Topic 1 Identifying and Modeling Emotions

Print out this list of emotions and review it with your platers. Then try this:

Call on players and ask them to point to the face that shows happiness, sadness, etc. Continue until all players who had their hands raised have had a chance, even if it involves repeating emotions.

Ask all players who want to demonstrate an emotion to put their hand up. In rapid succession, instruct players to display physical actions that illustrate each emotion. Jump in and assist with your own modeling as needed.

Now it’s your turn—model one of the emotions that your players haven’t modeled yet, and see if your players can identify what emotion you’re feeling. Ask them what could have happened to you to make you feel that way.

Discuss potential scenarios that may elicit emotions. Say to your players, “Show me what you would look like if you experienced this,” and then present them with the below examples (or come up with your own):

  • You reached out to hug someone who turned away.
  • You won a prize that you weren’t expecting.
  • Your goldfish died.
  • You saw yourself on TV.
  • Your friend just pointed out that you have something stuck in your teeth and it’s been there since breakfast!
  • You found ants all over a treat you had left for later.
  • A person in your team got a toy that you have really wanted for a long time.