Free printable feelings chart for kids

This feelings chart has no faces printed on it at all: no yellow smile for happy, no cartoon frown for sad. Each feeling has an empty frame, and the face that goes in it is your child's: a photo of them making that face, or a drawing they make. Next to the feelings is a second panel for what they might need.

It is the check-in board from our My Feelings Photo Cards, free as a single page.

What's in the free file?

• Page 1: how to use it. Taking the photos, printing at the right size, the 18 words on the chart and a daily check-in.
• Page 2: the chart. A landscape page with two panels side by side.
• "I feel", in purple: nine frames for happy, sad, mad, scared, tired, worried, excited, calm and silly.
• "I need", in orange: nine frames for a hug, a break, quiet, help, water, a snack, my blanket, bathroom and play.
• Every frame has a 1.5 inch square photo window, with the word printed underneath.
• Two sizes: US Letter and A4, as two files. The frames print at the same size on both.

No faces and no cartoons are printed on it. The two colors only tell the panels apart.

Where do the faces come from?

From you, your child and a phone camera. The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI), which publishes free materials on young children's social and emotional development, includes the same idea with its feeling faces poster: a "make your own poster" page that lists a camera and children making the facial expression for each feeling, one feeling at a time, then printing the photos and attaching them to the poster.

There are three ways to fill the frames:

Mix them if you like. A chart with some photos and some drawings still works as long as each frame shows one feeling. If you share a picture of the finished chart online, crop out or cover your child's face first.

What goes in the "I need" frames?

Photos of the real things, from your child's eye level:

How to make the feelings chart

1. Take the photos, or ask your child to make the drawings. Shoulders up for the faces, a plain background, and the same light for all of them.
2. Print the photos 1.5 inches square. Eight fit on one 4 x 6 print, so three prints cover all 18 frames.
3. Print page 2 at 100% scale, background graphics on, so each frame stays 1.5 inches. The ruler line at the bottom of the page shows whether it did.
4. Glue a photo or a drawing into each frame.
5. Laminate the chart.
6. Hang it at your child's eye level, somewhere they pass every day: the kitchen, their bedroom door, by the front door.

How to use the feelings chart

1. Pick the same time each day, such as after school, before dinner or at bedtime.
2. Ask "How do you feel?" and let your child point to a face. NCPMI calls this an "emotion check in".
3. Say it back in a few words: "You feel tired."
4. Then ask "What do you need?" and let them point again: "You need quiet. Let's go to your spot."
5. Use it for the happy feelings too, not only the hard ones, so the chart is part of every day, not only the hard moments.

A family handout from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) at Vanderbilt University says young children have many of the same feelings adults do but often lack the words for them. It suggests giving feelings names, keeping it simple, and using visuals or pictures. NCPMI's feeling faces page adds two points this chart is built around: start with a few feelings, and include a balance of comfortable and uncomfortable ones.

Feelings chart or emotions chart?

Same thing, two names. "Feelings chart", "emotions chart" and "feelings poster" all describe a page of feeling words with a face for each. A feelings wheel is different: a circle of many feeling words grouped into families, with no faces, made for readers. Doctor Carissa also has a separate feelings chart for adults, with pictures of grown-ups and large print, for adults who find it hard to say how they feel.

What the full set adds

Our full My Feelings Photo Cards has loose cards to go with the chart: 12 feeling cards (adding proud, frustrated and sick), 12 "I need" cards, 12 calm choice cards (a book, music, deep breaths, bubbles and more), 12 blank cards, two "I feel, I need, I can" strips that hold one card of each, and a "my calm choices" board with six spaces.

Once a need is named, a first then board can show what happens next: "First snack, then play." Both sit with our other visual schedules for kids, the picture charts for routines at home.

Frequently asked questions

What should a feelings chart for kids include?

A short list of feeling words with a face for each, from comfortable feelings like happy and calm to uncomfortable ones like mad, scared and worried. Ours has nine feelings, with a frame above each word for a photo of your child's own face or their drawing.

Why does this feelings chart have no faces printed on it?

So the faces can be your child's own. A photo of their own sad face or excited face shows what that feeling looks like on them. The feeling faces page from the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations describes the same thing: photographing children making each face to make your own poster.

How do you use a feelings chart with a young child?

Use it at the same time each day. Ask "How do you feel?", let your child point, and say the word back. Then ask "What do you need?" and point to the "I need" side. Use it on good days too, not only hard ones.

What is the "I need" side of the chart for?

It pairs a feeling with what might come next. The nine needs are a hug, a break, quiet, help, water, a snack, my blanket, bathroom and play, each with a frame for a photo of the real thing.

What size photos fit the feelings chart?

Each frame has a 1.5 inch square window. Eight 1.5 inch photos fit on one 4 x 6 print, so three prints fill all 18 frames. Print the chart at 100% scale so the frames stay that size.