My daughter had a friend over one afternoon and I came up with the idea of having the girls make emoji faces on balloons. Looking through my stash of balloons, I found a bunch of yellow ones...........perfect!
(note: we did this activity late summer when it was just too hot to be outside. With colder weather beginning to settle in around the country, this could also be a great indoor winter activity.
There was very little instruction needed. After using the compressor to blow up the balloons and giving the girls a handful of colored permanent markers, they got right to work!
My daughter and her friend are 1st and 2 grade so we didn't talk alot about feelings as for them it was more about imagination and drawing. However, this could be a fun learning activity for preschoolers who are learning about feelings and emotion. After drawing different faces you could ask what feelings the balloons have by looking at the faces. Continue the conversation by asking what makes them feel happy or sad.
The girls wanted to do more but I ran out of yellow balloons. Fear not! Enter, popsicle sticks and yellow construction paper. This was a great fine motor skill too for cutting out the yellow emoji faces. They had just as much fun with these as they did with the balloons.
A good book to pair with these activities is, The Way I Feel by Janan Cain.
Most importantly, have fun, be creative and leave lots of time for conversation!