Activity: Inside Out – Getting to Know my Emotions
Objective:
This activity can be beneficial by creating a fun, safe environment for children to discuss emotions that may be hard to process. Emotions can be experienced separately or, as the movie shows, more than one emotion can be present at the same time. This can be confusing for children. Sometimes a happy memory can trigger missing someone. This movie does a good job illustrating how all of our emotions work together to build the memories that are important to us. Identifying, expressing, and managing emotions are all strategies learned in the process of doing this fun activity!
Supplies:
- TV or laptop
- To watch Inside Out, ask you local library if they have it for rent. The movie can als be found on Disney or Amazon
- Print the ‘Inside Out’ worksheet
- Pencils, pens, or crayons to write with
Instructions:
- Watch the animated movie “Inside Out.”
- After the movie has ended, sit down and discuss the movie together. This discussion may include anything the children enjoyed while watching the movie, did not enjoy, did not understand, etc.
- Begin identifying the emotions shown throughout the movie, and begin discussing how they personally experience/have experienced these emotions before.
- Use our ‘Inside Out’ worksheet as a template for discussion. Any word, symbol, animal, season, or color can be used to describe how each emotion makes you feel. There are no limitations. For example: “Sadness feels blue. Sadness sounds like crying, a memory when I felt sad was when it rained on my birthday.”
Additional Ideas:
Post the worksheet in a visible place that can be referenced on a daily basis. When various feelings arise throughout the week, adults & children can point to the worksheet to identify which emotions are coming up.
