homework about feelings

FREE Feelings and Emotions Worksheets

Welcome to the feelings and emotions section of the site. there are currently 301 worksheets available on this topic; they are free and easy to print out to use in your classroom. this feelings & emotions worksheet uses an amusing character to illustrate thirty different emotions. you can use this as an introduction, a study sheet, a poster, and even adapt it to make your own matching worksheet to help test students on basic feelings. if this is not what you are looking for, browse the section for something more suitable for your students. you are encouraged to rate and leave comments for the worksheets you use and can even upload your own worksheets for other teachers to try out. feelings and emotions are very difficult to express in a non-native language. help students talk about their feelings by introducing common phrases and giving them the opportunity to practice using them. if your students all respond “i’m fine, thank you.” to the question “how are you” encourage them to use other vocabulary words to be more specific. your class before lunch might start to rely on “hungry” which is not an emotional but a physical state while the last class of the day might always be “tired” so give them practice activities that let them think about other occasions. “how do you feel in the morning” or “how do you feel on your birthday” type questions will allow students to think of different responses. read more... ...less.

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Emotions and Feelings Worksheets

Use these printable worksheets and games for teaching students about basic emotions and feelings. Feelings included in these activities: happy, sad, angry, tired, and afraid.

Grades K through 2

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Grades 3 and Up

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The Counseling Palette

• May 10, 2022

21 Helpful Feelings Worksheets for Kids, Teens & Adults

Updated: Jan 30, 2023

Worksheets can help you or those you work with cope with strong emotions. Learn more.

Big emotions can be overwhelming. They may be frightening, or lead to behavioral and relationship struggles. The opposite can be difficult as well – many people learn to shut off feelings, or don’t even realize when they’re having them. This can cause problems down the road.

Feelings worksheets are a tool that therapists and individuals can use to help understand and deal with emotions. Some focus on recognizing core feelings, like feelings wheels, and others help people learn to accept or cope with their experiences.

To get started, check out the quick highlights list with resources you can grab right away. Keep scrolling to review all 21 worksheets about working with feelings and related topics like emotional regulation, coping with anxiety, and dealing with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Resource Highlights

Kids Anger Management Worksheets

Best for: Kids

This set of kids anger management PDFs starts with the anger iceberg. The iceberg helps kids understand the feelings underneath their anger.

The feelings volcano targets triggers and signs of escalating anger, while the mindful mountain focuses on coping skills. You can learn more about the anger management tools and check out the printables here.

Emotions Wheel Kit

Best for: Teens, Adults

Practice learning and coping with difficult emotions. The emotions wheel kit includes a sample feelings wheel along with blank examples and posters to work with. You can review and discuss emotions, and create your own based on feelings you commonly experience. L earn more here.

Strong Emotions Worksheet for Adults

Best for: Adults, Some Teens

Adults dealing with intense and overwhelming emotions may benefit from this emotions worksheet. It walks through the experience of strong emotions and how to ride them out or use coping skills when necessary.

It includes tips on when to go with feelings and when it's necessary to get help in the moment. Purchase it individually or get the best deal in this bundle .

CBT Triangle Worksheet

Best for: Adults, Teens, Some Tweens

The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) triangle reviews the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In some cases, ongoing thoughts influence ongoing feelings.

The triangle worksheet clearly walks through the triangle itself and how to use it to change thoughts. Get it here.

Feelings Wheels Worksheet

Feelings wheels, which are typically color-coded, are a popular place to start. To discuss emotions, it helps to have a common language. Many people are only aware of a few emotions, such as happy, sad, and angry.

There are several other core emotions, as well as offshoots of these. Core emotions , according to well-known expert Robert Plutchik (Plutchik, 1982), include:

Anticipation

Plutchik organized the feelings in a circle as a way of showing how emotions connect to each other. Therapists and others have taken this idea and run with it – leading to the creation of hundreds of color-coded emotions wheels.

These tools are often used to help people visually see, understand, and identify what they’re feeling.

Here are a few feelings wheels to choose from that included activities for yourself or clients as well. I’ve included various types of wheels and activities to choose from.

Feelings Wheel & List Check-In

Best for: Kids and Teens

Available from: Teachers Pay Teachers

This resource includes a wheel and feelings list with emojis, offering a reader-friendlier and lighter version of the wheel. It’s a good fit for kids and younger teens.

Emotions Wheel Kit, Focused on Coping

Best for: Older Children, Teens, & Adults

Available from: The Counseling Palette

Our emotion wheel kit includes a basic wheel, which includes common core emotions along with physical sensations and coping skills. The kit includes worksheets, so clients and others can fill out blank sections as they like.

The tool can be used as a way to understand feelings as well as a coping tool down the road. It’s a good activity for groups as well. Learn more about the kit here .

Traditional Emotions Wheel

Best for: Older Teens, Adults

Available from: FeelingsWheel.com

This version of the feelings wheel may be the most familiar to many. It includes hundreds of emotions, broken down from primary emotions into broader sections. It doesn’t include activity instructions, however it can be a good reference list for therapists or others who want to offer options to choose from.

Feelings Charts

Similar to emotion wheels, feelings lists can help people start to identify and understand emotions. They are often quite long, a page or several pages, so it’s unlikely a feeling will be missed. These worksheets include the list format.

Basic Emotions

Available from Therapist Aid

This is a well-organized list that breaks basic emotions down by category of four primary emotions. Included are: happiness, sadness, anger and fear. Each section has 10 additional feelings words.

Big List of Feelings Words!

Best for: Kids, Younger Teens

This is a one-page list that’s easy to read and has a bit of flare mixed in. Emojis help the list feel more accessible, and it may be a solid tool for younger kids.

Feelings Poster for Teens

Best for: Pre Teens, Younger Teens

If you’re looking for a visual tool for teens, this may be it. It includes teen characters acting out various emotions, with the feelings listed underneath. It can be a quick reference or part of a larger activity.

Best for: Kids, Teens, Adults

Available from Word Art

This one isn't a pre-made worksheet, but if you or your clients have online access, you can create a custom feelings word image, similar to the cover photo.

Emotion Thermometers

Emotion thermometers are often taught to help kids and teens understand the fluctuation of emotions. It’s a helpful activity that you can do even without a worksheet.

Kids can draw thermometers and fill them up depending on how strong the feeling is. For example, a little bit angry may only fill around 10% of the thermometer, while ready to punch someone would be at or near 100%.

These worksheets use the thermometer or similar techniques. They are compatible with therapies like CBT as well as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, or TF-CBT.

Emotion Thermometer

Best for: Kids, Teens

Available from: Therapist Aid

This is a straightforward tool that includes thermometers to fill out for common emotions. It includes happy, sad, angry, worn out, worried, and annoyed.

Feelings Thermometer Poster/Handout

Available from: Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health

This may not technically be considered a worksheet, but it’s an attractive and effective tool that includes coping actions relating to each difficult emotion.

Emotional Regulation Worksheets

It can be tricky when teaching about feelings, because we want a balance between accepting them and managing them. Validation and learning to allow feelings is one of the important parts of healing for issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

However, sometimes feeling out of control can interfere with recovery. It can also begin to cause problems at home, work, or school. So in daily life, it can help to have some methods to calm down quickly and get back to the moment.

These tools include techniques to help with regulating feelings when needed.

Strong Emotions Worksheet

Best for: Older teens, adults

Our emotions worksheet focuses on regulating overwhelming feelings. Often people avoid recovery from anxiety, PTSD or alcohol due to a fear of the unknown.

The 3-page worksheet walks through how to ride out emotions if possible, or cope with them when they become overwhelming. You can check out the individual worksheet here , or get it with the larger bundle .

PLEASE Worksheet

Available from: PsychPoint

DBT uses a technique called PLEASE for emotion regulation. It stands for treating p hysical illness, balanced e ating, a voiding substances, s leeping enough, and e xercising regularly. The idea is that by addressing these physical issues, emotion regulation will become a little easier.

Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors Tools

In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the cognitive triangle (or CBT triangle) is often used to teach about emotions. Feelings are part of a triad, including thoughts and behaviors as well.

The idea is that a thought often becomes a feeling, which leads into a behavior, and then cycles back into a thought. Most often, CBT therapists teach about intervening at the thought, however managing feelings and changing behaviors come into play as well.

These worksheets use the CBT triangle and other techniques to help teach about emotions.

Best for: Older Kids, Teens, Adults

Practice identifying thoughts, feelings and behaviors, as well as changing them through CBT techniques. This worksheet has examples as well as open spaces for you or clients to practice understanding and changing emotions. Get it here.

Traditional Cognitive Triangle Worksheet

Available from: University of Washington

You may have already seen this commonly used and straightforward CBT worksheet. If you’re looking for a simple, no-frills option, this is it.

Feelings Worksheets by Age Group

Looking for materials for a specific group you work with, or for your child or yourself? Here are more options broken down by age group.

Worksheets for Kids

Some of the worksheets above are appropriate for kids, but often it helps to have materials specifically geared for various age ranges. Here’s a list of some popular tools based on grade or age level.

Body Language and Identifying Emotions , at Teachers Pay Teachers

Multiple Feelings and Emotions Worksheets , at Teachers Pay Teachers

Kindergarten Emotions Worksheet , at K5 Learning

Worksheets for Teens

Often teens respond to tools for both younger and older audiences. Many of the worksheets above may work for this audience. However, here are some tools that are specifically designed with adolescents in mind.

Emotional Intelligence Worksheets for Teens , at Ohio.gov

Anger Assessment Worksheet , at Teachers Pay Teachers

DBT Emotion Regulation Skills , at Teachers Pay Teachers

Worksheets for Adults

Feelings worksheets geared for adults can be a bit harder to come by. Many include dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) techniques. DBT therapists can also overlap and use tools relating to CBT, which is a core part of DBT.

Here are various worksheets created for adults that cover emotions, regulating, and specific recovery topics.

Grounding Stone Mindfulness Kit , at The Counseling Palette

DBT Therapy Skills Workbook , at Amazon

Emotion Regulation Skills , at Therapist Aid

Other Feelings Resources

The following tools aren't worksheets exactly, but include feelings-related activities and prompts.

Printable DBT Board Game

If you use dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) you may find the DBT board game helpful. It's not exactly a worksheet, but it includes dozens of prompts, including feelings skills.

It covers four DBT categories, including distress tolerance, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness. Download it here.

FEELOPOLY is a popular game great for kids, as well as some teens and young adult groups. The game includes feelings prompts, along with a cooperative goal to validate all types of emotions.

You can use FEELOPOLY as a teaching or reinforcement tool about basic emotions. Learn more here.

CBT Worksheet Bundle

If you're interested in using CBT to help with emotions and overall mental health, you may find this worksheet bundle helpful.

It covers the basic skills used in CBT-based therapies for anxiety and PTSD. You can use the worksheets individually over time, or together as a workbook. Download it here.

Kids Emotions Cards

Are you looking to help kids identify emotions in a fun and less-threatening way? Enter the Magical Emotions deck, featuring unicorns and dragons. The set also includes games based on familiar children's card games. You can also pair it with the Kids Coping Cards . Check out the feelings set here.

Giant Therapy Tools Kit

Interested in downloading a bunch of tools at once? The Counseling Palette's Entire Store Bundle includes feelings worksheets, games, and other therapy-related activities. See the details here.

Emotions are a good place to start when it comes to coping, feeling better, and dealing with mental health. To find more resources, check out our store that includes worksheets and downloads on anxiety, PTSD, mindfulness tools, and more. Visit here to find resources.

Plutchik, R. (1982). A psychoevolutionary theory of emotions. Social Science Information. 21: 529-553. https://doi.org/10.1177/053901882021004003

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14 Printable "Cheat Sheets" To Help Kids Build Emotional Intelligence

There's a lot to learn about understanding and managing your feelings.

Our  Feelings Thermometer Worksheets make it fun and easy!

This resource is packed with printable, kid-friendly worksheets, exercises and activities to bring emotional intelligence to life. 

Kids will learn to understand, manage and express their emotions - and relate to others in a constructive way.

Best part - it's 100% printable and completely turn-key.

In just minutes, you can have a fun and engaging activity that works with kids of all ages.

Each Lesson is Featured on a Printable 1-Page Handout

 Print as many as you need for your school, organization or home.

Get Instant Access to 14 Printable Handouts

For each emotion, you'll get one worksheet helping kids identify the emotion. And one worksheet helping them build healthy coping skills.

Recognize your anger signs and learn calming techniques to manage frustration.

Overwhelmed

Identify when you feel overwhelmed and practice methods for reducing stress.

Spot your anxiety triggers and develop strategies to stay calm and focused.

Understand your sadness cues and explore activities to boost mood and resilience.

Detect your irritation signals and find ways to maintain patience and composure.

Celebrate your moments of happiness and practice sharing joy with others.

Recognize when you feel calm and learn to cultivate a peaceful mindset.

Free Bonus : First 500 Orders This Month Only

Get The Printable Feelings Thermometer Poster & Coloring Sheets for FREE!

Print as many copies as you need for your personal or classroom use.

($10.00 value)

So Many Fun Ways to Use

Perfect for teachers, school counselors, parents, coaches, after-school program leaders, or anyone who works with kids.

SEL Integration

Easily integrates with your existing Social Emotional Learning program. Or use the sheets on their own!

Team Building

Assign worksheets as group activities, fostering teamwork and cooperation skills.

Morning Kickstart

Incorporate with your morning routine, setting a positive tone for the day.

Early Arrivers & Fast Finishers

Assign worksheets to students to keep them engaged during downtime.

Classroom Conversations

Use the activities as a jump-off point for discussions on important SEL topics.

Homework Assignments

Hand out the worksheets to do at home, promoting learning and development outside the classroom.

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Feelings and Emotions

We all have feelings—sadness, happiness, anger, and so many others. A variety of lesson plans and ideas, mini-books, plays, printable emotions worksheets, reading response activities, writing pages, crafts, and character-building activities teach how to express emotions, have empathy, resolve conflicts, and take responsibility.

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Worksheet 1: easy feelings and emotions word search.

A word search that covers basic emotions.

Worksheet 2: Intermediate Feelings and Emotions Word Search

A word search that has some intermediate vocabulary like, relaxed, nervous, and depressed.

Worksheet 3: Hard Feelings and Emotions Word Search

A word search that has hard emotions and feeling vocabulary such as embarrassed, confident, and confused.

Worksheet 4: Moods, Feelings, and Emotions Conversation Prompts

A list of conversation prompts to get students discussing how they feel.

Worksheet 5: Free Talking about Emotions

Another collection of conversation prompts to get students discussing their emotions.

Game 1: Feelings and Emotions Card Game

A fun card game for learning various feelings and emotions and the reasons why people feel that way.

Young Learners Unit: Feelings and Emotions

A collection of worksheets and teaching resources aimed at young learners.

Vocabulary Worksheets: Basic Emotions and States of Being

A vocabulary worksheet aimed at young learners to teach words like angry, tired, and thirsty.

Flashcard Set 1: Basic Emotions and States of Being Flashcards

A vocabulary worksheet aimed at young learners to teach words like bored, tired, and happy.

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Fun with Mama

Toddler and preschool activities

Written by Nadia T • Feb 12, 2024 • Leave a Comment

Feelings Activities + Emotions Worksheets For Kids

Are you teaching feelings? Understanding feelings and emotions for kids is an important social skill. In this feelings activities for kids preschool printable pack, children will learn vocabulary words to label their emotions and, in turn, hopefully, learn to work through their emotions and feelings.

The printable emotion chart includes faces of different emotions so children will notice the different facial expressions and what they mean.

There are also emotion cards, emotions worksheets, teaching feeling game and more!

Feelings and emotions

This Emotion Printable Pack is aimed at children in preschool and kindergarten. It includes a variety of math and literacy activities as well as emotion-focused activities. You can add these books about feelings for kids to encourage more talk about emotions. The  Friendship and Feelings Koala Crate   also goes well with these themed preschool activities.

Materials Required:

Here are some items that pair well with these activities. You will use each of these items over and over during all my printable preschool activity packs.

• Do a Dot Art Markers 
• Card stock (to print everything out on.)
• A pocket chart
• Write and wipe Dry Erase Pockets
• Laminator with pockets (If you want to make it reusable.)
• Clothespins (for the clip cards)

Emotions For Kids

Feelings Activities

At the beginning of this Feelings and Emotions Printable Pack is an emotions chart. This would be great printed on white cardstock and then laminated. Children can review this chart when needed to help them understand and control their emotions.

Also included are some Emotions flashcards. These would be great laminated too. They could be used in many ways such as:

• Helping children understand their emotions
• Helping children share how they are feeling
• Spelling the different types of emotions
• Learning facial expressions that relate to each emotion
• Matching / Memory Games when two copies are printed

The emotion chart includes a way for children to describe how they are feeling today. This emotions chart helps children put into words how they may be feeling. You can also use it to pose pretend scenarios and ask children how they would feel if such and such happened. “If you forgot your lunch at home how would you feel?” “When you got angry and threw the toys on the floor, how were you feeling?” This is also why using books about feelings is so important for these type of lesson plans for preschoolers. It helps children examples of scenarios where feelings and emotions move around the chart. Check out the  20 Books About Feelings For Kids  post. Print a small version of the emotion faces chart for quick reference or to send home with children.

At the end of the pack are some blank faces. There are two faces per page. These pages are great for children to complete to show how they are feeling. They can add the facial expressions as well as color in the pictures. They could also practice writing the name of their emotion next to the face.

Other activities in this Feelings and Emotions Printable Pack include more exploration of how a child feels. It also encourages children to talk about different ways they can express their emotions. “What does your face look like when you are mad? How do you feel inside when you are angry?”

Emotions Worksheets

I have included a booklet of blank faces so children can include emotions for kids that they are currently feeling. It is a great activity for when a child is feeling frustrated. By asking them to draw or show them how they feel they are learning to understand their feelings and why they might be feeling emotional. You could print out the 3 part cards above and use them for a game teaching feeling too!

Teaching Feelings Game

Print out 2 copies of the whole 3 part cards on to card stock paper . Play a memory game. Each time someone turns two cards over that is the same emotion, they get to keep the matching cards. There are also a variety of activities and teaching feeling games you can create when using the cards found within the pack.

WHERE TO GET THE ACTIVITY

Get the feelings and emotions activity pack here.

Add this fun Emotions sensory bin to your classroom activities.

Fun With Mama also has another feelings and emotions pack using Emoji’s.  Emotions + Shapes Free Printable Preschool Pack

Nadia is a mom of 4, with a passion for making childhood education fun through play. She encourages parents to spend quality time with their kids through fun kids activities and enjoys art, traveling, and doing activities with her children.

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Have you grabbed the latest FREE printables?

Free Feelings Worksheets

Download free printable feelings worksheets and use them in class today. On this page, you can find a collection of PDF worksheets for teaching feelings and emotions in English. These feelings worksheets are suitable for kids and beginner English language learners. See below for the feelings worksheets currently available, and check the bottom of the page for related resources.

Feelings Worksheets

Worksheet 1, worksheet 2, worksheet 3, worksheet 4, worksheet 5, related resources.

How to Help Clients Express Their Emotions: 6 Worksheets

What do we do when we cannot express our emotions? And how do we find ways to regulate them, maintaining control without becoming cold and distant?

The answer appears to lie within our ability to manage our awareness and regulation of emotions, boosting our emotional intelligence.

This article explores emotional regulation and the closely related issue of emotional expression, and introduces tools to manage and express feelings more successfully.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free . These science-based tools will help you and those you work with build better social skills and better connect with others.

This Article Contains:

Emotion regulation explained, why is it difficult to express emotions, how to help clients express their feelings, 6 worksheets for learning to express emotions, expressing feelings through writing: 3 examples, 5 best emotion regulation interventions, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

Emotions are crucial to our survival, communication, and problem-solving (Greenberg, 2016).

Emotions help us:

• Signal vital information to ourselves about the state of our relationship with another person or the environment
• Signal vital information to others about the state of our relationship with the other person or the environment
• Ready ourselves for action
• Enhance our learning
• Evaluate whether things are going our way

Our emotions and how we use them are fallible; they do not always guide us well. Emotional intelligence  is the ability to be aware and make sense of what our emotions tell us regarding how we conduct our behavior and our lives (Goleman, 1995).

So, if emotions help us adapt to situations and the environment, how do we manage them?

To act with emotional intelligence, we need to regulate both our emotional experiences and our emotional expression. Regulation “means being able to have emotions when you want them and not have them when you don’t” (Greenberg, 2016, p. 20).

Emotional regulation is a powerful and necessary skill. Children learn to manage their fears and soothe themselves at a young age. In adulthood, we may control our anger by counting to 10 or curb our anxiety through meditation, exercise, or talking to a dear friend.

Emotional regulation and finding the ideal balance of emotional activation are tricky. Too little, and we are walked over and taken advantage of; too much, and we fail to consider others, harming relationships. A degree of anger, for example, may promote the assertion required to motivate us to step up, challenge a situation, and perform at the level required (Greenberg, 2016).

Download 3 Communication Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to improve communication skills and enjoy more positive social interactions with others.

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“We send emotional messages in every encounter, and those signals affect those we are with” (Goleman, 1995, p. 115).

Emotional intelligence involves managing this encounter – this expression of our feelings.

Emotional expression is both subtle and highly complex. Making it appropriate to the context, the people, and the environment is an advanced cognitive skill, integrating signals from both our biology and culture (Greenberg, 2016).

What happens when we find it difficult to express our emotions?

Emotional repression is an aspect of emotional regulation. Indeed, while regulating emotions helps us cope with the broad range of events we face, too much can have negative consequences, even damaging mental and physical wellbeing (Patel & Patel, 2019).

Individuals with difficulty managing their emotions are more likely to engage in substance abuse, fail to exercise, adopt poor eating habits, and have sleeping problems (Patel & Patel, 2019).

As well as an essential part of coping, managing emotions is cultural and learned. Increased emotional expression at a funeral in one part of the world may be considered inappropriate in another. The Makonde tribe of Tanzania engages in explosive outbursts of high-pitched crying, which may seem out of place at a funeral in Europe or the United States (Greenberg, 2016).

Aside from cultural and environmental cues, several other factors can impact how well we express our emotions (Greenberg, 2016):

• Emotions occur outside awareness Emotions are typically activated by subliminal stimuli and take place outside of conscious thinking. As a result, emotions frequently influence our behavior without us being aware of them. It is often only when we attempt to express emotions that we feel that we truly grasp them.
• Putting feelings into words downgrades them Research suggests that expressing how we feel in words can downgrade their effect, which can be helpful. For example, using the word ‘angry’ can decrease the activation in our amygdala and decrease arousal.
• Other people impact what we reveal Our bodily feelings and emotions are affected by those around us. When under threat, if we have no one close who makes us feel safe, our emotions (such as fear and panic) may be elevated, yet we are less likely to share how we feel.
• Emotions change emotions A positive emotion can transform a negative one. Compassion and forgiveness can change anger or disgust into feelings of security and calm.

How we feel is impacted by our body, environment, people around us, and other cognitive processes, all of which can affect how we express our emotions (Greenberg, 2016).

Put simply, we may find it difficult to express how we truly feel when we may not be fully aware, and even the act of attempting to share can change our emotions.

Don’t neglect your emotions. Express them – constructively!

“Expressing feelings well requires clients to be skilled at experiencing, exploring and accurately labeling feelings” (Nelson-Jones, 2005, p. 353).

Yet, many clients are not adept at expressing their feelings. This is where a counselor or therapist can help clients through a focus on both mind skills and communication and action skills (modified from Nelson-Jones, 2005).

Improving mind skills

A lack of aptitude can block or hinder experiencing and expressing emotions. As therapists, we can help clients by creating or improving their:

• I must have approval from others all the time.
• Men don’t cry.
• We must never have conflict in our marriage.
• Children should not challenge their parents.
• Perceptions Increasing the accuracy of perceptions (of self and others), the capacity to apply them flexibly, and improving the ability to express feelings.
• Self-talk Teaching clients to coach themselves through the skilled expression of feelings, for example, by saying to themselves, “ remain calm, be polite, and clearly and positively state my case. ”
• Visualization Mentally rehearsing challenging times can help practice expressing feelings, trying out positive and negative scenarios.
• Explanations Clients may need to adopt an active rather than a passive approach to expressing and explaining feelings.
• Expectations It is important for clients to stop creating false expectations in their minds; they can hinder expressing feelings of fear of rejection, etc.

Improving communication skills

• Verbal messages Caring statements may include “I love you,” etc.
• Voice messages A caring statement should be supported by a warm and kind tone.
• Body messages The message can be helped or hindered by the body stance and position, eye contact, and facial expressions showing interest or concern.
• Touch messages While being highly aware of what is appropriate and what will leave the other person uncomfortable, a supportive touch to the shoulder or even a hug can boost the overall message.
• Taking action messages Providing support or giving, even something as simple as fetching a coffee, can indicate and underpin caring.

Role-playing scenarios can allow the client to practice and experience the skills above and adopt ones that work best for them.

Unless we can adequately identify and understand our emotions, we are unlikely to be able to express how we feel successfully (Goleman, 1995).

The following worksheets can help you or your client to express your emotions through improved awareness, understanding, and connection with the other person.

Emotional Awareness

Do you know how you feel right now? Or what your emotions were earlier today? Most likely, you would need to think about it and possibly come up with an answer that makes sense to you and the listener.

The Emotional Awareness worksheet encourages you to log your emotions during the day to improve awareness.

Emotions are often best viewed neither positively nor negatively, but rather simply observed.

Repeating this exercise over time can help you improve your awareness of how you feel and support you in expressing your emotions more clearly.

Emotional Expression

Mental imagery can be a safe place to reflect on your emotions in real or imagined situations.

The Emotional Expression worksheet directs you to visualize a challenging experience and reflect on the emotions you feel and how you might share them.

If you feel ready, share what you wrote with someone with whom you are comfortable. Use this exercise as a helpful and practical way to practice expressing your emotions.

Experiencing Emotions

We are often unaware of our emotions. And even when we wish to share them with others, if we are not used to experiencing them, it can affect our ability to communicate how we feel.

The Experiencing Emotions worksheet helps you reflect on the nature of an emotion, build an understanding of it, and be ready to share your feelings.

Think of the last time you experienced anger, sadness, upset, and fear. Use your answers to describe the emotion to a real or an imagined person. How would you begin? What would you say next? And how would you summarize how you felt?

Expressing Anger

We can feel uncomfortable expressing strong emotions, such as anger. This can be especially true if we express anger disproportionately to the situation or have trouble maintaining control.

The Expressing Anger worksheet can help you find a safe way to explore your anger so that you can express it more appropriately when necessary.

Writing down your feelings can help you understand them and become more comfortable with them, identifying what is reasonable and unreasonable.

Letter of Self-Compassion

We are often too hard on ourselves. This can be reflected in the emotions we experience and the guilt, shame, and fear associated with how we feel.

Writing a Letter of Self-Compassion can prompt us to be more forgiving and refocus our thinking on being more accepting, caring, and supportive to ourselves and others.

Read what you have written. Recognize that all of us have emotions we wish we could avoid, but we can see them as separate from who we are and share them with others, showing our vulnerable side.

Emotional Expression Checklist

Expressing our emotions calmly and clearly is good for our mental health and valuable for our relationships with others.

Sometimes it is useful to consider why we are sharing how we feel with the other person. Is it appropriate or helpful (Brown, 2015)?

The Emotional Expression Checklist is a brief set of questions to consider whether this is the right time to express how you feel.

Consider the answers and, if you’re not sure, wait to express your emotions when you feel more ready.

Writing therapy has been widely recognized as a valuable tool for expressing feelings and thoughts and has the potential to offer mental and physical healing (Mugerwa & Holden, 2012).

Examples include (modified from Greenberg, 2016; Garone, 2020):

• Descriptive writing Documenting traumatic events and the emotions that arise can improve health and wellbeing. For example, writing about a fire when we were young or witnessing the loss of a close family member.
• Emotion diaries Keeping a record of moods instead of the day’s events can help people understand their experiences, build meaning, and create narratives for sharing. This might include emotions felt during a difficult workday or following a family disagreement.
• Daily journals Keeping a diary of daily events can help ease distress and increase comfort in our ability to understand and explain our emotions. There are many dedicated journals available, and they can be kept and used for later reflection.

Expressing emotions in writing can help people share their feelings verbally (Greenberg, 2016).

• Situation selection Choosing situations that will increase the individual’s exposure to desirable or undesirable emotions, for example, going for an enjoyable meal or avoiding an expressive coworker.
• Situation modification Changing the situation to alter its emotional impact, for example, putting away a photograph that causes upset.
• Attentional deployment Taking control of attention to influence the individual’s emotional response, for example, thinking about a vacation while waiting for a doctor’s appointment.
• Cognitive change Modifying the appraisal of a situation to manage its emotional impact, for example, thinking to yourself, ‘This presentation is not the most important thing in the world.’
• Response modulation Learning to change the physical, emotional, or behavioral response to a situation, for example, using deep breathing when anxious in crowds.

The regulation strategies above can be used individually or combined.

17 Exercises To Develop Positive Communication

17 Positive Communication Exercises [PDFs] to help others develop communication skills for successful social interactions and positive, fulfilling relationships.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

We have many resources that can help you or your client explore and practice emotional awareness and emotional regulation in our Positive Psychology Toolkit© . The toolkit is the world’s largest online positive psychology resource, containing over 400 exercises, activities, interventions, questionnaires, and assessments.

Some of our free resources include:

• Imagery-Based Exposure Worksheet Use the seven steps in this worksheet to recall and reconcile with a difficult memory and the associated emotions.
• Telling an Empathy Story This five-step worksheet is an excellent way to understand others’ emotional perspectives while developing empathy.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others communicate better, this collection contains 17 validated positive communication tools for practitioners. Use them to help others improve their communication skills and form deeper and more positive relationships.

Emotions are crucial to our health, wellbeing, navigating life, and reaching for our goals. And yet, we may not be fully aware of, able to regulate, or indeed express how we feel.

High levels of emotional intelligence can help by strengthening relationships, evaluating whether things are working out, and taking the necessary corrective actions.

Our challenge then is to become better at understanding our emotions and sharing them, while avoiding being walked over or trampling the feelings of others.

This delicate balance can be learned and practiced. We can begin by exploring the beliefs we hold and recognizing whether they are helpful or a hindrance. We can then learn how to be more aware of our feelings and their impact on our other emotions, cognitions, and behavior.

Once ready, we can work to manage and share these feelings, fostering closer relationships and increasing awareness of our own and others’ needs.

Try out some of the lessons, worksheets, and exercises, practicing them through imagery, remembering past experiences, and with friends. Learn to recognize how emotional regulation and expression can benefit your life and those around you.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free .

• Brown, B. (2015). Daring greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead . Avery.
• Garone, S. (2020, February 24). Mood journal 101: How to get started on controlling your emotions . Healthline. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-keep-mood-journal#Whats-a-mood-journal?-
• Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ . Bantam Books.
• Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry , 26 (1), 1–26.
• Greenberg, L. S. (2016). Emotion-focused therapy: Coaching clients to work through their feelings . American Psychological Association.
• Mugerwa, S., & Holden, J. D. (2012). Writing therapy: A new tool for general practice? British Journal of General Practice , 62 (605), 661–663.
• Nelson-Jones, R. (2005). Practical counselling and helping skills . Sage.
• Patel, J., & Patel, P. (2019). Consequences of repression of emotion: Physical health, mental health and general well being. International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research , 1 (3), 16–21.

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12 Ways to Help Students Identify Their Emotions

A toolkit of teacher-tested ideas to help build students’ ability to understand and express their feelings.

The ability to identify emotions in ourselves and others, talk about them, and find ways to deal with them in appropriate ways, is an important competency that’s closely connected to academic outcomes, says Maurice Elias , a professor of psychology at Rutgers University. 

While there tends to be a greater focus on emotional literacy in elementary school, by the time kids reach middle and high school, they’re “figuring out who they are and how they want to show up in the world,” Phyllis Fagell, a middle school counselor and author of the book Middle School Matters tells Edutopia . It is during these transitional, formative years that students—with still-maturing brains and the emotional swings that come with adolescence—need tools to understand and cope with their complex feelings. “The payoff is that kids will actually be in the right headspace to learn the content,” Fagell argues. 

Another byproduct is that a heightened awareness of their own internal emotional worlds—and those of their peers—feeds directly into a better understanding of content, Elias writes . Understanding literature, for example, requires understanding the feelings and emotions of characters, while transforming history from a set of “dry and disconnected facts” into something interesting and compelling requires “an understanding of what the individuals involved in the events were and are experiencing.” 

Here are 12 strategies, across grade levels, to help students identify and talk about their emotions. 

EMOTIONAL LITERACY IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 

In the early grades, Elias writes , students are still getting to know their emotional worlds, the vast range of emotions they’re capable of feeling, and how to scale their responses to those emotions. At this age, he argues for developing a “strategic” vocabulary that students can lean on. “If one knows only the words sad, mad, and glad, one will not be able to appreciate all the nuances of relationships and understanding in the world,” Elias writes. 

Sizing Up a Problem: Help students compare and contrast the relative proportions of problems—someone is reading your library book without permission versus a family member is in the hospital—by having them fill out a Big vs. Little Problems worksheet . Anna Parker, an elementary school teacher at Lister Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington, asks students to rate problems on a scale from 1 to 5 , and reflect on what sort of response each problem merits. Students discuss why yelling or throwing things because of a missing pencil, for example, would be considered overreacting. Calibrating responses, Parker says, is something she teaches throughout the year, “so that students in the moment will think, 'I can take a second, then I can react appropriately'.” 

Emotional Vocabulary Pre-Work: Before teaching students specific emotional vocabulary, Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, an educator, author, and school leader suggests using activities to help them unpack their emotional range. “Challenge students to think of as many types of fill-in-the-blank emotions as possible. For example, can you think of 20 types of happy or sad?” Or ask students to act out different emojis “to explore emotional cues,” writes Fishman-Weaver, which can help kids “name and distinguish” feelings and expand their emotional vocabulary. 

Teach How Emotions Work: In the upper elementary grades, students can benefit from a simple crash course on the neuroscience of emotions as a way to develop their emotional literacy , Fishman-Weaver says. You might discuss the basics of the limbic system, the control center for feelings and emotions in our brains. Mnemonic devices can be useful for memorizing different parts: “Hippos’ teeth have awful odor (hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and olfactory bulb),” Fishman-Weaver writes. A basic understanding of these processes and vocabulary can help kids grasp that feeling and thinking are not separate processes. 

Visualize Feelings: Tools like emotions wheels, blob trees , mood scales, and mood meters can expose young students to a range of emotions in low-stakes ways—and form the building blocks for developing emotional vocabulary. Hang a simple emotions wheel in the room and reference it during your lesson—ask students to label the feelings of a character in a story, or a historical figure they’re learning about, for example. Or, use mood scales to get students exploring their emotions using pictures of anything from animals to a favorite cartoon character.

Use some of these tools during morning meetings to help students signal how they’re feeling that day, or as a closing activity to get a sense of how they’re digesting what they just learned.

Picture Books: Picture books focused on emotions can help students learn more about feelings—and how to deal with them—in the form of an engaging story. Discussions and activities can focus on helping students label the feelings they’re encountering on the page , writes Elias. “If they’re correct, ask them how they know,” Elias says. “Whether they’re correct or not, point out the variety of ways feelings are shown—different aspects of faces (eyes, eyebrows, mouth, forehead) and postures.”

Peace Corners: To help young students practice self-regulation, teachers at Nashville’s Fall-Hamilton Elementary suggest creating a cozy “peace corner” in the classroom. In this space, students are encouraged to use emotional-regulation strategies like deep breaths, mindfulness exercises, or tools like mood scales to identify the emotions they’re experiencing. 

EMOTIONAL LITERACY FOR TEENS

As students head into middle and high school, former high school teacher Ronen Habib suggests leaning into emotional literacy strategies as a means to combat the stress, anxiety, and bullying that many students experience at this age. “We assume [high school students] don’t know how to add fractions, so we teach them, as we should,” Habib told Edutopia. “Why do we assume they know how to self-regulate?” 

Gratitude Circle: Use the first few minutes of class to get students to slow down, take stock of their feelings and emotions, and practice gratitude as a means of centering themselves before diving into academic work, Habib suggests . Habib has students sit down right after the bell rings and write three things in their journal that they’re grateful for. Afterwards, they can share out. “These two minutes establish what’s called emotional resonance in the classroom—when brains are in sync in a positive way because people are experiencing positive emotions together,” he says.

Quick Check-Ins: Ask students to share roses—something positive they’re feeling about the day—and thorns, which are negative, or less than positive. A thorn might be something simple, like, “I feel tired,” writes Alex Shevrin Venet , a community college teacher and former school leader. But students may also choose to share something more like, “My rose is that even though I’m stressed out, I got all my homework done.” 

A one-word share about how they are feeling that day is another simple check-in activity. At first students might use words like “good” or “bad,” writes Rebecca Alber, an instructor at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education. But as they get comfortable and increase their understanding—and vocabulary—of emotions, they’ll share words like “pensive, anxious, serene, and frustrated,” Alber says. 

Appreciation, Apology, Aha!: Gather students in a circle and ask them to identify something they’ve either appreciated that day, an “aha moment” they’ve experienced during the course of the day, or an apology they’d like to deliver. According to high school dean and former teacher Aukeem Ballard, the brief practice creates “daily opportunities for kids to connect and reflect,” in ways that significantly deepen classroom bonds. 

Reflective Listening: To help students place their emotions in context , and practice reflective listening, have students pair up during a morning meeting and take turns expressing how they feel, suggests educator Julia Richardson. Listening partners, Richardson writes, should focus on “mirroring their partner’s language and recalling a time when they felt similarly, if possible.” The activity, which Richardson frequently uses among younger students, can also help teens develop empathy, and put their own feelings or struggles into context—strategies that can create a stronger classroom environment, diffuse arguments, and lead to more resilience. 

Connect With Each Child: Simply making a habit of regularly checking in with students can give them opportunities to verbalize their emotions, says teacher David Tow. As he greets students at the door each morning, Tow asks each one how they’re doing that day—and means it. He pays attention to students’ responses, notes them on his roster, and follows up. “If I sense any problems, I might ask ‘Really?’ or ‘You sure?’” These inquiries, Tow writes, help draw students out and give them a chance to express themselves. Connecting with all students at once is impossible, of course. Which is why Tow seeks out informal “one-on-one contact” once a month with each of his students no matter how they seem to be doing. He also sets regular “office hours” where students know they can talk about things outside the realm of academic concerns.

Lean on Literature: Novels and short stories can be used to help students develop “compassion, understanding, and patience for people whose lives are nothing like their own ,” writes former high school English teacher Christina Gil. Examining characters like Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night , for example, gives students a sense of the ways that “class and birth can limit happiness and the ability to get what we want in life,” says Gil. At Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet High School in Nashville, students meet in small, daily advisory groups to read novels with themes relevant to their lives and use the stories and characters to initiate discussions about love, authority, or fears, for example. The intimate meetings, says executive principal Sonia Stewart, gives students “the ability to face each other…  and have conversations around significant topics.” 

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Draw Your Emotions Workbook

We are excited to announce the release of  Draw Your Emotions .  Draw Your Emotions is a brand new workbook designed to help young people identify their feelings. A fundamental part of emotional regulation is being able to recognize, name and understand the emotions going on inside of us.

In the tradition of our most popular resource, My Feelings Workbook ,  Draw Your Emotions  encourages the reader to use the gingerbread man figure to draw how a variety of emotions affects their body. The reader explores where in their body they feel the particular emotion and what it feels like. The user is encouraged to explore the various ways and places a particular emotion affects them. The goal of this resource is to help people recognize when, where and how they feel particular emotions so that they will be better able to regulate their feelings.

This workbook includes pages for:

• Draw Your Own Emotion

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8 Strategies to Manage Overwhelming Feelings

Try these tips to keep calm and carry on..

Posted May 20, 2020 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

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At some point, many of my clients—especially the high-achieving, hard-work-can-make-it-happen ones—experience a tipping point at work. As if their brain has blown a fuse, they find themselves mindlessly clicking a retractable pen for minutes at a time, or frantically scrolling through documents without even really reading them. Even if their minds tell them they need to check off everything on their to-do list, they’re paralyzed by indecision. Their brain’s power grid is overloaded, so the result is like summer in the city when everyone’s running an air conditioner—the lights flicker, and then go out.

Sound familiar? Functioning isn’t so simple when you’re overwhelmed.

It may seem silly: Why would you let a to-do list hijack your brain? But it’s actually pretty simple—your brain doesn’t just see a to-do list, it sees the threat of scarcity: not enough time, not enough energy, not enough magical ability to fit everything into 24 hours. Or it sees the threat of failing, the threat of disappointing others, the threat of feeling like you’re not doing enough.

And we react to these feelings the same way we do with other threats: fight, flight, or freeze. That's true whether the threat is a bus hurtling toward us or a to-do list that makes us feel like we can’t catch our breath.

Usually, we land somewhere between freeze and flight, which shows up as procrastination . But not all procrastination looks the same. It can take more or less productive forms, from binge-watching Friends to doing tasks that don’t really matter, like buying yet another novelty mug online or scrolling through Twitter. Again.

So what should you do if you’re overwhelmed, paralyzed, or procrastinating? After you’ve worked your way through the classic trifecta of go-for-a-walk, take-deep-breaths, and approach-the-mess-with- gratitude , try these eight tips.

1. Ground yourself in the present using the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.

This is one of my favorite mindfulness techniques. It doesn’t require any special spaces or tools—all you need is your five senses. Here's how to walk your way through them for instant grounding:

• 5 - Look around and name five things you can see, right now, from where you are.
• 4 - Listen and name four things you can hear.
• 3 - Notice three things you can touch, like the pages of a nearby book or the feeling of your feet on the carpet.
• 2 - Next come two smells: Breathe in the pages of a book or the citrus scent of the candle you lit.
• 1 - Finally, name something you can taste: a sip of cold water will do, or even just the taste of your own mouth.

This does not one, but two things to interrupt the overwhelm. First, it grounds you in your senses and, more importantly, the present moment. Second, keeping track of the counting and working your way through your senses interrupts spinning thoughts. It’s a mini moment of mindfulness to pull you out of the fray.

2. Clean up your immediate surroundings.

The phrase “outer order, inner calm” is popular for a reason. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, tidying the area around you restores order to a little corner of your universe and allows you to move forward.

I’m not telling you to go all Marie Kondo on your office. Restrict yourself to things within arm’s reach. Stack loose papers, put caps on rogue pens, wipe away dust or grime. The resulting order will help you feel like you’ve accomplished something and allow you to focus on the task at hand, not the clutter.

3. Ruthlessly prioritize.

Cut everything that should be done and stick to things that need to get done now.

4. Stop accidentally multitasking

We know multitasking isn’t really a thing and that it doesn’t work: Our brains aren’t designed to do two or three tasks at once. Instead, we end up moving back and forth among our various tasks, leaving us with the mental equivalent of whiplash, and getting little done in reality.

Unintentional multitasking counts, too. Trying to work from home and simultaneously keep an eye on the kids, holding a conversation while the TV is on, eating lunch at your desk, leaving your email open while you work, or simply keeping your smartphone at hand 24/7 are examples of things that force you to transition your attention (and then transition it back) hundreds of times a day.

Multitasking works about as well as texting while driving—which is to say, it doesn’t. So if your nerves are frayed, mend them by doing a singular thing at a time. When you’re feeling less frantic, you can go back to googling the results of The Bachelor while making a sandwich. But until then, single-task, single-task, single-task.

5. Take the next tiny step.

When you feel frozen in the proverbial headlights of your task, think only of the next tiny step. The next step can be ridiculously small—only you have to know that you’re inching forward by thinking “Okay, now click on the folder. Now open the document. Now start reading.”

6. Follow your impulses (sort of).

When you’re working on something less-than-fun, it’s easy to get distracted by every little thing. You have a song stuck in your head and have the urge to pull it up on Spotify. You remember you promised you’d make pizza tonight and find yourself scrolling through recipes hours before a major work deadline.

But instead of following every little impulse, which can pull you into a vortex of procrastination, keep a sticky note next to you and jot down your impulses as you have them: "How tall is Jimmy Fallon?” “Best Wicked parodies” “How long would it take to get to Mars?”

Just unloading the thought, even if you don’t follow through on the impulse to find the answer, can be enough to vanquish it. Feeling extra confident? Rather than writing it down, just think it. Sometimes just acknowledging the impulse is enough to make it go away.

7. Rethink your to-do list.

Keeping a to-do list (and a I don’t mean a drawer full of crumpled sticky notes and haphazardly dashed off notes on cocktail napkins) is the most important lesson from Organization 101. But if you’re overwhelmed, looking at a long list of tasks can be daunting. Time for a to-do list makeover!

There are a thousand ways to bring more order to your long string of tasks. For one, chunk like with like: put all your phone calls together, or all your writing tasks together. Chunking makes a long list more cohesive, more efficient, and by extension, less overwhelming.

Another method: Write out your list in accordance with your schedule. Plan big projects for the morning when you have the most energy and focus. Schedule brainless tasks for the 3 p.m. slump.

8. Radically accept what you cannot do or control.

You can strategize, organize, and hack all you want, but at some point, you will run into something you can’t do or control. When you do, the only thing to do is to radically accept.

Radical acceptance doesn’t mean throwing in the towel. It means allowing for uncertainty and uncontrollability, without struggle or complaint, and keeping on with what you can do instead of dwelling on what you can't.

When you get behind the wheel, you radically accept that a reckless driver may hit you no matter how well you drive. Yet you still do it because you want to get from point A to B quickly. When you fall in love, you radically accept that your heart may get trampled on. Yet you do anyway because love is worth the risk. When you simply can’t meet a deadline without compromising your mental health, you can radically accept that you'll have to be late and that you may disappoint someone, because your well-being is worth it.

This post originally appeared on Quick and Dirty Tips titled Feeling Overwhelmed? Here Are 8 Remedies .

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Jade Wu, Ph.D., is a clinical health psychologist and host of the Savvy Psychologist podcast. She specializes in helping those with sleep problems and anxiety disorders.

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Homework anxiety: Why it happens and how to help

By Gail Belsky

Expert reviewed by Jerome Schultz, PhD

Quick tips to help kids with homework anxiety

Quick tip 1, try self-calming strategies..

Try some deep breathing, gentle stretching, or a short walk before starting homework. These strategies can help reset the mind and relieve anxiety. 

Quick tip 2

Set a time limit..

Give kids a set amount of time for homework to help it feel more manageable. Try using the “10-minute rule” that many schools use — that’s 10 minutes of homework per grade level. And let kids know it’s OK to stop working for the night.

Quick tip 3

Cut out distractions..

Have kids do homework in a quiet area. Turn off the TV, silence cell phones, and, if possible, limit people coming and going in the room or around the space.

Quick tip 4

Start with the easiest task..

Try having kids do the easiest, quickest assignments first. That way, they’ll feel good about getting a task done — and may be less anxious about the rest of the homework.

Quick tip 5

Use a calm voice..

When kids feel anxious about homework, they might get angry, yell, or cry. Avoid matching their tone of voice. Take a deep breath and keep your voice steady and calm. Let them know you’re there for them. 

Sometimes kids just don’t want to do homework. They complain, procrastinate, or rush through the work so they can do something fun. But for other kids, it’s not so simple. Homework may actually give them anxiety.

It’s not always easy to know when kids have homework anxiety. Some kids may share what they’re feeling when you ask. But others can’t yet identify what they’re feeling, or they're not willing to talk about it.

Homework anxiety often starts in early grade school. It can affect any child. But it’s an especially big issue for kids who are struggling in school. They may think they can’t do the work. Or they may not have the right support to get it done. 

Keep in mind that some kids may seem anxious about homework but are actually anxious about something else. That’s why it’s important to keep track of when kids get anxious and what they were doing right before. The more you notice what’s happening, the better you can help.

Dive deeper

What homework anxiety looks like.

Kids with homework anxiety might:

Find excuses to avoid homework

Lie about homework being done

Get consistently angry about homework

Be moody or grumpy after school

Complain about not feeling well after school or before homework time

Cry easily or seem overly sensitive

Be afraid of making even small mistakes

Shut down and not want to talk after school

Say “I can’t do it!” before even trying

Learn about other homework challenges kids might be facing . 

Why kids get homework anxiety

Kids with homework anxiety are often struggling with a specific skill. They might worry about falling behind their classmates. But there are other factors that cause homework anxiety: 

Test prep: Homework that helps kids prepare for a test makes it sound very important. This can raise stress levels.

Perfectionism: Some kids who do really well in a subject may worry that their work “won’t be good enough.”

Trouble managing emotions: For kids who easily get flooded by emotions, homework can be a trigger for anxiety. 

Too much homework: Sometimes kids are anxious because they have more work than they can handle.

Use this list to see if kids might have too much homework .

When kids are having homework anxiety, families, educators, and health care providers should work together to understand what’s happening. Start by sharing notes on what you’re seeing and look for patterns . By working together, you’ll develop a clearer sense of what’s going on and how to help.

Parents and caregivers: Start by asking questions to get your child to open up about school . But if kids are struggling with the work itself, they may not want to tell you. You’ll need to talk with your child’s teacher to get insight into what’s happening in school and find out if your child needs help in a specific area.

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Grade 2 Emotions

Displaying top 8 worksheets found for - Grade 2 Emotions .

Some of the worksheets for this concept are K to grade 2 feelings, Tps grade 2 unit 1 narrative lessons, Social emotional activities workbook 1, Lesson 10 expressing emotions and managing stress, Social skills work, Understanding other peoples emotions, Wellbeing activities booklet, Work and handouts stress management.

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1. K to Grade 2 Feelings

2. tps grade 2 unit 1 narrative lessons, 3. social emotional activities workbook 1, 4. lesson 10 expressing emotions and managing stress, 5. social skills worksheets -, 6. understanding other peoples emotions, 7. wellbeing activities booklet, 8. worksheets and handouts-stress management.

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Naming Your Emotions

Label your unpleasant feelings to reduce distress.

• How to do it
• Why to Try It

Time Required

Naming Your Emotions is a very brief practice that you can use as needed when feelings arise. 

How to Do It

Simply naming how you feel is one way to cope with unpleasant emotions. Whenever you experience a surge of negative emotions, do your best to complete the following steps:

• Respond. Without hurting yourself or others, let yourself respond naturally to the situation. Allow yourself to feel any emotions and remember that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to feel. Welcome any thoughts or judgments about the distressing situation. Without hurting yourself or others, allow your body to react how it wants to react. Try not to “hold in” or “push down” your feelings, thoughts, or bodily responses.
• Observe. Notice how your body and mind respond to the situation. Do your best to keep your awareness on the present moment. What expression is your face making? What parts of your body are tense or hurting? What thoughts and urges do you have? You might notice that you have tears in your eyes, a “pit” in your stomach, or an urge to yell at someone.
• Brainstorm . Come up with one or more feeling words that best match your emotional response to the situation. It’s OK if you don’t find the right words right away, as this step can take a few seconds or even several minutes. Use your observations to help you figure out the emotion(s) you are feeling. For example, if you notice that you have clenched fists and a fast heart rate, you might describe yourself as “enraged.” As you brainstorm, try to avoid making judgments about the situation or other people. For example, the words “bullied” or “targeted” can be an assumption about what other people did. Instead, you might choose the words “hurt” or “angry” to describe what you’re actually feeling. For reference, below are some examples of emotion words that you might choose to describe how you feel. This list is not exhaustive, and you might find other words that best suit your feelings.
• Label. Aloud or in your head—whatever works best for you—say: “I feel_______.”

Why You Should Try It

Shock, sadness, fear, disgust, contempt, anger—negative emotions such as these are usually unpleasant to experience. As we face particularly distressing situations, however, our emotional response can sometimes be too much to bear. Although we can’t always change how we feel, Naming Your Emotions allows us to make our emotional experience less unpleasant by simply putting our feelings into words.

Since this practice is designed to be used when you are in the middle of a distressing situation, it only takes a few moments and can be done silently or aloud. While you might assume that labeling your emotions will worsen your distress, research suggests that this emotional regulation practice can reduce negative emotions as you experience them.

Why It Works

Humans have a biological alarm system that evolved to keep us safe from threat. Whenever we experience a surge of strong negative emotions, the stress center of our brain can signal our body to go into survival mode and trigger our “fight, flight, freeze” response. This is why we might make a rash decision out of anger, avoid tasks due to anxiety, or “shut down” when our feelings are too overwhelming. Naming Your Emotions dampens the alarm signal and allows our brain to curb our impulses, therefore reducing the severity of our emotional response as it happens. As a result, distressing situations feel, well, less distressing.

Naming Your Emotions is relatively straightforward, but determining your emotions is not always easy during overwhelming moments. Like any other practice, it can take time to master. As you test this practice out, do your best to be patient and permit yourself to trust the process.

Evidence That It Works

Burklund, L. J., Creswell, J. D., Irwin, M. R., & Lieberman, M. D. (2014). The common and distinct neural bases of affect labeling and reappraisal in healthy adults . Frontiers in Psychology, 5 , 10.

A mostly female group of healthy, English-speaking adults from Los Angeles, California, each viewed an image of a scene that evoked negative emotions while an fMRI machine scanned their brain activity. The adults were asked to simply observe the image or name their emotional response as sad, anxious, disgusted, or other, and then rate how unpleasant they felt as they were viewing the image. Compared to adults who only observed the image, adults who named their emotional response reported lower levels of unpleasantness, and showed less activation in their brain’s stress center and more activation in their brain’s emotional regulation areas while viewing the image. In other words, naming their emotions helped the adults feel less unpleasant during a distressing experience by dampening their brains’ emotional response.

Who has tried the practice?

Additional studies explore how Naming Your Emotions benefits certain groups.

Japanese adults viewed a mix of negative and neutral images and were instructed to either label their emotions and then try to change their perspective to reduce their emotional response, try to change their perspective without labeling emotions, or passively observe the images. Brain imaging revealed that, out of all the groups, adults who labeled their emotions and tried to change their perspectives showed reduced activity in their brains’ stress centers and stronger activity in their brains’ emotion regulation centers. Even if all those benefits aren’t from Naming Your Emotions, the practice may support us in using other emotion regulation strategies. 

Naming Your Emotions has also been found to reduce stress responses to specific fears:

• Australians with flying phobia imagined themselves in airplane-related situations, and those who named their emotional response to the imagery experienced larger improvements in flying anxiety and sense of control compared to those who did not name their emotions.
• Asian/Pacific Islander, white, Latino/Hispanic, African American, and biracial undergraduate students with a significant fear of spiders practiced exposure therapy, where they started by standing five feet away from a tarantula and built up to touching a tarantula across two consecutive days. Students who verbally named their emotions during each step were able to get closer to the tarantula than students who used reappraisal, distraction, or no emotion regulation methods. The more a student verbalized fear- and anxiety-related words, the more their biological fear responses decreased.

More research is needed to explore whether, and how, the impact of this practice extends to other groups and cultures.

Keep in Mind

This practice is intended for negative emotions rather than positive ones, and it may not be as helpful for less strong emotions. In one study,  Israeli adults were presented with a series of unpleasant images, each of which they viewed twice: once to passively observe the image, and a separate time to name their emotional response to the image. Compared to passively observing the image, naming their emotional response to high-intensity pictures decreased distress, but naming their emotional response to low-intensity pictures actually increased distress.

Additionally, it is possible that “less is more” when it comes to choosing labels for your emotions. In one study, Caucasian, Asian, African American, and Hispanic/Latino undergraduate students imagined themselves as the main character in an emotional story, and students who used as few words as possible to name their emotions seemed to be better prepared to regulate their emotions.

Azoum, M., Clark, G. I., & Rock, A. J. (2018). The impact of affect labelling on responses to aversive flying-cues . PLoS ONE, 13 (4), e0194519.

​​Cowen, A. S. & Keltner, D. (2017). Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114 (38), E7900–E7909.

Herbert, C., Sfärlea, A., & Blumenthal, T. (2013). Your emotion or mine: Labeling feelings alters emotional face perception—an ERP study on automatic and intentional affect labeling . Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7 (378), 1–14.

Kircanski, K., Lieberman, M. D., & Craske, M. G. (2012). Feelings into words: Contributions of language to exposure therapy . Psychological Science, 23 (10), 1086–1091.

Levy-Gigi, E., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. (2022). Affect labeling: The role of timing and intensity . PLoS ONE, 17 (12), 14.

Lieberman, M. D., Inagaki, T. K., Tabibnia, G., & Crockett, M. J. (2011). Subjective responses to emotional stimuli during labeling, reappraisal, and distraction . Emotion, 11 (3), 468–480.

Vine, V., Bernstein, E. E., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2019). Less is more? Effects of exhaustive vs. minimal emotion labelling on emotion regulation strategy planning . Cognition and Emotion, 33 (4), 855–862.

Vlasenko, V. V., Rogers, E. G., & Waugh, C. E. (2021). Affect labelling increases the intensity of positive emotions . Cognition and Emotion, 35 (7), 1350–1364.

Yoshimura, S., Nakamura, S., & Morimoto, T. (2023). Changes in neural activity during the combining affect labeling and reappraisal . Neuroscience Research, 190 , 51–59.

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