Feelings Flashcards for teaching emotional awareness and empathy.

Feelings Flashcards and Games

Teach Emotional Awareness

Download and print our Feelings Flashcards and use them to play a variety of games that help kids recognize and converse about different emotions.

What you’ll need


Click here to download nine pages of printable flashcards covering a wide range of emotions.


  1. Print out our feeling flashcards.

  2. If you like, decorate the blank side of the cards. Find pictures from magazines relating to the feeling, or draw faces to illustrate the feeling .

Preschool activity ideas

  • Lay out the cards and choose one. Take turns acting out the emotion on the card.

  • Make different facial expressions and choose which card best describes the face each person makes.

  • Choose a card and have each person take turns naming one thing they do when they feel that way.

  • While reading a favorite book together, have your child hold up the card that best represents the feelings of the characters.

Elementary school activity ideas

  • Group together similar flashcards. For example: happy, excited, jovial might go together. Angry, mad, frustrated might, too.

  • Pick a simple sentence, such as "Let's take a walk." Then take turns choosing a card and repeating the sentence with the voice and expressions that correspond to that emotion.
  • Find opposite feelings and match them – brave/scared; calm/nervous; happy/sad.

  • Have each person choose a few feelings they have experienced and write down one or two ways they can respond to that feeling in a positive way. For example, “When I feel annoyed, I can jump rope” or “When I feel excited, I can listen to music and dance.”

Reflection Questions

  • Can you tell about a time when you’ve felt surprised, happy, angry, nervous, etc.?

  • Why is it helpful to recognize and talk about our feelings?

  • How can talking about feelings help us be more understanding of others?


Take it further

  • Have your child make up his or her own games using the cards.

  • Choose one card each week to hang on the refrigerator. Spend time during the week reflecting on that emotion and noticing situations when it arises in yourself, your child or others. Talk about how each person handled the emotion.

Still looking? Browse more ways to parent with purpose!

