Today, we’re exploring a fun and effective way to help our little ones grow emotionally. We’re talking about games – But not just any games. We’re focusing on those that teach kids how to navigate their feelings, something we all know it is important but can sometimes be a bit tricky.
Let’s explore some kid-friendly games that make learning about emotions a blast, and teach those vital emotional self-regulation skills in a fun way.
Table of Contents
- Benefits of Emotional Regulation Games
- 6 Types of Emotional Regulation Games for Kids
- Implementing Emotional Regulation Games with Your Family
- More Resources for Emotional Regulation
Benefits of Emotional Regulation Games
So, why do Emotional Regulation Games Rock? Emotional regulation games are more than just play. They’re like secret tools that help kiddos recognize their feelings. Imagine your child being able to say, “I’m frustrated” instead of having a meltdown. Games can get us there!
Playing some of these emotion games can also teach them how to deal with those big emotions in a healthy way. Knowing is one thing, but managing those big feelings? That’s the golden ticket, and these games help with that.
These emotional regulation activities also offer a safe practice ground for handling emotions. In the safety of play, kids can experiment with ways to calm down or express themselves.
And finally, these emotions and feelings games make learning about emotions fun: Let’s face it, learning through play beats a lecture any day especially when it comes to young children.
6 Types of Emotional Regulation Games for Kids
As we’ve talked about games can be a fun and engaging way for children to learn important skills like emotional regulation, so let’s take a look at some kid-friendly games that help teach children how to identify and manage their emotions.
Feeling Charades or Acting Games
Introducing Feeling Charades or Acting Games is a great way to engage children in recognizing and expressing their own emotions and those of others in a fun and interactive manner.
This activity serves as an effective way to enhance emotional regulation skills among younger children, providing them with the opportunity to explore different emotions in a safe space. It’s a powerful tool that supports children in understanding that their emotional reactions can be communicated in appropriate ways, making it an essential step towards fostering healthy emotional regulation.
How to Play:
In Feeling Charades, players take turns drawing cards with different emotions written on them – like happy, sad, angry, surprised. You can make these yourself with a few pieces of paper and a pen, it doesn’t have to be fancy.
The player then acts out the emotion without using words, while the others guess what it is. It’s like regular charades but focuses solely on emotions.
How It Helps:
This game boosts emotional vocabulary and empathy. Kids learn to recognize and understand emotions not just in themselves but in others too, by observing body language and facial expressions.
Emotion Card/Board Games
Emotion Card and Board Games are fantastic methods to help children connect emotional words to facial expressions and situations, thereby enriching their understanding of their own emotional state and that of others.
These games offer a positive manner to discuss emotions, which can be particularly beneficial in supporting children through different situations, from daily life to more difficult tasks. Whether for younger or older children, these games build a foundation for developing emotion regulation skills, making them one of the best ways to teach emotional intelligence in a social context.
Match Emotion Words to Facial Expressions
How to Play:
Use a set of cards that have different facial expressions on one set and emotion words on another. Players match the word to the correct face. This can be a memory game or a simple matching activity.
How It Helps:
It helps children connect specific words to their corresponding emotions, enhancing their ability to articulate how they feel and recognize those feelings in others.
Emotion-themed Games Like “The Ungame”
How to Play:
“The Ungame” is a board game that encourages players to share thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It’s non-competitive and focuses on open-ended questions that prompt discussions about various emotions and situations.
How It Helps:
It fosters communication and emotional intelligence by encouraging players to express themselves and listen to others, promoting understanding and empathy.
Feeling Check-ins
Feeling Check-ins provide a structured way for children to pause and reflect on their emotional state, making them a crucial component of daily emotional regulation practices. This simple yet effective activity encourages children to identify and rate their feelings, offering a starting point for discussions about coping strategies and how to navigate intense emotions. Implementing feeling check-ins in daily routines can significantly enhance a child’s ability to manage their emotional responses, promoting a more balanced emotional state.
Another way to check in with feelings is with journaling and you can check out our list of journal prompts for kids, or journal prompts for teens here.
Rate Mood on Scale
How to Play:
Create a mood scale using numbers, colors, or even faces ranging from very happy to very sad. At various times during the day, ask your child to rate their mood on the scale.
How It Helps:
This simple activity helps children become more aware of their emotions and see that feelings can change over time. It also opens up opportunities for discussing what influences their mood.
Discuss Strategies to Improve Mood
How to Play:
After rating their mood, discuss with your child what strategies might help improve it if they’re feeling down. This could involve doing something fun, talking about what’s bothering them, or practicing a calming technique.
How It Helps:
This teaches children that they have some control over their feelings and that there are constructive ways to deal with negative emotions.
Zones of Regulation Game
The Zones of Regulation is a framework designed to teach self-awareness, emotional control, and appropriate responses to different social and emotional situations. It categorizes feelings and states of alertness into four colored zones: Blue Zone (low energy states like sadness), Green Zone (calm and ready to learn), Yellow Zone (higher energy and possibly losing some control, like frustration or excitement), and Red Zone (extreme emotions and states of heightened alertness like anger or terror).
How to Play:
A game idea that fits seamlessly with this concept involves scenario role-play. You can create cards with various scenarios written on them (or make up scenarios verbally) and each player picks a card, reads the scenario aloud, and then discusses or acts out how that scenario would make them feel and which zone they think it belongs to.
For example, “Your ice cream falls on the ground” might place someone in the Yellow or even Red Zone, depending on their initial reaction, while “Finding $5 on the sidewalk” might be a Green or Yellow Zone scenario, depending on the excitement level.
How it helps:
This game encourages children to think critically about their emotional reactions and the appropriateness of these reactions in different situations, helping them to develop better emotional control and social skills. It’s a practical, engaging way to discuss emotions and self-regulation strategies.
Mindfulness Games
Mindfulness Games, including basic breathing exercises and guided imagery, are excellent tools for teaching children how to calm their minds and bodies in moments of stress or excitement.
These activities not only help in lowering energy levels in a positive manner but also improve children’s problem-solving skills and emotional regulation by teaching them to take deep breaths and engage in mindful body scans.
By incorporating mindfulness practices into their daily life, children learn different ways to approach difficult situations and emotional dysregulation.
Breathing Exercises
How to Play:
Teach your child different fun breathing techniques, like pretending to blow up a balloon or smelling a flower and then blowing out a candle. Make it a game by seeing how slowly they can breathe out or by following a guided rhythm.
How It Helps:
Breathing exercises are a cornerstone of mindfulness that can help children calm down and center themselves when they’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious.
Guided Imagery/Visualization
How to Play:
Lead your child through a guided imagery exercise, describing a peaceful scene or imagining a journey with details that engage all the senses. You can find scripts online or make up your own.
How It Helps:
Visualization helps children escape stress and find a peaceful place in their minds, promoting relaxation and emotional regulation.
Calming Sensory Games
Calming Sensory Games like playdough, slime, sand play, using a sensory bottle or fidget toys offer children a tactile experience that can significantly aid in managing their emotional and physical energy levels.
These activities are especially helpful for younger children and those having a hard time with self-regulation, as they provide a safe and engaging way to explore different textures and actions that can lead to calmness.
Sensory games are powerful tools in teaching children how to navigate through moments of strong emotions and can be a fun addition to any emotion regulation plan.
Playdough, Slime, Sand Play
How to Play:
Provide materials like playdough, slime, or a sandbox for your child to play with. Encourage them to squish, stretch, and mold as they wish, focusing on the sensation.
You can pair the playdough with these free printable emotions playdough mats to make the activity even more meaningful.
How It Helps:
These activities can be incredibly soothing and provide a tactile way for kids to express emotions or relieve stress without needing to use words.
Fidget Toys
How to Play:
Introduce various fidget toys, such as spinners, cubes, or stress balls, that your child can keep handy. Encourage their use during times of stress or when they need to focus.
How It Helps:
Fidget toys can help manage anxiety, increase focus, and provide a physical outlet for nervous energy.
Emotion-based Arts & Crafts
Emotion-based Arts & Crafts encourage children to creatively express their feelings through making “feeling faces,” drawing, or painting.
This form of expression is one of the most effective emotional regulation activities, allowing children to explore and communicate their emotional experiences in different ways.
Arts and crafts not only serve as a therapeutic outlet for intense emotions but also help in building a child’s problem-solving and social-emotional skills, making it a valuable component of a comprehensive approach to developing strong emotional regulation skills.
Make “Feeling Faces”
How to Play:
Using paper plates and craft supplies, have your child create “feeling faces” that depict different emotions. They can make as many as they like for a range of emotions. Try making this nature craft version of the emotion faces, using the instructions over at our kids craft site In The Playroom
How It Helps: This activity allows children to explore and express their feelings creatively. It also gives them a visual reference for different emotions that they can relate to and discuss.
Draw or Paint Emotions
How to Play:
Give your child the freedom to draw or paint whatever comes to mind when they think of a specific emotion. Encourage them to think about colors and shapes that represent how they feel.
For kiddos who don’t know where to start when it comes to a blank page in front of them, you can try offering these emotions coloring pages
How It Helps:
Art is a powerful tool for expression. This game helps children communicate emotions they might not yet have the words for and can be a therapeutic way to process feelings.
Implementing Emotional Regulation Games with Your Family
Bringing emotional regulation games into your family life doesn’t have to feel like another daunting task on your never-ending parenting to-do list. In fact, weaving these activities into your daily routine can be a whole lot of fun and immensely beneficial for your little ones’ mental health and emotional control. The key is to start by making it fun and engaging.
Whether it’s through animated charades on a lazy Sunday afternoon or a quick round of emotion card games while dinner cooks, the goal is to have a great time together. If it feels like a fun game rather than a lesson, you’re on the right track.
Integration into your daily life is where you’ll see the most benefits. Much like mindful breathing becomes more effective with practice, emotional regulation games offer the most benefits when they become a natural part of your family’s day.
This could be as simple as having a feeling check-in during breakfast or playing calming sensory games after school. It’s all about finding those pockets of time when you can support your children in developing their self-regulation strategies, turning difficult tasks into positive experiences.
Starting simple is always a good idea, especially with younger children or those trying emotional regulation games for the first time. It’s not just about age; consider your child’s energy level, current self-regulation skills, and how they’ve responded to new activities in the past. Adjust the complexity of the games as they grow older and their skills advance. The zones of regulation activities, for instance, can evolve from basic color associations in the preschool years to more nuanced discussions about social settings and coping skills as they mature.
After each game, take a moment to debrief. This doesn’t have to be formal; a casual chat about what emotions came up, how they were dealt with, and what might be a better choice next time can be incredibly enlightening. It’s during these moments that you can share calm-down strategies like deep breathing exercises or even a mindful body scan to help them notice the physical sensations that accompany their emotions.
Most importantly, model healthy emotional regulation as much as possible, and validate their emotions. Kids learn a lot by watching the adults in their lives. Show them how you use self-regulation strategies when you’re in the red zone or how you choose to take a moment for some dragon breathing when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Your reaction to their emotional experiences sets a powerful example.
By validating their feelings as real and understandable, you provide a safe place for them to express themselves and learn successful self-regulation. Remember, it’s okay if every game doesn’t go smoothly or if emotions run high sometimes. These are opportunities for learning and growth, for both you and your child.
Incorporating these games and strategies isn’t just about helping your child navigate their preschool years or mastering the social skills needed for school. It’s about laying the foundation for a lifetime of healthy emotional regulation and mental well-being. And if you ever find it challenging to support your child through these learning curves, remember that seeking professional help or consulting with an occupational therapist can offer new strategies and perspectives.
Emotional regulation is a journey, and with patience, hard work, and a lot of love, you’re equipping your child with a set of skills that will serve them well throughout their life.
More Resources for Emotional Regulation
A friend of mine, Becky Goddard-Hill, shared these tips for helping kids with emotional literacy and expression. She has also published a great book on this topic called
“How I Feel” which contains 40 exciting activities to help young children talk more easily about how and what they feel – giving voice to their frustrations, experiences and struggles as well as articulate their joy, their shyness, and their fear.
Here’s an example of one of the activities in the book, all about feeding your worry monster, and you can read more from Becky at emotionallyhealthykids.com
Having a go with emotional regulation games offers a fun, engaging way for your family to understand and manage emotions together.
By integrating these games and activities into your daily routine, you’re not just having a good time—you’re laying down the building blocks for strong emotional intelligence and self-regulation skills that will benefit your children throughout their lives.
So go ahead, share this blog post with fellow parents, pin it for future reference, and start turning those emotional learning moments into memories of laughter and growth. Together, let’s make emotional regulation a joyful journey for our children.
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