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Making a feelings tree

Expressing feelings is not always easy, especially for young children.

The process of using words to describe how you are feeling and understanding what that means requires a lot of practice.

Making a feelings tree together will help your child talk about these different emotions and understand how they're feeling.

Watch the video below to see how this game can get your child talking about and describing new emotions.

What are the benefits of a feelings tree?

  • Introducing new emotions to the tree will help build your child's vocabulary.
  • Talking about how they have felt and how they might feel allows them to practise different tenses and sentences structures.
  • Identifying why they feel certain emotions helps them use well-formed sentences to express their thoughts.
  • Reflecting on your own feelings can be a great way to help children develop empathy.
  • Having a feelings tree allows children to express themselves in a different way if they can't find their words.
Activities like this one provide your child with opportunities to learn and recognise different emotions in themselves and others.

How to make a feelings tree with your child

There are many different ways you can construct a feelings tree with your child.

If you have a plant, tree or branches around your house, you could add your leaves to this. Or you can create a cardboard or paper tree.

Ask your child to name a feeling to put on the tree. See whether your child can draw how someone feeling this way would look.

Can your child describe a time in the past when they felt that way? Or can they look to the future and talk about what might make them feel that way.

Encourage your child to use more complex sentences and connecting words likebecause**. This will help themarticulate their thoughts.

Take it in turns with your child to name feelings, draw faces and talk about them. The more feelings you name, the more leaves your tree will have, and the more your child's vocabulary will grow.

Before you finish the game, ask your child to name all the different feelings that they have stuck on the tree. Can they remember what each face represents?

Activities like this one provide your child with opportunities to learn and recognise different emotions in themselves and others.

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