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We've had some really big emotions to deal with recently, there have been so many changes and so many new adjustments to make. I decided that getting together as a family to create something would be a great opportunity to talk about it.
Crafting is one of our favourite ways to bond.
Even if the boys were unable to vocalise how they were feeling, I wanted to give them them chance to explore their emotions through a bit of creativity.
I thought these emotion masks would be ideal for our session - not only are they super easy to make and really fun to play with, but they're perfect for prompting conversations about that tricky subject - our feelings.
You will need:
Start by cutting your plates in half.
Then take a marker pen and draw different emotions - we made sad, happy, angry, worried and surprised - ask your little one what emotions they want to create and let them draw their emotions if they want to.
Finally, take your lolly sticks and attach them to each plate half using some masking tape.
We gave ours really simple black and white designs but, you can do them however you like, in colour if you want.
You can now hold them up to your face and have fun making your expressions!
Crafting is a great outlet for exploring emotions in a non-verbal way so It's perfect for any age, but there are some ways you can extend it for older children.
Ways that you can extend this activity
Think of other words for the emotions (synonyms), e.g. worried could also be nervous, anxious, unsure, wobbly...
Describe a situation and your partner has to guess how that would make you feel and pick up the corresponding mask.
Choose a favourite book and talk about the emotions that the characters might be feeling - what mask could they be wearing?
For more mindful ideas, try Mindful Games for Kids by Kristina Marcelli-Sargent
For more crafting ideas, check out my new book The Grown-ups Guide to Crafting with Kids
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