Today’s activity can provide children an opportunity to learn, identify and understand different emotions through an interactive puzzle. Puzzles have countless benefits to a child’s development. To name a few, puzzles support a child’s concentration and fine motor skills while developing their knowledge and language around a specific topic.  

What You will Need 

Process 

Tip: If your child is advanced with puzzles, you can challenge them by providing more emotion circles or by cutting each circle in multiple pieces. Modify this activity to meet your child at their level. 

Engaging with Your Child 

Invite your child by saying “I have all these feelings everywhere. Can you help me put these feelings back to where they belong? I wonder where the yellow smile goes...”. Allow your child to test out where the puzzle pieces go. They will try many ways to solve the puzzle, praise their efforts in doing so. It takes a lot of effort for little hands to manipulate objects to fit in the right spot. Puzzles are a great way to enrich language. Find moments to label emotions and ask your child questions about those feelings. For example, “I see your holding the red, angry eyes. Can you think of a time you felt very angry?”. Give your child time to express themselves and share stories about emotions you’ve had. Learning how to identify and express emotions is important to young kids because it will support them in communicating how they feel to you in future situations.