Sort the Feelings

1. 1

   Prepare three cardboard tubes and several plastic bottle caps. Draw a different expression—such as happy, sad, or angry—on each tube, then repeat those faces across the caps and mix them together.

2. 2

   Face the tube drawings toward your child. Name each feeling and copy the expression together.

3. 3

   Hand over the caps and explain the match: place each face into the tube showing the same feeling.

4. 4

   Once the expressions are familiar, your child can glance at a cap, find its matching tube, and drop it in.

5. 5

   When all the caps have been sorted, pour them out and check the groups together.

What to notice

• Matches a bottle-cap face to the tube showing the same feeling Emotional Functioning
• Picks up bottle caps with their fingertips Fine Motor

Tips

• As you introduce each face, talk about a time someone might feel that way. This helps connect the expression with the emotion behind it.
• If you do not have the materials, roll cardstock into tubes and cut larger paper shapes to use instead of bottle caps.

Developmental benefits

• Social/Emotional: Recognizing a facial expression and matching it with another example gives your child practice distinguishing and naming familiar emotions.