Emotions for kids: the basic feelings
From Smile and Learn
5 minK1st2ndSocial-Emotional Learning
Summary
Introduces the basic emotions — happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise — and how to notice them. A gentle first look at feelings.
Viewer safety
All ages
Gentle animated educational content, safe to show cold; still worth a quick preview to match it to your lesson.
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
Everyone has feelings, and all of them are okay. Naming a feeling — happy, sad, scared, angry — is the first step to handling it.
- What are some feelings you have felt today?
- How does your body feel when you are excited?
- Is it okay to feel sad sometimes? Why?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: emotion, feeling, happy, sad.
Try it: Draw a face for how you feel right now. Name the feeling and one thing that caused it.