Understanding how preschoolers feel may help you figure out what activities most fascinate them or why they are not participating in class. A to Z Teacher Stuff recommends an activity having children draw four different faces, representing various emotions, on paper plates. Discuss emotions like happiness, sadness, confusion, anger and excitement. Present different scenarios, such as feeling sick, getting a new puppy, painting a beautiful picture or learning a new song. Ask children how each scenario makes them feel. Give children four more paper plates and ask them to draw faces representing emotions they commonly feel. They can glue popsicle sticks to the base so they can easily hold up their masks. Incorporate the emotional masks for days to come. For example, ask students how they are feeling today or how they enjoyed a particular activity, prompting them to hold up one of the plates.
Students can engage in movement exercises to tap into their creativity, get some physical exercise and understand their emotions and those of others. Start by prompting children to move in various ways, such as walking, crawling, skipping, limping, dancing, tip-toeing and slouching. Ask children what emotions are associated with each movement. Play music and call out commands, such as, "Move as if you are happy," and do the same for "afraid" or "surprised." Incorporate the freeze game; when the music stops, children must freeze like a statue while portraying that particular emotion.
Teach QuickSource recommends creating a mural to showcase the interests, unique traits and talents of each child in your preschool classroom. With the help of parent volunteers or staff, trace each child's body on a piece of butcher paper. Each child decorates his own outline with drawings, pictures from magazines, photographs or any item they wish. Encourage them to include items representing their own unique traits. Hang the mural on the wall. This can be an on-going project, with children continuously adding items to their profiles. Prompt children to tell the others about themselves while referring to their part of the mural. Ask students what they like about each of their classmates' images.
Create a kindness tree to reward and encourage children to respect one another and help others, recommends PBS Parents. Make a homemade tree trunk and branches out of craft material or from sticks found outside. Every time a child does something positive for another, add a leaf to the tree with the child's name and act written on it. Parents can send notes from home to let you know of kind acts. As more and more children show respect, the tree will blossom and inspire all of the children to be kind.