• calico puppet with blank expression, pocket for emotions, glove-style hands
• emotion cards • colour cards • big paper • big chalks • large floor space
Step 2
A large puppet made of calico with a blank expression, silently handed out pictures of faces showing expressions that indicate feelings. These faces were taken from a pocket from the puppets tummy. The children were asked what colour they thought ‘matched’ the faces… and the children chose from coloured paper strips.
One child said ‘That face is grumpy, grumpy is brown’.
Another child ‘Smiling is yellow’.
Another child ‘ He is worried – I don’t want that card’.
Other reactions included anger at the puppet, pushing it and not wanting to play. Some children offered favourite toys to the puppet.
Another child who has difficulty joining in normally, stood up and leant forward and kissed the puppet, then added her hand into the glove hands alongside the puppeteer’s hand, and smiled.
Step 3
We drew round each child on large sheets of paper on the floor. This can also be done outside on the pavement with chalks. The children coloured in how they were feeling and talked about how they felt whilst doing it.
One child said, ‘This is my angry face.’ When asked, ‘Do you feel angry now?’ they replied ‘I have felt angry.’
Children focused on different parts of their bodies. Some chose not to use any colour on their faces at all. Others only concentrated on the face of their drawing.