This printable Valentine’s Emotion Game can be just for fun or it can help kids develop a deeper understanding of their feelings. This works well for at home, in therapy, or in the classroom.
Printable Valentine’s Emotion Game:
Supplies needed:
- printed game pages
- heart shaped buttons or small plastic hearts to use as place holders
Instructions for how to play:
- Print pages 2-4. (Get the free pages here.)
- Laminate the pages if you want to increase durability.
- Cut apart the cards.
- Shuffle the cards and stack them together.
- Place the cards on the table face down.
- Players take turns drawing one card, reading the emoji, and moving their place holder to the correct space. The first player to “finish” wins the game.
Game Play Variation:
Each time a player pulls a card, the player gives an example of a time where they have experienced that emotion. “I feel scared when it’s dark.” or “I felt sad when my friend moved away.”
Allowing kids to get used to talking about their emotions through opportunities such as this game, you normalize it. Kids learn best through play. Particularly when it comes to discussing hard topics, play allows kids to let down their walls and open up.
This game is a nice addition to the classroom as a learning station, an activity for after students have completed their work, or for a Valentine’s party.
Be sure to input your email below to get your free printable Valentine’s game.
Here are some other learning through play opportunities for kids to work on their emotions:
You can use the dinosaur action cube indoors or outdoors. Kids of many ages can participate. This is a fun rainy day or snow day activity because it gets the whole body engaged. Kids explore their movements and imaginations as they hatch, tromp, charge, fly, and munch like the dinosaurs of the past.
You can also take the activity one step further by having them read about each of the dinosaur types on the cube or having them draw that species. There are so many possibilities.
I enjoyed seeing my kids’ interpretations of the dinosaurs. Some kids also like to add their own sound effects. We may not know exactly what dinosaurs sounded like, but my kids did some pretty convincing impressions!
These printable worksheet pages help students associate the emotion word with the corresponding facial expression using adorable little Christmas trees. They are perfect for using in your classroom or homeschool. They also work well to use with your child if they need extra printing practise at home.
If you want to make the sheets reusable, laminate the pages or slip them into a plastic page protector. Students can then use a dry erase marker to complete the tracing and writing.
Instructions for the student:
When children are able to name and express their emotions, they are better able to manage them. It’s kind of like the first line of defence when it comes to challenging behaviours.
Keeping a daily log allows kids to examine their emotions and it gives the opportunity for parents, teachers, or therapists to see if there are any obvious patterns emerging when looking back over the log. It’s a great tool!
Perhaps have them draw how they are feeling about other events in December such as Christmas, an upcoming concert or performance, visiting relatives, or grieving the loss of a relative, pet, or friend who will not be celebrating the holidays with them this year. This can be so helpful.
Practising gratitude sets the stage for a happier life. 
This game can be played with 2-4 players at a time.
Assembly instructions:
Game Directions:
Just like in some of the other emotions learning activities I’ve created to help kids such as our 
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