10 Emotion Games for Kids (Toddlers too!)

Science shows that we can learn the skills that lead to emotional intelligence, happiness, and well-being. But, science also shows we learn everything better when we are young.

This is why it's so important for kids to build their brains in ways that help them develop their emotion skills—skills that help them cope with stress, develop more satisfying relationships, and be more successful in their careers.

Games are a fun and easy way to help kids develop these emotion skills while simultaneously learning how to manage their emotions and feelings, developing emotional intelligence, and increasing well-being.

Given our expertise on positive psychology and positive neuroscience, we created products 1-3 to help kids strengthen the underlying neural networks that research suggests pave the way for healthy development of the "emotional brain".

The other emotion games in the list below focus on helping kids further develop other emotional skills.

​(Note: Some of the images below are affiliate links)

1. Emotional Intelligence Flashcard Book
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The act of memorizing positive words forces the brain to activate neural networks associated with these words. When any region of the brain is activated, it gets stronger. So positive emotion flashcards may make positive concepts, memories, and ideas more accessible and easily activated in your child's brain. As a result, positive information should be easier to recognize and understand in daily life. Grades K-12.

2. Emotion Coloring Book (Immediate Download)

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The more different parts of the brain a child has to use when learning emotional information, the more likely it is that the information will "stick".

This emotional coloring book requires the brain to see the facial emotional expression, recognize the emotion word, and draw the emotion, activating multiple regions of the brain simultaneously. When any region of the brain is activated, it gets stronger. So coloring emotional pictures will likely develop your child's brain in ways that boost emotional intelligence. Ages 1-10

3. Emotion Cards (Immediate Download)

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The act of seeing and identifying emotions can help children improve their emotional awareness. Emotional awareness—or the ability to identify emotions—is key to developing successful relationships at school and later in life.

Use these cards to help children and toddlers learn about different emotions. Quiz your kids or put the cards around the house (at your child's height). Children can learn effortlessly just by seeing these emotions every day. Ages 1-10

4. The Stop, Relax, and Think Collection
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The stop relax and think collection helps children to control themselves by helping them slow down and think. For example, to use the ball, just throw it and read wherever the player's right thumb lands to help think before acting. You could use it with children at home or in a class at school.​

5. Totika Self-Esteem Game
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Totika is like Jenga, but each time a tile is removed from the tower, the player has to answer a question. The questions help kids and families reflect on experiences that help promote self-esteem and emotional intelligence. ​

6. Feelings Playing Cards
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Feelings playing cards help kids learn about a range of emotions. They include 15 games. For example, kids can complete sentences by picking different feelings and making up stories using the feelings cards as characters. Kids can also use the cards to communicate how they think others feel about them or to tell you how they are feeling. By learning to understand and communicate emotions, kids learn to process these emotions more easily.

7. Feelings in a Jar
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Everyone needs to know how to name and express feelings. Each "feelings" jar holds 365 little slips printed with "feelings words" —gleeful, insecure, grateful, angry, cranky, courageous, hopeful, etc... Kids can pull a slip and act out the feeling on their own, or they can play with friends or family. The words can also be used as discussion starters, journaling prompts, or icebreakers for groups. Ages 8 & up.

8. Game of Consequences
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This board game helps kids learn the heavy topic of consequences in a more fun way. The cards include everyday tasks that result in moves forward or backwards. Parents can even write in their own cards to help teach their kids learn important consequences specific to the family.
​For 2-4 players. 

9. Thoughts and Feelings: A Sentence Completion Card Game
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This is a fast-paced therapeutic card game designed for children aged 5 to 12. It was designed to support parents, teachers and mental health professionals by engaging children; the characters help the children identify, process, and work through a variety of issues, including changes within the family, trauma, grief, anger, depression, anxiety and fears. It includes 35 cheerfully animated playing cards.

10. Social Skills Board Games
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​This affordable pack of 6 board games for grades 1-5 helps kids think through socially challenging situations. They learn morals, manners, empathy, friendship, showing emotions, and managing emotions.

BONUS EMOTION GAMES:

11. Stone Soup Cooperative Game for Kids
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Stone Soup is an award-winning memory matching game with a cooperative spin on it. Players must work together to "cook" a soup by making matches of ingredients; if they are successful everyone wins. This approach helps children strengthen memory and social development skills with no reading required. It is for 2 to 4 players ages 5 years and older.

12. Dr. PlayWell's Don't Stress Game
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This engaging game helps children develop the resiliency skills they need to deal with all kinds of stress, helping them cope with both developmental and situational problems. It is designed to use in counseling or classroom settings and is suitable for ages 6-12 years | 2-4 Players.

13. You and Me: Social Skills Card Game
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This card game is designed to look like a standard 52-card deck. Instead of numbered cards though, there are 13 different children. And instead of the four suits, there are four social skills areas (Having Fun, Inviting a Friend, Talking, and Solving a Problem). As children play the game, they can make up stories that help them learn social awareness using the character cards. Recommended for ages 6-12 | 2-4 Players
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