You can show a child pictures and drawings of different expressions on a character's face or different scenarios, which convey an emotion. Ask him talk to about how the characters in the pictures or drawing feel. Next, ask him to discuss how he knows the character feels a certain way. Finally, let him explain how he would help a friend who was feeling the same way as the character in the picture. For a classroom twist, you can ask the class to each draw a character feeling a certain way. Then the class can trade pictures around the room and identify the various feelings.
If a child experiences anger, let the moment pass. After a few hours, or the next day, you can ask her why she was angry. Then you can ask her what she did to cope with her anger. Next, the two of you can discuss other ways she could have coped with the anger. You might suggest taking deep breaths, talking it over with an adult or friend and thinking about something nice instead of what is making her angry.
You can have children role-play various feelings with puppets, dolls or action figures. The child can assign different actions and emotions to different puppets. Listen to the dialogue and watch the action that he instills into the puppets while role-playing. Next, you can ask him to discuss how the puppets felt and why they felt that way. You can also ask him what he would say to a friend who felt the same way, or if he has ever felt that way.
In the feeling ball exercise, all adults and children form a circle. Then you or a child throws the ball. Each time someone in the circle catches the ball, she expresses a feeling. In doing this, the children have an enjoyable time throwing the ball around with adults, and they may be more free to express feelings while focused on the ball. This technique creates a playful way to express feelings while having fun.