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You are here: Home / Learn / Literacy / Book Sets / Learning About Feelings: An Easy to Create Learning Center for Kids

July 22, 2013 By Chelsey 13 Comments

Learning About Feelings: An Easy to Create Learning Center for Kids

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Here’s a simple center you can set up at home or in the classroom to help children explore emotions and learn about feelings!

Are you following our Creative Play Pinterest board?

 Great way for kids to explore their emotions and feelings! (Feelings Center for the Home or Classroom~ BuggyandBuddy.com) 

The Importance of Exploring Feelings

One of the most important things I try to teach my children is to understand and name their feelings. It’s an important lesson for children to realize that different emotions are okay and to recognize those feelings in themselves and eventually in others. It’s especially important for kids to know they don’t always have to feel happy. That it’s normal to feel sad, shy or even jealous. Once children learn to understand how they are feeling, they can eventually better display empathy towards others and use those skills to develop healthy relationships with their peers. 

 Feelings Center for the Home or Classroom~ BuggyandBuddy.com 

Setting Up a Feelings Center

One way to help children begin exploring feelings and initiating conversations about them is to set up a feelings center in your classroom or home. Children can explore feelings through books, drawing, practicing facial expressions in a mirror and interacting with stuffed animals or dolls.

For our feelings center at home, I placed a mirror on the ground at the kids’ level. I also added a set of children’s books related to feelings. On a nearby shelf I put some colored pencils, a journal and, Lucy’s poetry journal. You could also add some stuffed animals or dolls to the center. Children love imaginary play with stuffed animals, and by providing some little friends nearby, kids can interact and discuss their feelings with them.

Kimochi Doll in Feelings Center  

This post contains some affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience.

Lucy actually has a stuffed doll called a Kimochi. Have you heard of these? Basically, they are emotion dolls that come with little stuffed Kimochi emotion pillows. The dolls have a pocket where you can store the little stuffed feeling pillows. Such a cute idea! We placed her Kimochi doll in the feeling center too.

 Playing with Kimochi Doll 

My goal with our feelings center was to just have a simple place that allowed Lucy to explore feelings in any way she wanted. She wasn’t required to do anything. I set the center up one day while she was resting in her room. When she was done resting, I introduced it to her. We went through all the materials together. First, she chose a few books for me to read to her, and then she spent a lot of time exploring the center on her own. 

 Children's Books about Feelings 

I think one of her favorite things to do was make different faces in the mirror! She loved trying to copy the ones she saw in the books.

 exploring feelings with a mirror 

She also came up with a poem she wanted me to write for her in her poetry journal. 

using a journal to learn about feelings

 feelings journal 

The Benefits in Everyday Life

I love how her exploration of feelings has carried over into things we do everyday. I often hear her talking to her dolls about feelings in her play. When we read bedtime stories she’ll bring up how the characters are feeling and why she thinks they are feeling a certain way. It’s also helped by increasing her vocabulary and understanding of feelings. Now when she encounters a situation with her peers, she can talk to me about it easily, and it’s also helped her to try to understand her peer’s actions in certain situations.

I’ve shared some of the books we added to our children’s book set about feelings below. I’d love to hear any others you’ve read!

 

Children’s Books Having to do with Feelings

The Way I Feel by Janan Cain

 

 Feelings to Share from A to Z by Todd Snow

 

 Lots of Feelings by Shelley Rotner

 

 The Feelings Book by Todd Parr

 

 Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis

 

 Hurty Feelings by Helen Lester

 

 Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley

 

 My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss

 

Have you done anything similar in your home or classroom to help children understand feelings and emotions? 

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Filed Under: Book Sets, Creative Play, Exploration Centers, Preschool, toddler Tagged With: Book Sets, children's books, feelings

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Comments

  1. Sarah says

    July 23, 2013 at 4:31 am

    Great center. This would be wonderful for our son too. I think I will include it when I do an all about me theme soon.

    Reply
  2. Stephanie says

    July 23, 2013 at 6:30 pm

    This is such an awesome idea! Love!

    Reply
  3. Amy B. says

    July 24, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea. I think this would be wonderful as a space for my boys. My parents have gifted the “Way I Feel” series to my older son (who is now 3.8). They are a great series that talk about different emotions/feelings and how to handle them. http://www.amazon.com/When-Feel-Angry-The-Books/dp/0807588970
    I will be pinning this! Thanks again.

    Reply
  4. Debbie @ http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/ says

    July 25, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    This looks fun! Pinned it! Thanks for sharing at Family Fun Friday!

    Reply
  5. JustCorey says

    July 29, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    I am in the process of creating a feelings photo book for my sons right now. I was planning on allowing them to use the photo book, and some other books with a mirror to practice emotions. we have a couple of the books you mentioned and also Dolly Parton’s “I Am a Rainbow” The stuffed animals idea I had not thought of. Thank you for this, it is a very timely post 🙂

    Reply
  6. Theresa says

    January 30, 2015 at 6:18 am

    Here are additional books:
    When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang
    When I Feel Jealous
    When I Feel Angry
    When I Feel Sad
    When I FeelScared
    When I Care About Others
    All by Cornelia Maude Spelman
    A great site for Social Emotional Learning is CASEL.org

    Reply
    • Chelsey says

      January 30, 2015 at 6:59 am

      Thank you!! These would be great additions!

      Reply
  7. Nicole says

    March 20, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing! I think this is an excellent idea for the home, and I will use it in my Kindergarten classroom. Thank you for the book suggestions as well!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Toddler Activity: Invitation to Play with Pom Poms and a Mirror - Buggy and Buddy says:
    December 30, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    […] and tripping on for the last couple months? Perfect! (So, yes, the mirror we used in our feelings center a few months back is still cluttering our family room. I like to tell myself I’ve left […]

    Reply
  2. 5 Activities to Help Children Develop Emotional Control - Moments A Day says:
    April 7, 2014 at 5:10 am

    […] Buggy and Buddy gives another creative approach to helping children explore emotions by setting up a Feelings Center. […]

    Reply
  3. Family and Teacher Resources: Helping Children Develop Emotional Control | All My Children Family Care says:
    September 3, 2014 at 7:10 am

    […] Identifying emotions and learning what they feel like is the first step before knowing how to act.  Buggy and Buddy gives another creative approach to helping children explore emotions by setting up a Feelings Center. […]

    Reply
  4. 30 Games, Activities and Printables to Teach Emotions to Young Kids says:
    November 17, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    […] up a Feelings Center in your home or classroom, and create a safe, creative space where your child can read about and […]

    Reply
  5. Activities to Teach Kids About Emotions says:
    July 30, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    […] Create a Feelings Learning Center from Buggy and Buddy […]

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Welcome to Buggy and Buddy! I'm Chelsey, a former teacher and parent living on the central coast of California. I love sharing crafts, science, STEM and STEAM activities, free printables and more! Read More…

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