Recognising Emotions
Knowing how you feel is not always easy.
A child may know that something feels different in their body without having the words to explain whether they are angry, nervous, disappointed, excited or tired.
Emotion visuals can give those feelings a name and create another way to communicate them.
Start with a few emotions
You do not need to teach every emotion at once.
Begin with feelings your child is already likely to experience and recognise.
For example:
happy → sad → angry → calm
Then gradually add words such as:
excited, nervous, frustrated, disappointed or overwhelmed.
1. Notice
Pay attention to the situation, facial expression and body clues.
2. Name
Use simple language:
“You look disappointed.”
“Your body looks tired.”
You are offering a possible word, not insisting that you know exactly how your child feels.
3. Give a way to communicate
Your child might:
- say the emotion
- point to a card
- hand you a visual
- choose between two possible feelings
Recognition comes before expecting your child to explain everything.
Choose the support that fits
Emotion–Strategy Matching Cards
US$3.90
A smaller emotion set that takes the next step from:
“How am I feeling?”
to:
“What can I do?”
The resource includes 18 emotion cards — happy, calm, content, comfortable, ready, excited, frustrated, nervous, surprised, furious, panicked, overwhelmed, sad, tired, angry, disappointed, bored and lonely — followed by a simple matching activity that can be individualised using preferred strategies.
Best for:
Children who are beginning to recognise emotions and are ready to connect some feelings with supportive actions.
18 Emotion Cards
US$1.90
A broader visual vocabulary for recognising and communicating emotions.
The pack includes 18 feeling states, including happy, calm, content, comfortable, ready, excited, frustrated, nervous, surprised, furious, panicked, overwhelmed, sad, tired, angry, disappointed, bored and lonely.
Best for:
Families who want a simple set of visual emotion cards for naming, choosing and talking about feelings.
If emotion words are still new, start with the Emotion Cards first. Regulation strategies can come later.
Recognition is not a test
Your child does not need to label every feeling correctly.
The same situation can feel different to different people.
Instead of:
“You are angry.”
try:
“You look upset. Are you angry or frustrated?”
If neither fits, that is useful information too.
The aim is to build a language your child can gradually use to tell you more about their experience.
What comes next?
Once your child is beginning to recognise feelings, the next step may be noticing how those feelings show up in the body and what support might help.