Emotions - We all have them!

We opened up the discussion of emotions with our toddlers by using a collection of pictures that I found on the internet. We selected a picture to show and asked the children how that person may have been feeling - and asked if they could make the same face they saw in the picture. We gave senarios of when that emotion may have been felt and examples from our classroom experiences. For instance some of us might cry when Mommy and Daddy drop us off in the morning, or we may be really happy when we see them again at pick up time. The children then started offering up their own examples. They got it - they were relating to the faces they viewed, then internalized it and expressed their own feelings about the picture and when they felt that way.
The photos were left out for the children to access independantly - they did so often, and talked about the emotions with their friends. It was interesting to see them discuss the pictures and relating with such detail.

An extension of that activity was for the children to use a hand mirror to look at themselves, and to make the faces that depicted some of the emotions we had discussed. Some found it easy to recreate an emotional expression - while others simply wanted to make faces that showed the emotion they were feeling at the time of the exercise.

We also have a set of laminated faces that can be interchanged on a figure, which can be used to open up a discussion of emotions as well.

Identifying emotions helps children to manage their feelings and to develop self control, while building a sense of self-esteem. This will result in children having the ability to handle difficult situations, easing frustrations.