Skills Building: Visiting Feelings (PK-2)

Written by Lauren Rubenstein and Illustrated by Shelly Hehenberger

TEKS: Reading K.5(E); 1.6(E); 2.6(E); 3.6(E); 4.6(E); 5.6(E)

Pre- Reading Questions

What are some feelings that you have experienced?
How are feelings different from one another (e.g., How is feeling sad different from feeling angry?).
If sadness were a color, what color would it be? What about anger or excitement?
What animals could represent those feelings?

Post- Reading Questions

What did you notice about the way that the author described the feelings in the book?
What feeling was described as “sharp like stepping on stones with bare feet” or as “ice cream, or your favorite treat”?
How do feelings shift and change?
What do you think this book was trying to teach us?
Who do you know that needs to read this book?

Creative Enrichment Activity: Cloud Animals (PK-2)

Overview

Just like clouds, our emotions pass by; they visit at different times but never stay forever. Our emotions are just like the weather; they change all the time. In this activity, students will think about big emotions that have recently come to visit and reflect on how they eventually changed and floated away.

Materials

White cardstock (1 per student)
Pencils
Scissors
Colored pencils
Markers
Glue
Cotton balls

Duration: 30 minutes

3 minutes – Introduce cloud animal activity
20 minutes – Create Cloud Animals
7 minutes – Share cloud animals and reflect

Instructions

Gather students at tables to work on their project.
Explain to students how clouds and weather are similar to emotions – they come and go. Just because we don’t like rain, doesn’t mean that we don’t need rain. The same is true of difficult emotions.
Introduce the Cloud Animal activity and explain what students will be doing.
Have all students close their eyes and think about the different emotions that have visited them in the past few days. Guide them to think about one emotion that felt big. Maybe it was sadness because a pet died or joy because they passed a test.
As they think of this emotion, what animal might represent it? Have them envision the animal. Tell them to be curious about the animal. It doesn’t have to look realistic; maybe it is a different color or size.
Ask students to give a thumbs up when they have a vision of the animal that represents the big emotion they felt recently.
Next, students will create an art project with this animal in mind.
Pass out a sheet of white cardstock to each student.
Have them use a pencil to draw a cloud that takes up the entire space on the paper.
Once students have drawn the cloud, they will use scissors to cut it out.
Next, students will draw the animal on the cloud that represents the big feeling they envisioned. Encourage them to draw the animal large to take up space on their cloud.
Students will use a pencil to draw and then colored pencils and markers to color it in.
Once the animal is drawn and colored, students will take cotton balls and glue them around the animal on the remainder of the cloud. Students may leave the cotton balls white or use markers to add color to them after they are attached.
As students finish, have them assist others that may need help.
Clean up supplies and gather together in a circle.
Go around the circle and have students share their cloud. As they share, they will name the emotion and animal, and share how the feeling came and went. Remind them that it is okay if the feeling is still visiting

Reflection Questions

Did anyone have a feeling similar to yours?
How did it feel to see that everyone has emotions that visit them?
How have your feelings changed from the beginning of this activity?
When emotions feel too big or overwhelming, how can we calm down and stay curious about why they are visiting?
What have you learned about feelings today?

Skills Building: Visiting Feelings (PK-2)

Pre- Reading Questions

Post- Reading Questions

Creative Enrichment Activity: Cloud Animals (PK-2)

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