Emotions Worksheets

Printable worksheets that help children name, understand and manage their feelings. The pack covers emotion identification, faces to draw and match, a feelings thermometer, triggers and body clues, calming strategies and a daily feelings check-in — for home, classrooms and counselling sessions.

What is in the emotions worksheet pack

• Name that feeling — match emotion words to situations and faces.
• Draw the face — children draw faces for happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, worried, proud and calm.
• Feelings thermometer — rate how strong a feeling is from 1 to 5 and what each level looks like.
• Body clues — where do I feel it in my body? A body outline to colour.
• Triggers and solutions — what happened, how I felt, what I did, what I could try next time.
• Calm-down strategies menu — breathing, movement, sensory and talking strategies to choose from.
• Daily feelings check-in — a quick morning or afternoon chart for a week.
• Feelings journal pages — prompts for older children.
• Emotion word cards — for games, sorting and vocabulary building.

Why emotion vocabulary matters

Children who can name a feeling precisely — frustrated rather than just “bad”, nervous rather than just “scared” — are better able to understand what is happening inside them and to ask for the help they need. Building this emotional vocabulary is a core part of social-emotional learning (SEL), which many schools teach alongside academic subjects. The worksheets start with basic feelings for younger children and add more nuanced words, such as disappointed, jealous, embarrassed and hopeful, for older ones.

How to use the worksheets

1. Start with the “Name that feeling” and “Draw the face” sheets to build vocabulary.
2. Use the feelings thermometer when things are calm, so the child learns the scale before they need it.
3. Explore body clues: many children notice a feeling in their body before they can name it.
4. Choose three calming strategies together and practise them when calm.
5. Use the triggers sheet after a difficult moment has passed, not during it.
6. Keep the daily check-in visible so talking about feelings becomes routine.

Tips for adults

• Model it: name your own feelings out loud in everyday situations.
• Validate first — “You seem really frustrated” — before problem-solving.
• Make clear that all feelings are acceptable, while not all behaviours are.
• Keep sessions short and positive; five to ten minutes is plenty for young children.
• Praise effort in using a strategy, even if it does not work every time.
• If a child's distress is frequent, intense or getting worse, talk to their doctor, school counsellor or a mental health professional.

Who it is for

Parents, early-years and elementary teachers, school counsellors, therapists and after-school programmes. The simpler sheets suit ages 4–7 with adult support; the journal pages and trigger-solution sheets suit ages 7–12. The worksheets are educational tools and are not a substitute for professional assessment or therapy.

Formats

Every worksheet is a print-ready PDF (US Letter, also printable on A4) and an editable DOCX file, so you can change wording, add a child's name or adapt activities. Emotion word cards print six per page.

Using the sheets in a classroom routine

Many teachers begin the day with a quick feelings check-in: each child points to or names how they feel on the chart, which helps the teacher notice who might need extra support. Weekly, a short lesson with one worksheet — a new emotion word, a calming strategy or a role-play from the triggers sheet — builds skills gradually. Displaying the calm-down menu in a quiet corner gives children a place to use the strategies they have practised, and returning to the thermometer after a difficult moment helps them see that strong feelings do pass.