Cootie Catchers for Emotions

Do you want to help your children identify and express their emotions? Using cootie catchers for emotions can be a great tool.

Cootie catchers are a clever way to help children express what they feel through playing with origami. With it, kids learn to name their emotions, as well as spend quality time with their family.

Do you want to explore how you can help them be more assertive while having fun?

Kids and their emotions

Sometimes you might ask your children about their day and all you get is a “good” or an ambiguous gesture. It might not be so easy for them to name their emotions, much less explain with words what they felt at school.

To help you, we’ll give you a great solution: cootie catchers for emotions.

It’s a typical origami game that has been around for generations, but with a twist. It consists of labelling basic emotions and an invitation to explain situations where you might feel a certain way.

The truth is, cootie catchers for emotions can be useful for any family. If the kids are very young, you can draw faces that represent different emotions.

If they’re older, you can name them and give practical examples. The key is connecting the symbols with what they’re feeling.

How to play with cootie catchers for emotions

First, it’s important to make it clear that there are no good or bad emotions. They’re all valid because we’re human, and we all experience them at some point in our lives.

The goal is that with this game, kids learn to manage their emotions. It’s important to teach them not to reject or avoid any of them, which is why it’s important to know them.

If you don’t remember how to make one, we’ll help you. You’ll only need a sheet of paper. Additionally, you can make it with your children so they can start learning origami:

• Cut the paper into a square.
• Fold the paper so that the right corner meets the left, and the left corner meets the right.
• Now, turn each corner towards the center. Then, turn the paper over.
• Fold the corners toward the center again.
• Write the numbers 1-8 in each triangle, and add a picture of each emotion on the inside.
• Finally, fold the paper in half and bring the sides together.
• Put your fingers in and start playing!

Basic emotions

On Instructables.com, you can find a downloadable PDF for free. With step-by-step instructions, you can help children identify each of these emotions, as well as a gesture that represents them or examples. It’s a great tool to work with your children at home or at school.

This is fundamental for your children’s emotional education. Through these cootie catchers, kids learn to express themselves properly. In addition, they learn to accept all of these emotions and know that it’s normal to feel them.

It’s never too early to talk about emotions with your children as long as you talk to them at their level for their age. These cootie catchers for emotions are just one of the many games out there that you can use to work on emotions with your children.

Explore and have fun with the whole family as your children develop their skills!