Since facial expressions are one of the biggest clues to how a person is feeling, this activity is an effective way to teach preschoolers in a class or group about emotions. Assign a feeling to each child, such as "happy," "angry" or "excited." Take a photograph of each child's face as she makes the assigned expression. Paste all of the photographs onto poster board. Every day, ask each child to tell you which facial expression describes how she feels.
Compile a playlist of songs that all express a similar feeling, such as songs about love, but make sure the songs are age-appropriate for preschoolers. Ask the children to color on white construction paper using crayons and draw how they are feeling as the music plays. After the activity is over, each child should share his drawing and explain how it represents his feelings. Children can use colors, shapes and lines to indicate emotion.
Learning about love and relationships is important in children's development as it helps them access positive feelings. Invite preschoolers to draw a picture of what love looks like. Because this is an abstract concept that might be difficult for them, encourage them to interpret the assignment by drawing who they love (including family, friends, pets and others), what a person who is feeling love looks like, or what colors love makes them think of.
Read a few books about emotions with your preschoolers. During each book, pause frequently to ask how they are feeling and how they think the characters are feeling. Ask them to show you what each feeling looks like by using their faces. When you are finished, ask them what events or situations made the characters feel the way they did. Share a time with the children that you felt the same way and why.