DIY Emotions Book For Preschool

Many years ago, I made a similar DIY emotions book for my daughter when she was a baby using photos of my son, but now I wanted to update it for a preschool classroom. The process was much longer and complicated because you couldn’t buy blank board books back then. In 2011, I had to cover each page with scrapbook paper and then the photo… it was nowhere near as easy as this, and I doubt I would have done it for a whole class.

This DIY emotions book for preschool is so easy to make and personalize using your students’ faces and names. Activities like this don’t just support individual social-emotional development, and they also develop a community in your class. Tomorrow I will be taking photos of my students to use in our class book, but since I don’t share my students’ faces online, I used old photos of my own kiddos. I can’t wait to create this book about feelings with my students.

How To Make A Book About Emotions For Preschool

Gather your materials. You will need a blank board book (this one holds 12 photos) you can buy is from Amazon using this affiliate link –> blank board book, printed pictures of your students showing various emotions, permanent double-stick tape, scissors, and permanent markers.

Start by cutting out the photos you printed. These are a little smaller than 4×4 inches.

Tape them on.

Add a caption using colorful permanent markers. In my class, I will do this step with my students. I want them to be a part of creating the book as well as see that the emotions they identify using oral language can be written into text. Learning that words translate to text is a foundation for literacy and vital for students’ to understand. This is why I decided to handwrite the text vs printing it out.