This week, I’m teaching my Pre-K and Kindergarten students about Feelings and Empathy, using Frosty & his many feeling faces.  There are endless variations to this great core matching activity.

  • I’ve had kids work in partners or groups of three to complete the activity. Some students have asked me if I can leave a copy of the activity in their classroom after my lesson is over because they want to continue playing the Feelings matching game during their Quiet Time.
  • With pre-readers, I omit the feeling word cards and just challenge students to come up with their own original feeling words–which is a great way to build their emotional vocabulary.
  • Students who like a little friendly competition have spontaneously started to time each other in matching up the faces and words correctly.
  • I’ve challenged kids to copy the face on the snowman with their own face, to deepen their experience of the feeling and facial expression.
  • Best of all, I’ve had kids tell each other what could possibly make the snowman feel each individual feeling.  Their imaginative and empathetic responses have been amazing!