I created this activity to help kids express a feeling that they might not have words for. The worksheet below shows an outline of a body and asks kids to color in where they are experiencing a feeling using a color that reflects the feeling, but another way to do this activity is to give the child a blank piece of paper and have them draw what the emotion feels like to them.
When we experience strong emotions, the part of our brain that controls language goes offline. It can be helpful to learn techniques to put that part of our brain back in charge, but sometimes kids need to be able to express a feeling without the pressure of having to put words to the feeling. Using this technique, adults can discover what children are feeling and offer appropriate support even if the child is not in a place to put words to the feeling.
If the child likes the idea of using colors to express feelings, you can have them assign colors to feelings when they are calm so that, in the moment, you know what each color means to them.
Drawing out the feeling will help the child process it and communicate it in a way that is appropriate and understandable. Once the child feels calm, you can go back to the worksheet and talk them through the best way to handle that feeling.
For more tips on helping kids communicate their feelings, check out I Don’t Want To Be Bad on Amazon!