Free Feelings and Emotions Flashcards (+ Activity Ideas)
Teaching kids how to talk about feelings and emotions is often one of the very first lessons young English learners study. These free printable feelings flashcards for kids are a fun and visual way to introduce the common classroom question “How are you?” and simple answers like “I’m happy,” “I’m sad,” or “I’m tired.” The set includes both large flashcards for whole-class teaching and smaller cards for pair work and games, so you can use them in a variety of classroom activities.
About These Feelings Flashcards
This free set of feelings flashcards for kids includes 8 emotions: happy, sad, angry, tired, hungry, sick, scared, and bored. The PDF contains both large flashcards for whole-class teaching and smaller cards for pair work and games, making it ideal for young and beginner ESL learners.
Feelings Flashcard Game Ideas
- Feelings Charades: After practicing the new words with your students, a fun activity is to mix up the flashcards on your desk and choose one at random. Without showing the class, act out the emotion on the card. Students raise their hands to guess the correct feeling. The first student to answer correctly comes to the front, takes the next card, and acts it out. Young learners especially enjoy this game because they love making silly faces while the rest of the class tries to guess.
- Find Your Emotion Buddy: Give each student a small feelings flashcard. Students walk around the classroom asking their classmates, “How are you?” and answering based on the emotion on their card (e.g., “I’m happy,” “I’m scared”). When two students discover they have the same emotion, they become “emotion buddies” and sit down together.
Other Feelings and Emotions Resources
For more lesson materials for teaching feelings and emotions in English, check out these related resources:
- Feelings Guessing Game – a fun whole-class activity to practice asking and answering “How are you?”.
- Feelings Worksheets – printable activities to reinforce feelings and emotions vocabulary.
- Feelings Lesson Plan – a ready-to-use classroom plan with objectives and step-by-step activities.
- Feelings and Emotions PowerPoint – an interactive slideshow for introducing or reviewing key vocabulary.