Resources That Help Children Understand Emotions in EYFS

Why is understanding emotions important in the EYFS?

Young children experience powerful emotions before they always have the language or strategies to explain them. A child may cry, withdraw, shout, grab a resource or become physically restless because they cannot yet communicate what they feel or need.

Learning about emotions can help children begin to:

• Recognise changes in their body and mood
• Learn words for different feelings
• Understand that emotions can change
• Notice how somebody else may be feeling
• Express needs more safely
• Seek support from a trusted adult
• Develop strategies for managing strong feelings
• Build positive relationships with other children

At Hope Education, we understand that emotional development is not taught through a single activity or resource. It develops through secure relationships, repeated experiences and thoughtful adult support. Resources can open conversations, but children learn what emotions mean through the way adults respond to them every day.

What does the EYFS framework say about emotions?

The current EYFS statutory framework identifies Personal, Social and Emotional Development as one of the three prime areas of learning. It explains that strong, warm and supportive relationships enable children to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self and interact positively with other people.

The Self-Regulation Early Learning Goal includes children showing an understanding of their own feelings and those of others and beginning to regulate their behaviour accordingly. However, this does not mean children should be expected to manage every emotion independently.

Emotional regulation develops gradually. Young children often need co-regulation: a calm, responsive adult helps the child feel safe, understand what is happening and move towards a more manageable emotional state. The framework does not prescribe emotion cards, puppets or any other particular resource. Practitioners should select resources according to children’s ages, development, experiences and individual needs.

What challenges do children face when learning about feelings?

Emotion words such as happy, sad, cross and worried describe internal experiences that cannot be held or seen in the same way as a physical object. Children must connect the word with facial expressions, body sensations, situations and their own experiences.

Some children may recognise a broad emotion but find it difficult to identify more precise feelings such as disappointed, nervous, frustrated or proud. Others may use the same word for several different experiences.

Facial expressions are not always reliable indicators. A child may smile when anxious, become quiet when angry or laugh when uncertain. Practitioners should therefore avoid deciding how a child feels solely from their face or behaviour.

Children’s communication, development and experiences will also influence how they express emotions. A child may:

• Use behaviour rather than words to communicate
• Need more time to process a question
• Find facial expressions difficult to interpret
• Experience sensory overload
• Communicate through symbols, signing or movement
• Be reluctant to discuss a personal experience
• Use emotion words differently at home
• Need support in their home language

The aim is not to make every child express feelings in the same way. It is to provide accessible ways for children to communicate and understand themselves.

Which resources help children recognise and name emotions?

The most useful emotional literacy resources give children something concrete to observe, handle or discuss. They should represent a varied and realistic range of feelings without suggesting that every emotion looks the same on every person.

Emotion cards and photographs

feelings cards can introduce words for emotions and encourage children to notice facial and bodily clues. Photographs of real people may be particularly useful because they show more natural expressions than exaggerated illustrations.

Practitioners might ask:

• “What do you notice?”
• “What might have happened?”
• “Could this person be feeling more than one thing?”
• “What might help them?”
• “Have you ever had a feeling like that?”

There does not need to be one correct answer. The same expression may be interpreted differently, and the discussion can help children understand that feelings are not always obvious. Emotion cards should not be used to demand that a distressed child select a label immediately. When emotions are intense, the child may first need safety, connection and time.

Mirrors

Child-safe mirrors allow children to observe how their own face changes. Children can explore what happens to their eyebrows, eyes and mouth when pretending to show different feelings.

Mirror play should remain optional and light-hearted. Adults should avoid implying that a particular expression proves how somebody feels. Mirrors offer one route into noticing expressions; they are not a test of emotional understanding.

Emotion figures, stones and puzzles

emotion figures, emotion stones and inset puzzles can help children match expressions, invent situations and compare different feelings. Tactile resources may be particularly useful in small-group work or continuous provision. Children might sort faces, choose a figure for a story character or place an emotion stone beside a small world scene. The adult can then introduce relevant vocabulary without requiring the child to discuss their own life.

How can books and storytelling develop emotional understanding?

picture books allow children to explore emotions at a safe distance. A character can experience jealousy, fear, excitement or disappointment, enabling children to discuss the feeling without being placed under pressure to disclose something personal.

When sharing stories, practitioners can pause to ask:

• “How might the character be feeling?”
• “What makes you think that?”
• “Did their feeling change?”
• “What could the character do next?”
• “Who might help them?”

books about feelings are valuable, but emotional learning should not be limited to books written specifically about emotions. Traditional tales, familiar stories and children’s favourite picture books often contain rich opportunities to discuss relationships, problems and changing feelings.

story sacks, story stones and sequencing cards can help children revisit these ideas. By retelling a story, children can explore alternative actions and imagine how these might affect the characters. Books should reflect different families, cultures, appearances and experiences. Children need both resources that represent familiar lives and opportunities to encounter perspectives beyond their own.

How do puppets and role play support conversations about feelings?

Puppets can make an emotional situation feel less direct. A child who does not want to talk about their own disagreement may be willing to help a puppet experiencing a similar problem.

A practitioner might introduce a simple scenario:

The adult can then model useful language, such as:

• “Can I play too?”
• “I didn’t like that.”
• “I need some space.”
• “Please can you help me?”
• “Can I have a turn when you’ve finished?”

Persona dolls can also support planned conversations about friendship, belonging and fairness. These discussions need sensitive preparation so that dolls are presented as rounded characters rather than stereotypes.

Role play resources provide further opportunities to explore caring, separation, new experiences and relationships. Children might comfort dolls, take a toy animal to the vet or help a puppet prepare for its first day at nursery.

How can small world play help children explore emotions?

Small world play allows children to represent experiences through figures rather than acting them out directly. This may feel more comfortable for children who find busy role play areas or direct conversations difficult.

dolls houses, wooden people, animal figures and small world settings can support stories involving:

• Making friends
• Welcoming a new baby
• Starting nursery
• Visiting a doctor
• Losing something important
• Celebrating a special occasion
• Managing a disagreement
• Helping somebody who feels worried

Adults should observe carefully but avoid interpreting every storyline as a literal account of the child’s life. Play may combine real experiences, stories, imagination and ideas noticed elsewhere. If a child’s play raises a safeguarding concern, practitioners must follow the setting’s safeguarding procedures. They should not use dolls or figures to conduct informal questioning.

What can a calm space include?

A calm space can give children somewhere quieter to pause, reconnect with an adult and recover from overwhelming experiences. It should never be presented as a punishment or somewhere a child is sent because their feelings are inconvenient.

Useful resources might include:

• soft cushions
• A comfortable mat
• Feelings cards
• Familiar picture books
• Puppets
• sensory bottles
• fidget resources
• A sand timer
• Visual prompts
• Noise-reducing headphones
• A small basket of comforting objects

Not every child finds the same resource calming. One may prefer movement, another deep pressure, another a quiet story, and another simply the reassuring presence of a familiar adult. Children should be introduced to the space and its resources when they are settled. Expecting them to learn a completely new calming routine during intense distress is unlikely to be effective.

A calm space supports regulation; it does not replace adult connection. Young children still need adults to notice, respond and help them make sense of what happened.

How can visual resources support emotional communication?

Visual resources can reduce the language demands involved in explaining a feeling or asking for help. They may be helpful for younger children, children with SEND and children learning English as an additional language.

Useful options include:

• emotion fans
• Choice boards
• Now-and-next boards
• visual timetables
• communication cards
• Photos of trusted adults
• Simple calming-strategy cards
• Colour-coded emotion displays

Visuals should be taught and used regularly rather than introduced only when behaviour becomes difficult. A child needs to understand what a symbol means and trust that adults will respond when they use it. Practitioners should also avoid assuming that every child associates a particular colour with a particular emotion. Colour systems can offer a shared prompt, but they should not become fixed labels for children or their behaviour.

What does effective adult support look like?

Resources are most effective when adults use them within warm, responsive interactions. The adult’s tone, pace and body language matter as much as the words they choose.

A practitioner might say:

• “You wanted another turn, and it was hard to wait.”
• “Your body looks tense. I’m here with you.”
• “I wonder whether you’re feeling disappointed.”
• “You don’t have to tell me yet.”
• “Shall we find something that might help?”
• “All feelings are allowed, but I won’t let you hurt somebody.”

This language acknowledges the emotion while maintaining a clear boundary around unsafe behaviour. Adults should be cautious about repeatedly asking a distressed child, “Why did you do that?” Young children may not yet be able to explain their actions.

Once the child is settled, the adult can revisit what happened, introduce relevant language and help them consider what they could do next time. Consistent approaches across the staff team are important. Children benefit when familiar adults use similar words, boundaries and strategies rather than giving conflicting messages.

How can emotional provision be made inclusive?

Inclusive emotional provision recognises that children communicate and regulate in different ways. Speaking about feelings in a group should never be treated as the only acceptable form of participation.

Practitioners can:

• Offer words, photographs, objects, signs and symbols
• Use children’s home languages where possible
• Allow children to point rather than speak
• Provide quiet alternatives to group discussion
• Use sensory resources according to individual need
• Include diverse families and experiences
• Give additional processing time
• Avoid requiring eye contact
• Work with families to understand familiar calming strategies
• Seek advice from the SENCO when appropriate

Children who have experienced trauma, loss or significant change may need especially sensitive support. Practitioners should stay within their professional role and follow the setting’s procedures when concerns arise.

What common mistakes should practitioners avoid?

Resources can become unhelpful when they are used to control behaviour rather than develop understanding. Common mistakes include:

• Labelling emotions as good or bad
• Expecting children to become calm without adult support
• Insisting that children explain feelings immediately
• Assuming the same facial expression always means the same thing
• Using a calm space as a punishment
• Asking children to publicly share personal experiences
• Offering too many regulation resources at once
• Using displays that label children by emotion or colour
• Promising that one strategy will work for everybody
• Treating sensory resources as toys that must be earned
• Relying on resources instead of building secure relationships

Anger, sadness, worry and frustration are not inappropriate emotions. Children need to learn that all feelings are valid, while some actions still require safe and consistent boundaries.

How does Hope Education support this area of learning?

Hope Education understands that emotional development is built through relationships, language and everyday experiences. Carefully chosen books, puppets, figures, visual resources and calming materials can help practitioners make feelings more understandable without oversimplifying them.

The priority is creating inclusive provision that helps children feel safe, communicate in ways that work for them and gradually build strategies with the support of trusted adults.