The relationship between our facial expressions and emotions is not clear, but if you smile, your mood may change for the better. Make a feeling die by gluing faces on a large square cardboard box. Ask a preschooler to throw the die and to make the face that comes up. Use a mirror and let her see what she looks like when she is imitating it. Let the other children guess what face on the die she is trying to imitate. Ask them to describe a situation where she might feel that way.
Identifying feelings that other people are experiencing is a vital skill for promoting the development of empathy. Sometimes it is easier for a preschooler to feel empathy when he is listening to a story. He can focus on the characters' feelings without having to make a decision about how to act in the situation. Read books like "Duck and Goose -- How are you Feeling?" by Tad Hills, and "The Way I Feel " by Janan Cain. Talk about how different characters are feeling. Ask the preschoolers, "How do you know that she is feeling sad?" and "What happens that makes the bear feel happy in the story?"
Provide preschoolers with many ways to express their emotions and describe people's emotions. Feelings have many similarities with colors, and feelings like fear and anger can be compared to primary colors. Select a scene in a book and talk about different emotions that the characters may have felt. Ask them to draw an expression of those feelings using suitable colors. Prompt them to explain why they picked the colors they did. Use a wide selection of music and let preschoolers use their whole body to show how the music makes them feel. Jump for joy to happy music, look scared to spooky music and blow bubbles and smile to soft music.
Concentrating on one feeling for a whole week deepens preschoolers' understanding of that particular feeling. It also teaches them how feelings are connected to situations and to other feelings. A happy week can include activities where you make happy food; for instance, you could make happy smiley faces by using food like shredded carrots or raisins to decorate sandwiches. Cut out happy faces in magazines and make a huge collage. Display the collage so that it is the first thing preschoolers see when they walk into the classroom. When preschoolers look happy, ask if they are happy. If they confirm the feeling, give them a smiley face sticker that shows how they were feeling.