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.
Keep going!
I printed out a title page and taped it on and voila! All done!
Need More Activities About Emotions for Preschool?
Sing and make all kinds of faces filled with feelings with our fun song –> get the details here
Play emotions memory with your preschoolers! See how we played this emotions game.
Bring social-emotional learning to your circle time with these great ideas for lessons.
Nwabisa says
This is very exciting with children and also feel confident to reading especially see their images in their emotional book makes them feel comfortable to communicate even to the shy ones they will learn easily.
Pauline says
Thank you for the print outs and all the advice given on this site….. It made my stay at home easier…
Allison McDonald says
I’m so happy it’s helped!