Understanding Emotions For Kids Worksheet

Working with children is as challenging as it is rewarding. Children see and understand their world very differently than adults. As they grow, they learn more about their lives and how they are influenced by their experiences and feelings.

While children grow, their emotions become more complex and difficult to understand. This can often make it difficult for them to say what they are feeling. An important part of working with a child in therapy is teaching them how to understand and express their emotions.

Children express themselves in different ways. Many have a hard time describing how they feel and why they feel that way. Especially in circumstances with trauma and abuse, it is important to help a child learn how to state and cope with their difficult feelings.

About This Worksheet

This is the Understanding Emotions for Kids worksheet. This worksheet provides a space for children to reflect on how they are feeling and why they are feeling this way. It asks the child to express what their emotion looks like and what causes the feeling. The child can express themselves in the space by drawing, writing, or cut-and-pasting how they feel.

The Understanding Emotions For Kids worksheet can be used with children in individual, group, or family therapy settings. It is an art exercise that will require coloring and drawing materials. 

Instructions

Each child is different- some children will be able to express certain emotions well and struggle with expressing other emotions. This worksheet provides a space for the child to fill in the emotion they are feeling with the help of their therapist. 

The therapist’s role is to work with the child by filling in the blank with the emotion that needs to be discussed and understood by both the child and therapist, then sitting with the child as they complete the expressive exercise. 

This worksheet is great for helping children focus on specific emotions. It can also help with addressing emotional challenges and exploring triggers and reasons behind strong emotions and experiences that the child may be struggling with. When the child has completed the exercises, explore their drawings and feelings with them to help build an understanding of how their emotions affect them.

Children tend to enjoy exercises that allow them space to be creative and express themselves safely. The exercise on this worksheet can be enjoyable for the child and does not place heavy pressure on them, so they will feel comfortable playing and exploring while having fun.

Download Understanding Emotions For Kids Worksheet