· 2 min read · Ages 3–10 · Pre-K through Grade 4
A feelings check-in sheet for the kid who says they are fine
Pointing at a face is easier than finding the word. A check-in sheet gives a seven-year-old twelve faces to choose from and a reason to pick one.
After school, my son is fine. Always fine. Then at bedtime it comes out that someone took his seat at lunch and he was worried all afternoon about where he would sit tomorrow. The teacher's version of this is a check-in sheet taped to each desk, done in the first five minutes of the day, and she says it changed what she knew about her class.
What the sheet looks like
The feelings check-in generator prints six kinds of page, all blackline and ready to color. The feelings chart shows 6, 9 or 12 faces chosen from happy, sad, angry, scared, worried, calm, excited, tired, silly, frustrated, proud and surprised. The daily check-in has a row of faces, an energy scale and a "What can help me?" list of choices. The weekly check-in runs Monday to Friday with 3 to 6 faces per day. Breathing exercises are traceable shapes: square, triangle, star, lazy-eight and rainbow, one large or four small to a page. There are cut-out calm-down strategy cards (8, 10 or 12) and a 1–5 feelings thermometer.
Why it works
- A young child often cannot find the word for what they feel but can point at a face. The chart gives them twelve to choose from, which is more than most adults use.
- Tracing a square while breathing in on one side and out on the next gives a worked-up kid something to do with a finger. The shape sets the pace, so nobody has to count out loud.
- The weekly page shows a pattern. A child who circles tired every Thursday has told you something a single check-in cannot.
Who it suits
The 6-face chart and the breathing shapes work from age three. The daily and weekly check-ins suit kindergarten through grade 4, and the thermometer is useful for a child who is learning that angry has levels. This is a feelings vocabulary and routine tool, not a counseling resource, and it will not help a child who needs more than a routine. For the moment when the class needs to move rather than sit with a feeling, brain break cards are the pair to this.
Let them color the faces the first time. Coloring the worried face is a surprisingly good way to talk about what worried looks like.