Emotion Games and Activities for Preschoolers That Build Social Skills and Social Emotional Learning

Time to Read: About 10 minutes

TL;DR

• Emotion games help preschoolers build foundational social skills like communication, coping skills, friendship, and flexible thinking.

• Many autistic preschoolers benefit from visual, play-based emotion activities instead of only flashcards or worksheets.

• Pretend play, movement, music, sensory activities, and visual supports can make emotional learning more meaningful.

• The goal is not just memorizing emotion faces — it is helping children connect emotions to real-life situations.

• Repetition through play and daily routines often helps emotional understanding become more functional and natural over time.

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Grab your free autism kindergarten readiness social skills checklist HERE

Table of Contents

1. Why Emotion Identification Matters for Preschool Social Skills

2. Why Many Autistic Preschoolers Need Emotions Taught Differently

3. Pretend Play Emotion Activities for Preschoolers

4. Emotion Matching Games That Move Beyond Flashcards

5. Daily Emotion Check-Ins for Home and School

6. Playdough Emotion Faces for Hands-On Learning

7. What Color Are Your Feelings? Activities for Visual Learners

8. Using Music and Visual Supports to Teach Feelings

9. Emotion Blocks and Building Games for Preschoolers

10. Final Thoughts

11. Related Preschool Social Skills Resources

Why Emotion Identification Matters for Preschool Social Skills

A lot of preschool social skills actually begin with emotional awareness.

Before children can:

• solve problems with peers

• understand another child’s feelings

• ask for help

• cope with frustration

• handle disappointment

• recognize when someone wants space

…they first need to start understanding emotions and feelings.

This is one reason emotional learning is closely connected to many other foundational preschool social skills like:

• waiting

• friendship

• turn taking

• flexible thinking

• coping skills

If you have worked with autistic preschoolers for very long, you have probably seen that some children can easily memorize emotion flashcards but still struggle when emotions happen during real life.

A child might know:

“This face means sad.”

…but still not recognize:

• why a peer is upset

• why someone feels frustrated

• why another child wants space

• or why leaving the playground early feels disappointing

That is why emotion games for children work best when emotions are connected to:

• real situations

• movement

• pretend play

• visual supports

• social interaction

• repetition during daily routines

And honestly, this is one reason I usually prefer hands-on emotion activities over only sitting at a table matching flashcards.

Young children often learn emotions best while actively participating.

Many children who struggle with emotional understanding also benefit from direct teaching of foundational social skills like:

• preschool turn taking activities

• waiting activities for autistic preschoolers

• friendship skills activities for autistic children

because all of these skills overlap and build on each other.

Why Many Autistic Preschoolers Need Emotions Taught Differently

Many autistic children are highly visual learners.

Some children naturally connect:

• colors to feelings

• visuals to meaning

• routines to understanding

• pictures to communication

Others may need repeated direct teaching to notice:

• facial expressions

• tone of voice

• body language

• emotional reactions

Play-based emotion games for children are among the most effective tools for working on preschool social skills.

Research on practices for autistic children suggests that picture-based supports and video modeling can help support communication, participation, and learning in all areas (Case & Yun, 2015).

Many autistic preschoolers need emotions broken visually represented step-by-step and practiced repeatedly during real activities.

This is one reason play-based emotion activities can be so powerful.

You can also see this overlap in broader preschool autism supports like: autism social skills printables for preschoolers because visual supports and direct teaching often help abstract social concepts become much more concrete.

Pretend Play Emotion Activities for Preschoolers

Dramatic play or pretend play is a great time to work on naming feelings or naming emotions.

Honestly, if I had to choose one emotion activity for preschoolers to start with, pretend play would probably be near the top of my list.

This is because emotions happen naturally during play.

Children experience feelings during:

• sharing

• waiting

• pretending

• changing routines

• problem solving

• losing games

• interacting with peers

Pretend play gives children a safe place to practice all of those things.

One activity I really like using involves:

• character necklaces

• simple real-life scenario cards

• a pretend play area set up like a home

Children first choose a role such as:

• mom

• dad

• grandma

• grandpa

• child

• baby

• neighbor

• pets like a dog or cat

When paired with visual supports emotion games for children are even more effective for children with autism.

Then simple scenario cards are placed in a basket near the play area.

Some of the situations include:

• “Dad says we have to leave the park early”

• “Brother takes toy from sister”

• “A balloon suddenly pops”

• “Grandma bakes cookies with child”

• “The TV is broken”

• “Someone gets stung by a bee”

• “Kids fight over the TV show”

• “We get to go to Disneyland”

The children then act out the situation together while adults help naturally label emotions during play.

For example:

“How does the child feel?” “How does grandma feel?” “Do they feel the same?”

This is important because many autistic preschoolers need direct practice understanding that different people can have different emotional reactions to the same event.

One child may feel excited about Disneyland while another feels nervous about the noise and change in routine.

That kind of flexible emotional thinking often needs to be explicitly taught.

How to Set This Up Yourself

You absolutely do not need expensive materials for this activity.

You could:

• write simple situations on index cards

• use yarn necklaces

• print family photos

• use dolls or stuffed animals

• set up a pretend kitchen or dollhouse area

The important part is the conversation happening during play.

If you are interested in other similar activities see these:

• friendship skills activities for autistic children ages 3–7

• autism play skills activities

• flexible thinking activities for autistic children

because children are learning emotional understanding during social interaction instead of in isolation.

Emotion Matching Games That Move Beyond Flashcards

A lot of emotion activities stop at:

“Match the happy face.”

But many autistic preschoolers need help moving to the NEXT step:

connecting situations to emotions.

That is where emotion matching board games can become really meaningful.

Emotions board games can be purchased like this one but can also be easily made at home with stickers or computer images.

One emotion board game I like starts with simple matching:

• happy to happy

• sad to sad

• mad to mad

• scared to scared

But after children understand the basic emotion faces, the activity moves into real-life scenarios.

For example:

• “My toy broke.”

• “You get invited to a birthday party.”

• “Someone takes your toy.”

• “Your friend won’t play with you.”

• “Your ice cream falls on the ground.”

Then children move to the matching emotion on the board.

This helps children begin understanding:

• emotions happen for reasons

• feelings connect to situations

• emotions change depending on experiences

Why This Matters

Many autistic children can memorize emotion faces but still struggle applying those emotions during real social situations.

That is why activities should gradually move from:

1. matching identical emotions

2. identifying emotions

3. connecting emotions to situations

4. discussing WHY someone feels that way

This kind of progression helps emotional learning become more functional and meaningful.

Daily Emotion Check-Ins for Home and School

Understanding feelings and emotions begins with children understanding how they feel.

One of the most useful emotion activities is also one of the simplest.

Daily emotion check-ins help children:

• practice naming feelings

• build emotional vocabulary

• connect feelings to events

• increase self-awareness

In the classroom, this might look like:

• a visual feelings chart

• emotion photos

• mirrors

• simple check-in cards

• a morning meeting routine

Daily emotions can help children with autism because they build on incorporating social skill learning in the daily routine.

At home, families can use the same idea:

• before school

• after school

• before bed

• after difficult moments

Some children may:

• verbally answer

• point

• hand over a visual

• use AAC

• or simply touch the emotion picture

And all of those are valid ways to participate.

Why I Like Combining Real Photos With Simple Emotion Visuals

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that different autistic children respond differently to emotion visuals.

Some children seem to understand simplified emotion faces or cartoon visuals more easily at first because the emotions are exaggerated and easier to notice.

Other children do much better with realistic photos because real facial expressions are what they actually see during daily life.

Research has found that some autistic children recognize emotions more successfully when emotions are presented in simplified or avatar-style visuals rather than only realistic human faces.

At the same time, children also need opportunities to practice learning emotions from real human faces so they can eventually generalize those skills into real-life interactions.

Naming feelings can be practiced with both realistic images and cartoon style images.

This is one reason I personally like using BOTH:

• simple emotion visuals

• AND realistic photographs

during daily emotion check-ins.

Some children also become much more interested when the photos involve familiar people:

• parents

• siblings

• classmates

• teachers

• or even photos of themselves

That familiarity can make emotional learning feel much more meaningful and motivating.

For more information about autism emotional awareness see these previous posts:

• coping skills for autistic preschoolers

• emotional dysregulation warning signs in autistic children

• alexithymia in autistic children

because children first need to recognize emotions before they can begin managing them.

Playdough Emotion Faces for Hands-On Learning

Many preschoolers learn best through sensory and fine motor activities.

Many preschoolers learn best through sensory and fine motor activities.

Playdough emotion faces are wonderful because children physically create:

• eyebrows

• mouths

• eyes

• facial expressions

This encourages children to slow down and really LOOK at emotions instead of quickly guessing.

For some autistic preschoolers, facial expressions can feel very abstract.

But when they physically build:

• angry eyebrows

• a worried mouth

• surprised eyes

…the emotion often becomes easier to notice and understand.

What This Activity Actually Looks Like

Children choose an emotion mat such as:

• happy

• sad

• mad

• scared

Then they use playdough to create:

• eyes

• eyebrows

• mouths

• or other facial features directly on top of the emotion mat.

Adults can model:

“What happens to eyebrows when someone feels mad?” “Does a scared mouth look different from a happy mouth?”

You can also:

• use mirrors

• act out expressions

• make exaggerated silly emotions

• let children create their own feeling

This activity works especially well during:

• preschool centers

• therapy sessions

• calm down corners

• sensory breaks

What Color Are Your Feelings? Activities for Visual Learners

Art activities can also be a fun way to work on understanding different emotions.

This activity is one of my favorites for autistic preschoolers because so many children naturally connect:

• colors to feelings

• visuals to emotions

• sensory experiences to meaning

Some children may immediately say:

• blue feels sad

• red feels angry

• yellow feels excited

Others may choose completely different colors.

And honestly? That is perfectly okay.

What This Activity Looks Like

Children use:

• coffee filters or paper towels

• eye droppers

• food coloring or liquid watercolor

• simple emotion visuals

Each child gets several emotion circles such as:

• happy

• sad

• mad

• scared

Then children choose colors they feel match each emotion and use droppers to drip color onto the paper.

As the colors spread, adults can naturally discuss:

• feelings

• color choices

• emotional experiences

This activity works especially well because it:

• feels calming

• reduces pressure

• supports visual learners

• encourages self-expression

• allows for individuality

There is no single “correct” answer.

Using Music and Visual Supports to Teach Feelings

Songs can be incredibly helpful for emotional learning — especially when paired with visuals and movement.

Songs can be incredibly helpful for emotional learning — especially when paired with visuals and movement.

One activity I often recommend is adapting:

“If You’re Happy and You Know It”

…but expanding the emotions and allowing for child choice.

For example:

• “If you feel excited and you know it, jump up high.”

• “If you feel frustrated and you know it, stomp your feet.”

• “If you feel tired and you know it, yawn out loud.”

For many autistic preschoolers, visuals are the key piece that helps the song become meaningful instead of simply repetitive language.

Ways to Add Visual Supports

You can:

• hold up emotion cards

• let children choose the next emotion

• use mirrors

• use AAC visuals

• point to a daily feelings chart

• allow children to act out emotions

You can make your own visuals for songs or purchase on sites like ETSY or TPT

Giving children choices during songs also tends to increase engagement significantly.

For more information about using songs and song visuals to make learning fun for autistic children see this previous post: Using Songs to Make Learning Fun for Autistic Children

Emotion Blocks and Building Games for Preschoolers

Emotion blocks are another fun way to work on naming feelings or naming emotions.

Emotion blocks are another fun way to make emotions feel concrete and interactive.

You can create these yourself using:

• large Duplo-style blocks

• wooden cubes

• cardboard boxes

• printed emotion faces

• or real photos of your own child making emotions

Honestly, using REAL photos can be incredibly helpful for many autistic preschoolers because real facial expressions are what they actually encounter during daily life.

What Children Can Do With Emotion Blocks

Children can:

• build towers

• sort emotions

• match identical feelings

• copy facial expressions

• knock down towers and rebuild

• connect emotions to situations

You can also turn this into a social game:

“Find the frustrated face.” “Can you build using only excited faces?” “Which emotion matches this situation?”

And if families or teachers do not want to create their own materials, there are also printable emotion block games and visual emotion activities already available.

Grab your free social story about taking turns HERE

Final Thoughts

Teaching emotions is about much more than memorizing flashcards.

The goal is helping children begin understanding:

• themselves

• other people

• social situations

• emotional reactions

• communication

• problem solving

And for many preschoolers — especially autistic children — playful, visual, hands-on activities are often the most meaningful way to build those skills.

Many of these emotional skills also overlap with broader readiness skills discussed in: 100 skills your autistic preschooler should work on before kindergarten

because emotional understanding affects:

• classroom participation

• friendships

• communication

• coping skills

• and learning routines throughout the day.

Related Preschool Social Skills Resources

• How Do I Teach My Autistic Child to Share? Practical Strategies for Social Skills and SEL in Preschool

• How Do I Get My Autistic Students to Sit for Circle Time?

• How Visual Supports Can Help Autistic Children With Potty Training

• Why You Should Try a Social Story With Your Autistic Loved One

You can find these printables and more autism printable resources at:

• TeachersPayTeachers Store

• Etsy Shop

Reference: Case, L., & Yun, J. (2015). Visual Practices for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Physical Activity. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86(6), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2015.1054182