Toddler Theme: Feelings

This week we explored the theme Feelings.  But really, isn't every week Feelings week when you have toddlers around?  Ha!  Jokes aside, that's why there are so many children's books on this very topic.  I listed a bunch that we have in our little library in the summary below.  We pulled all of these out Sunday night and then worked through them over the course of the week.  I also taught Mia the song "If You're Happy and You Know It."  She's a physically active kid so this was a big hit and she had me making up lots of new verses to keep the fun going.  Song writing and, let's be real, singing are not my strong traits -- okay, I'm awful -- so I came up with an animal emotions dice game.  You don't even need to make it as complicated as a dice game...just pair up an animal and an emotion and challenge your kid to act it out.  We made dice because it added to the game-ness (not a word, I made that up) of the activity and kept Mia engaged longer.  I used 1" wooden cubes from the craft store and then Modge Podged several animals & emotions I had printed out.  Since I already did the work, I thought I'd share the printable but you could just write on the blocks with a marker.  Easy!

If you want to explore Feelings with a more art-focused approach, then there are some neat and free options available on the web.  Mr. Printables has a printable for a cool 'Make a Face' emotion toy.  You just need a few brad fasteners and card stock.  We made that one last year for this same theme and Mia loved it.  I also like the blank faces drawing page from Dabbles and Babbles.  It's the same one we used during Detective week, but this time around I drew different types of facial expressions and had Mia guess the emotion.  Another simple thing I do when the opportunity presents itself is help Mia identify emotions in real life situations or on real people's faces (on television, for instance).  I might say something like "Mia, I think something is bothering your little sister...is she upset?"  "How do you know she's upset?"  Ultimately, I'm trying to help her gain not only a better understanding of her own feelings, but also a social awareness of emotions in others (her Emotional IQ).  And empathy, lots of empathy.

A summary of all Feelings week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Sang the song "If You're Happy and You Know It," Played an animal feelings dice game (Want to make your own dice? Get the printable here)

ART PROJECTS: Made the 'Make a Face' emotions toy with the printable from Mr. Printables (get it here), Drew & guessed emotions using the blank faces drawing page from Dabbles and Babbles (get it here)

BOOKS: In My Heart by Jo Witek, Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton, A Boy, A Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Happy Hippo, Angry Duck by Sandra Boynton, Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

If you'd like to share a photo of your kid doing theme week activities, you can email it to me (email button in the left menu) or tag me on your Facebook photo or use the hashtag #weeklytoddlerthemes on Instagram (if you are private, just make sure I'm following you or tag me in the photo).