wide eyes, open mouth → Green
Step 3: Expanding Emotional Vocabulary (For Older or Advanced Kids)
• Encourage children to describe emotions with more specific words:
• Instead of happy, could they be excited, proud, or elated?
• Instead of angry, could they be frustrated, annoyed, or furious?
• Instead of sad, could they be disappointed, lonely, or discouraged?
• Instead of scared, could they be nervous, anxious, or overwhelmed?
• Have them write or say a more specific emotion that fits each heart.
• Use open-ended prompts:
• “Can you think of a time when you felt this way?”
• “How is feeling frustrated different from feeling angry?”
Step 4: Discussing Emotions
• After coloring, talk about each feeling:
• “Can you remember a time when you felt this way?”
• “What helps you feel better when you’re sad or scared?”
• “What do you do when you feel angry?”
Alternative Versions:
• Storytelling Variation: Have your child pick a heart and tell a short story about why it feels that way.
• Real-Life Connections: Discuss times when you or your child have felt each emotion.
• Creative Expansion: Let kids create their own emotion hearts with different facial expressions.
• Advanced Challenge: Have older children write a sentence about a time they felt each emotion, using a more specific word.
Why This Is Beneficial
✔ Enhances Emotional Recognition – Helps children understand facial expressions and emotions.
✔ Strengthens Emotional Vocabulary – Encourages kids to name and describe feelings.
✔ Supports Self-Regulation – Teaches that all emotions are normal and helps them think about coping strategies.
✔ Encourages Self-Expression – Provides a creative and engaging way for children to explore their emotions.
✔ Builds Parent-Child Connection – Opens up conversations about feelings in a fun, relaxed setting.
✔ Encourages Emotional Depth – Helps older kids move beyond basic emotions and identify more nuanced feelings.
By using color to represent feelings, this Valentine-themed activity helps kids build emotional intelligence in a fun and creative way! ❤