Emotions memory game
Learning outcomes
- Students name the 10 feelings and emotions represented on the memory cards.
- Students use emotion words in spoken sentences.
- Students listen and respond during turn-taking games.
Purpose of learning experience
- Students build a vocabulary of feelings and emotions and learn to recognise and name emotions in themselves and others.
- Students develop confidence in expressing feelings and emotions with appropriate verbal and non-verbal language, helping promote self-regulation.
- Students understand that personal statements can start with ‘I feel …’ or ‘I am …’.
- Students understand that pronouns indicate emotions in others, e.g. ‘You feel …’ ‘She/he/they feel …’.
Printable: Emotions Memory Game
Making connections
Being able to tell other people how they feel is fundamental to students’ wellbeing. Students need to be able to understand and recognise their feelings in order to develop emotional awareness and empathy. Linking feelings and emotions to their own experiences helps students to understand themselves and others better and contributes to emotional literacy. Students can discuss how emotions influence behaviour.
Early Years Learning Framework
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.
Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work
Lesson activity
‘Matching up emotions’
Plan/implement
Introduce the emotions memory cards and allow children time to name, handle and explore them.
Arrange one set of cards face up in a line or grid. Shuffle the other set and place it facedown in a pile.
Model the activity by turning over the top card in the pile. Name the emotion, then find the matching card in the line or grid and place it next to that card.
Invite children to take turns turning over a card from the pile.
Encourage each child to name the emotion using the sentence starter: ‘I feel <emotion>.’ or ‘He/she feels <emotion>.’ The child then places the card beside its matching card in the line or grid.
Continue until all the memory cards have been matched.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the child visually match identical cards?
Can the child name the emotion shown in the picture?
Does the child use the sentence structure: ‘I feel …’ or ‘He/she feels …’, with modelling or independently?
Does the child wait for and take a turn?
Resources needed
Printable Emotions Memory Game cards (two sets)
Language focus
I feel <emotion>.
He/she feels <emotion>
Community languages
Before playing, invite children to name the emotions in their home language/s.
Pair children who share a home language, where appropriate.
Children may also communicate through gestures and facial expressions.
Foundation Australian Curriculum alignment
Health and Physical Education: AC9HPFP03
express and describe emotions they experience
Lesson activity
‘Emotions memory’
Plan/implement
Shuffle the emotions memory cards and place them facedown in a grid.
Model how to play by turning over two cards, one at a time. Name the emotion shown on each card using the sentence starter: ‘I feel <emotion>.’
If the cards match, the player keeps the pair and ends their turn.
If the cards do not match, the player turns them facedown again in the same positions.
Students continue taking turns until all the matching pairs have been found.
Encourage students to watch carefully and remember where each emotion card is located in the grid.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student name the emotions shown on both cards?
Does the student use a complete ‘I feel …’ sentence when identifying the emotions on the cards?
Can the student remember the locations of previously revealed cards?
Does the student follow turn-taking rules?
Resources needed
Printable Emotions Memory Game cards (two sets)
Language focus
I feel <emotion>.
They match.
They do not match
Your turn.
Community languages
While introducing the emotions memory cards, hold up each card and ask students to name the emotion in their home language/s.
Accept spoken words, signs, gestures and facial expressions as ways of showing understanding.
Make a word wall showing community language and English words for emotions.
Year 1 Australian Curriculum alignment
English: AC9E1LY02
use interaction skills including turn-taking, speaking clearly, using active listening behaviours and responding to the contributions of others, and contributing ideas and questions
Lesson activity
‘Make a pair’
Plan/implement
Students play in pairs. Give each player five cards and tell them to hold their cards so the other player cannot see them.
Place the remaining cards facedown in a pile between the players.
Model how to play.
Player 1 picks up the top card and names the emotion using the sentence starter: ‘I feel <emotion>.’ Then they look for the matching card in their hand.
If they have the matching card, they place the pair face up in front of them.
If they do not have the matching card, they show it to Player 2 and say: ‘You feel <emotion>.’ Then they place the unmatched card at the bottom of the pile, and it is Player 2’s turn.
Players keep taking turns until all the matching pairs have been found.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student identify whether two cards match?
Does the student use ‘I feel …’ and ‘You feel …’ accurately?
Does the student name the emotion represented by the picture on the card?
Can the student explain how they knew the cards matched?
Resources needed
Printable Emotions Memory Game cards (two sets for each pair)
Language focus
I feel <emotion>.
You feel <emotion>.
I have a pair.
It does not match.
Community languages
Students may say the emotion in their home language/s, then repeat it in English where appropriate.
Encourage peers to listen to and respectfully practise unfamiliar words.
Year 2 Australian Curriculum alignment
English: AC9E2LA09
experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit the topic
Lesson activity
‘Go fish’
Plan/implement
Students play in a small group. Shuffle and deal five cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards facedown in a pile in the middle.
Players look at the cards they have been dealt and place any matching pairs from their hand face up in front of them.
Next, Player 1 asks another player for a card using the emotion word and the sentence starter: ‘Are you <emotion>?’, e.g. ‘Are you sad?’
If the other player has the matching card, they answer, ‘Yes, I am <emotion>.’ and give the card to Player 1. Player 1 places the pair down in front of them.
If the player does not have the card, they answer, ‘No, I am not <emotion>. Go fish.’ Player 1 draws a card from the pile and ends their turn.
Play continues until all pairs have been made. The player with the most pairs wins.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student form and respond to a yes/no question?
Does the student use the correct emotion words?
Can the student recognise and place matching pairs?
Does the student follow the agreed rules and take turns?
Resources needed
Printable Emotions Memory Game cards (print, cut out and laminate three or four sets per group)
Language focus
Are you <emotion>?
Yes, I am <emotion>.
No, I am not <emotion>. Go fish.
I have a pair of <emotion> cards.
Community languages
Create a shared word bank of emotion words in students’ home language/s.
Students can ask or answer in their home language, then repeat the question or answer in Standard Australian English where appropriate.
Year 3 Australian Curriculum alignment
English: AC9E3LA02
understand how the language of evaluation and emotion, such as modal verbs, can be varied to be more or less forceful
Health and Physical Education: AC9HP4P06
explain how and why emotional responses can vary and practise strategies to manage their emotions
Lesson activity
‘Emotion families’
Plan/implement
The deck should contain four of each emotion card.
Students play in small groups. Shuffle and deal five cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards face down in a pile in the middle.
Players look at the cards they have been dealt. If they already have a complete family of four (four matching emotion cards), they place it face up in front of them. Then they draw four new cards.
Next, Player 1 draws the top card from the pile. They name the emotion and explain its intensity or a situation that might cause it, e.g. ‘Angry. Angry is a more intense feeling than worried.’ or ‘Surprised. I might feel surprised when a dog barks at me.’
Player 1 puts the card in their hand. If they now have a family of four, they place it face up in front of them and draw three new cards to bring their hand back up to five.
If they don’t have a family of four, they choose one card to discard. They place the unwanted card at the bottom of the pile and end their turn.
Players continue drawing and discarding until all emotion families are complete.
The player with the most emotion families wins.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student organise identical cards into a family of four?
Can the student accurately name and compare emotion words?
Can the student give a plausible reason for an emotion?
Does the student speak clearly, listen and follow the draw-and-discard sequence?
Resources needed
Printable Emotions Memory Game cards (print and laminate four sets per group)
Language focus
I/he/she/they might feel <emotion> when/because <reason or situation>.
<Emotion> is a more/less intense feeling than <different emotion>.
I have a family of four <emotion> cards.
Community languages
Students can name and compare emotions using their home language/s.
When students share community words, acknowledge the language and follow local cultural guidance about its use.