Being able to detect others’ emotions through their facial expressions is a facet of nonverbal communication. At this stage, your child is seeing many different facial expressions that help to convey emotions, thoughts, and opinions. This activity will not only be a great way to find and identify facial expressions, it also leads to conversations about what the causes of certain emotions might be.
- magazines
- notebook
- scissors
- glue stick
- pencil, pen, crayon or marker
Step 1: Encourage your child to turn the pages of a magazine and find pictures of people showing a variety of facial expressions.
Step 2: Cut out the pictures and sort them into categories that represent each facial expression. For example, you might ask your child to sort all the happy faces together and then all the sad faces together. Repeat this process with other facial expressions, like surprised, bored, angry, tired, etc. Help your child interpret the facial expressions as needed. It sometimes helps to imitate the facial expression for him.
Step 3: Have your child glue the pictures from each pile onto their own special page. Label the page with the emotion. For example, write “Happy” on the pages that show people with happy facial expressions and glue all of the “happy faces” onto that page.
Step 4: When you have finished sorting, gluing and labeling, look through your book and ask your child to think of reasons why the person in the picture might be feeling that way. Create a story about that person’s experience. For example, you might touch a “happy face” picture and say, “I think this woman is smiling and happy because her best friend just invited her to a birthday party, and she is excited. Why do you think she is happy?”
Step 5: Go through the pages, and take turns telling stories about the pictures. You don’t have to do all of the pictures in one sitting. This is an activity that you can continue doing over time. You can also add to the notebook as time goes on.
Step 1: To make it easier, start with just one facial expression. For example, you might start with asking your child to find a picture of someone with a happy face.
Step 2: Cut out the picture and glue it onto page labeled “Happy Faces.”
Step 3: Imitate the facial expression together and ask your child tell you about things that make him happy. You might start off the conversation by saying, “You know what makes me happy? Your smile makes me happy! What makes you happy?”
Step 4: Ask your child to look at the picture and to think of reasons why the person in the picture might be feeling that way. For example, you might touch a “happy face” picture and say, “I think this woman is smiling and happy because her best friend just invited her to a birthday party. Why do you think she is happy?”
Step 5: Repeat this process by looking for other pictures of different emotions such as sad or angry faces. Help your child decode the facial expressions as needed.
Step 1: Encourage your child to turn the pages of a magazine and find pictures of people showing a variety of facial expressions.
Step 2: Cut out the pictures and sort them into categories that represent each facial expression. Have your child glue the pictures from each pile onto their own special page.
Step 3: Repeat this procedure on separate pages for the different categories.
Step 4: To add some challenge: Invite your child to tell you a label for each page. For example, you might say, “What should we call this page?” What is the same about all of these pictures?”
Step 5: Create a list as you talk together about the reasons why someone might feel that emotion. Go through the pages and take turns telling stories about the pictures. Ask your child to tell you what might change the emotion for the person in a particular picture. For example, you might look at a picture of an angry person and ask your child to think about what might make that person stop being angry.
Step 6: Repeat this activity with each of the emotions. You don’t have to do all of the pictures in one sitting. This is an activity that you can continue doing over time. You can also add to the notebook as time goes on.
