Listen Together
- Listen to “What’s in Your Heart,” an episode of the Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast and discuss what you hear! You can listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Free do-together activities from our colleagues at Big Heart World
You can share links to these activities to help families explore the feelings through games, pretend, and outdoor adventures. These activities are also available in the Sparkler app if your program is using Sparkler.
- Feelings Memories: Toss coins with the whole family to practice talking about feelings. (Also available in Sparkler for children 1.5 – 5 years old.)
- Punching Pillow: What can a child do with a big feeling? Punching a pillow is one strategy grown-ups and children can try. (Also available in Sparkler for children 1.5 – 5 years old.)
- How Do We Feel Now? Pretend together to practice talking about feelings. As children understand and become more aware of their OWN feelings, they will also start to look for and recognize those feelings in others. This is the beginning of empathy.
- The “NO!” Song: Sing “no” to the tune of Frére Jacque. When kids use their voices to advocate for themselves, they are taking the first step toward being upstanders! (Also available in Sparkler for children 1 – 5 years old.)
- Big Rescue: Rescue animals from sand, dirt, or ice. This sort of pretend play is a great way for children to practice helping friends and making the world a better place, too. (Also available in Sparkler for children 1.5 – 5 years old.)
- Bird Feeder: Helping to take care of living things, like feeding birds in the park, helps children to develop skills that will lead to empathy — like learning how their actions affect others and imagining how others feel. (Also available in Sparkler for children 3 – 5 years old.)
Feelings Activities to Share from the Sparkler App
You can share links to these activities to help families explore the feelings through games, pretend, and outdoor adventures. These activities are available in the Sparkler app if your program is using Sparkler. You can share them via the Sparkler Dashboard on the Library tab.
- Rainbow Feelings (for ages 1.5 – 3): Connect colors and feelings to understand the feelings and work on managing feelings.
- Royal Moods (ages 3-5): Show your royal feelings; acting out different feelings with movements helps children understand the feelings’ meanings.
- Shadow Puppet Feelings (ages 1.5 – 5): Explore feelings with shadow puppets; naming and exploring feelings helps children to recognize their own feelings.
- Feel Your Heart (ages 4-5) Calm down before bed; Encouraging children to create pictures in their minds is a helpful calm-down activity. It also helps with communication.
- Freeze Dance (ages 1.5 – 5): Stop and go dancing helps children practice self regulation.
- Little Helper (ages 1 – 5): Practice helping out at home to learn independence and start taking pride in helping.
- Animal Bath (ages 1 – 3): Practice cleaning animals to build empathy.