Paper plate emotions craft

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.

Teaching children about emotions is so important; because it helps them develop the ability to recognise and manage their own feelings, have better social interactions, and they will be better able to cope with life's challenges.

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Crafting is one of our favourite ways to bond, so 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.

Not only are these emotions masks super easy to make and fun to play with, but they make the perfect talking point for tackling the tricky subject of feelings.

To make these paper plate emotions you will need:

• Paper plates

• Scissors

• Marker pen

• Lolly sticks

• Masking tape

Start by cutting your paper plates in half. Younger children may need a little help with this; drawing a line down the centre might make it easier for them to cut straight.

Then take a marker pen and draw different emotions - we made sad, happy, angry, worried and surprised - ask your little one what emotions they can name or want to create and let them draw their own emotions if they want to.

Finally, take your lolly sticks and attach them to each plate half using a few pieces of 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.

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.

More ways for children to learn about their emotions:

• Label emotions

  Actively name emotions you see in your child and others around them, like "You seem happy" or "It looks like you're feeling frustrated." 

• Read books

  Read picture books that show different emotions and discuss how the characters might be feeling 

• Share your own feelings

  Talk about your own emotions with your child to normalise talking about feelings

• Ask open-ended questions:

  Encourage your child to explain how they are feeling by asking questions like "What happened to make you feel that way?" 

• Play games:

  Engage in activities that involve identifying emotions in others, like these Mindful Games for Kids by Kristina Marcelli-Sargent

• Validate their feelings:

  Acknowledge your child's emotions without dismissing them: "I know you are feeling >sad< and that's ok.

For more feeling activities, check out my post on helping your child to deal with their emotions.

Have you had any tricky feelings to deal with recently? How did you cope with them? Let me know in the comments!

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