Learning about emotions can be tough for children and parents alike. They’re not something that you can point to and see; they are internal and everyone reacts differently. So how can we help our children with their emotions? When they are frustrated with a new concept, upset about something a sibling has done, sad that they can’t see a friend or loved one, or excited to be going down the big kids slide on their own for the first time?
Many books have been written on this subject, and I will share a couple that have been recommended in The Big Book Of Pick And Draw Activities by Rich Davis. I wrote a review about this book in March and you can read it here.
The first activity in this book is by April Larremore, a kindergarten and first-grade stategist. “Using Pick and Draw to Teach Talking, Drawing and Writing” is a good starting point to helping children learn about their emotions, and know that they are normal. She suggests several books that can be read to go along with this activity, and we used two that we were able to order in to our local library.
“Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day” by Jamie Lee Curtis is a very colourful and busy book about a girl who has all sorts of emotions throughout her day. Her life is a real roller-coaster of feelings. This story has a rhyming structure which helps children remember and retain the information.
My Many colored Days” by Dr. Suess is a fun and artistically illustrated book. His wife commissioned the perfect artist after his passing. This book is not as complex and attaches a colour to each emotion to help put feelings into something a little more concrete.
When these books arrived at the library we brought them home and read through them each day for several days. Then we put Pick and Draw to work.
My childrenand I love the Pick and Draw Game; it’s small and easy to transport, and fills times when you are waiting for an appointment, relaxing at the library, or travelling by train. Kallista has learned to draw stick people recently, so even at the age of 3 she’s able to participate. And with the variety of ways each game card can be manipulated, it’s gun for adults, too.
We took out our paper, pencil crayons, and Pick And Draw cards. We read the books once more and played the game. We chose an emotion to illustrate. We spoke about how our characters were feeling as we drew the features. We spoke about why they had those emotions; what had happened, and what could help to make them feel better. We even chose out-of-the-ordinary colours to draw each feature, depending upon the mood of the character we were drawing.
This game is appropriate for settings ranging from families, home schoolers, nurseries, day care centres, and school classrooms. This game could be a good starting point for dealing with the big emotions of loss and bullying, but equally as well helps children learn about the emotions of every day life.
This was just one of the 15+ activities within the Big Book of Pick and Draw. We’ll be using others as the children grow and we work on literacy and art more formally.
Are you looking for a fun way to help children learn about feelings and emotions? Or are you looking ahead for a stocking stuffer for a friend or family member? Then Pick And Draw is for you! You can click on the affiliate image below if you’d like to purchase your own game. To keep things fresh Rich is working on getting Pick and Draw to be a drawing app in the future!
Rich Davis has also been involved in illustrating many other books, and his newest book for beginning readers published through Penguin/Puffin is the 8th book in a series about a big dog named, Tiny. Tiny the Birthday Dog looks like a fun read. He currently working on a fun, fictional 4 book series for 3rd grade readers about aliens written by Darcy Pattison. Here’s a sneak peak of one of the illustrations.
Tina says
I’ve been thinking lately we need to do a full-blown unit on anger and how to handle it. Thanks for these as a great place to start. Sorry I’m so late to pop over! Thanks for sharing this post at Booknificent Thursday last week! Looking forward to seeing what you have to share with us this week!
Tina
Crystal McClean says
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment. Have a great week, and good luck with your unit 😉
Elizabeth Low says
I like this theme. “When Sophie Gets Angry” is another good book for discussing anger. Stopped by from Kid Lit Blog Hop.
Crystal McClean says
I haven’t heard of that book, I’m writing it down to see if we can get it from the library the next time we’re in (probably tomorrow). Thank you 🙂
Julie Grasso says
AWesome post. I have read a few reviews about Jamie Lee Curtis’s book, and now I have a toddler that is learning about this stuff, it might be time to start sourcing these books. Thanks for bringing all these great books to our attention on the Kid Lit Blog HOp
Crystal McClean says
I think after the success we’ve had with I Feel Silly, we’ll be looking up more Jamie Lee Curtis books in the future 🙂 It’s interesting how the style of books change as kids grow so quickly!
Cheryl Carpinello says
These are great books. Knew they were out there, but forgot when our son was hospitalized and our grandson struggled with daddy being sick. Thanks for sharing on the Kid Lit Blog Hop. Cheryl, Hop Hostess
Crystal McClean says
Thanks for hosting, Cheryl, I really enjoy this hop 🙂 It always seems we forget things when we’re stressed ourselves. I hope your son is feeling well again, and grandson, too. I hope to see you again soon, have a great weekend!
Tonja Drecker says
What fun ways to learn about emotions! And yes, kids (and us adults sometimes too) do need the extra help at times.
Thanks!
Crystal McClean says
One cool thing is that you can bring out the Pick and Draw when you or the kids aren’t happy, and it will help break the ice and you’ll find yourself smiling at the characters 🙂 Have fun!
Cheryl says
Thanks for sharing. My Many Colored Days is one of my favorites. Stopped by from the Kid Lit Blog Hop
Crystal McClean says
Thank you for stopping by Cheryl! This was our first time to read this book, but we’ve since read it sooo many times! I hope to see you again 🙂
Reshama says
What a fun idea Crystal! and perfect for pre-schoolers. I love the idea of coloring and emotions tied together for leaning about feelings. Thanks for sharing on Kid lit Blog Hop.
-Reshama @Stackingbooks.com
Tess says
My daughter loves to draw. These sound like great choices!
Crystal McClean says
This is so much fun, I’m not much for drawing, but my stickmen have improved now!
Nicole Copeland says
My daughter is learning about emotions in preschool this week..I will pass on these book to her teacher!
Crystal McClean says
Aww, that’s a great compliment 🙂 Have a fantastic week!
Adelien says
Amazing! Need to check them out. Thank you for sharing.
Crystal McClean says
Please do, and let me know what you think 🙂
Tammy Doiel says
My husband is teaching an adult class in our church about faith and feelings or about how we deal with emotions as Christians. It’s what he wants to do his doctorate thesis on as there aren’t too many adult Christian books written on the subject. So anyway, I’ve been thinking about the subject of emotions a lot lately, and it was interesting to read about it on a child’s level. We have the book, Today I Feel Silly.
Crystal McClean says
It’s a good book isn’t it? I like that it shows that it’s ok to feel emotions and helps to give some understanding to them. Emotions can be a difficult thing, regardless of age. Good luck to your husband on his thesis!
Stephanie @ From the Burbs to the Boonies says
Aw, I love this. Reading about emotions has been a huge help for my son and I. He is a very sensitive, high spirited kid and this has caused him some troubles. We have read about worries and anger most of all. These seem like great resources and such an important idea to share.
Crystal McClean says
It’s a tough concept as everyone feels and reacts differently to the same thing. Good luck to you and your son 🙂
Missy Homemaker says
Today I Feel Silly has been a favorite children’s book of mine since it was published. And you can never go wrong with Dr. Seuss. I like the idea of the pick and draw cards. I’ve never heard of them.
Crystal McClean says
I love the PAD Game! It was our first time reading these books, though I’d heard of Jamie Lee Curtis’ when it came out and she was on Oprah, but I was sceptical. Now I stand corrected as it’s a great book 🙂
Katy @ Experienced Bad Mom says
I’ve never heard of Pick and Draw but it sounds cool! And an app would be even better.
Crystal McClean says
Pick and Draw is a cool concept! It travels well and is easy and fun for passing a little time, or for getting more involved while learning. In the day of apps, I’m sure it will do very well.
Jill @ Called To Be A Mom says
Thanks for the review.
Kayla Arrowood says
What a great way to learn about emotions! Love some of those books you used! Fun fun fun!
Crystal McClean says
These were just a couple of the books referenced in the activity. There were several more but our library system doesn’t have them. It’s great fun learning this way!