A feelings conversation does not have to begin with “How do you feel?” It can start with a made-up character, a picture or your own example. Offer a way to answer with words, a point or a drawing, and leave room to pass. You can explore an idea together without deciding what somebody else must be feeling.

Here are three games you can arrange with feeling pictures. Use the named cards below, or try homemade drawings and choose your own characters.

Choose a friend for a story

Make up one small scene: “Our character has been looking forward to seeing a friend.” Put out two feeling pictures and ask which one your child would place in the story. They can move a picture beside a drawing, say a word or invent a different scene.

In Feelings Friends, Beamlet is labelled Happy and Fretling is labelled Worried. Either could fit a story about a visit. A character could look forward to seeing someone and wonder what to play. Let the explanation lead, instead of announcing a correct answer for the imaginary person.

For a shorter version, use one picture and take turns naming something that might happen next. For a longer version, add a second character with a different idea. Keep personal questions optional, and let your child decide how much to tell you about their choice.

Build a beginning, middle and ending

  1. Draw three simple spaces on paper. They can stand for the beginning, middle and end of a story.
  2. Choose an ordinary opening, such as a character wanting a turn with a toy.
  3. Take turns adding a picture, gesture or sentence to the next space.
  4. Decide together where the story finishes. It does not need a lesson or a happy ending.

Other Feelings Friends labels include Droplo for Sad, Fizzwick for Angry, Quiverpip for Scared and Ripplet for Calm. You can borrow a label for your character or choose a different word. The game is making a story together, not matching every scene to an adult’s preferred answer.

Say it, point to it or draw it

Feelio belongs to the separate Breatho & Friends set. Its prompt says, “Show how you feel: say it, point to it or draw it.” Put paper beside the picture and try a short answer yourself first. You might say that you are excited about a trip, or draw a shape for a busy day.

Your child can use the same response format, choose another one or pass. If they draw, ask whether they want to tell you about it; they do not have to explain every mark. You can finish with a practical choice: keep drawing, change the picture or put the activity away.

Choose the pictures you want to use

Feelings Friends contains 26 cards, including the six feeling characters named here. Feelio is in the separate 53-card Breatho & Friends set. Each set has its own printable files and chosen-set app access; buying one does not include all the others.

Explore the card sets and choose Feelings Friends or Breatho & Friends according to the pictures you want. Choose the pictures you would enjoy using together, and begin with one short story.