Looking for simple ways to help your preschooler navigate their feelings and friendships?
Supporting them as they learn about cooperation, friendships, and feelings can be challenging. To build these skills, you want activities that are simple, practical, and enjoyable without feeling like “work.”
That’s why we’ve put together over 25 fun social-emotional activities for preschoolers that turn play into a learning experience. Your child can practice identifying emotions, sharing, taking turns, cooperating, and making friends through everyday play.
Continue reading to discover easy, practical ways to help your preschooler develop confidence, empathy, and strong social skills.
Social-Emotional Skills: Feelings And Emotions
Let’s start with the all-important emotions and feelings. Your emotions affect how well you relate to others. Toddlers and preschoolers are ruled by their emotions. They have BIG feelings and very little impulse control.
Just telling your child to be kind, loving, and caring isn’t enough. We need to show them! One of the best ways to model understanding and empathy is during playtime.
Empathy May Be The Single Most Important Quality That Must Be Nurtured To Give Peace A Fighting Chance.
Arundhati Ray
Benefits Of Social-Emotional Learning Activities For Preschoolers And Toddlers
Engaging in social-emotional learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers promotes the following benefits.
- Recognizing and naming the core emotions builds emotional awareness and empathy.
- Connecting feelings and colors gives visual cues.
- Naming or labeling emotions gives children the vocabulary words to express their feelings.
- Role-playing how to react to their BIG emotions teaches self-control.
- Social-emotional activities create a safe place for open communication about their emotions and feelings.
How To Support Social And Emotional Development In Preschoolers And Toddlers
Identify, express, and model emotions with young children to help them develop social and emotional competence. Additionally, preschoolers and toddlers can practice their skills by reading books, playing games, singing songs, and engaging in social-emotional activities such as imaginative play.
Identify Emotions
Let’s look at the five core emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. The Pixar movie “Inside Out” does a beautiful job of characterizing these emotions. We especially appreciate the correlation between colors and feelings. Meet the 5 character emotions from the movie.
After you watch the movie with your children, discuss the different characters and the feelings they represent. Talk about body language and facial expressions. Encourage your child to identify and express their moods by asking them to draw and “color” the various emotions.
Model Emotions
Set an example by modeling an appropriate way to express our emotions. Children need to see our emotions, and it is perfectly natural for adults to experience happiness, anger, or sadness. What we do with those emotions matters. Take the time to share with your child what made you feel the way you did and how you worked through it.
Problem-solve
Children are likely to experience conflicts when playing together. Your role is to support them and, if necessary, assist them in finding a solution. For example, they both want the same toy:
- You might suggest a similar one
- Or perhaps they could take turns or play with it together
- Talk it through to see if they can resolve it on their own
Read Books About Emotions
Reading stories helps children recognize, understand, and express their feelings, thereby developing their social-emotional skills. Further discussion allows them to connect their emotions to a variety of characters. Here is a list of books to get you started:
- Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat
- Calm-Down Time by Elizabeth Verdick
- Empathy Is Your Superpower: A Book About Understanding the Feelings of Others by Cori Bussolari
- F Is for Feelings by Goldie Millar
- Feelings to Share from A to Z by Todd Snow
- I’m Sorry by Sam McBratney
- In My Heart: A Book Of Feelings by Jo Witek
- Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
- Have You Filled A Bucket Today? : A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids: 10th Anniversary Edition by Carol McCloud
- Lots of Feelings by Shelley Rotner
- My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
- The Great Big Book of Feelings by Mary Hoffman
- The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions by Anna Llenas
- I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared by Seth Meyers
- The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
- Today I Feel Silly, & Other MOODS That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis
- Waiting by Kevin Henkes
- When I Feel Worried by Cornelia Maude Spelman
After sharing stories, you can provide children with a safe space to express and work through their feelings independently.
Create a Calm Corner
Set up a small, cozy spot with pillows, books, and stuffed animals where children can go when they need a break. Having a quiet space helps them learn to manage their feelings safely.
Placement Ideas:
- Choose a quiet corner of the room away from busy play areas.
- Add a small rug, canopy, or bookshelf to help define the space.
- Ensure it’s easily accessible for children, but not so far away that they feel isolated.
- At home, a cozy nook in the living room or bedroom often works well.
- In a classroom, place it where teachers can still keep an eye on children without making it feel like a “time-out spot.
Why it helps: Supports self-regulation and gives children tools for calming down.
Tip: Rotate the books or calming tools periodically to keep the space fresh and inviting.
Play Games
Good old-fashioned games are a great way to encourage taking turns, cooperation, and patience. How about a weekly game night with the family?
Role-Play With Puppets
Puppets are a fantastic, non-threatening way to explore social and emotional scenarios. They help kids identify, understand, and examine how to regulate their feelings and manage social situations. For example, puppets can role-play how to handle a “problem” with a friend.
Such as, “I wanted to play with Hannah today, but she was playing with Sarah and said I couldn’t join them.” “What should I do?”
Social-Emotional Development Activities For Preschoolers And Toddlers: Feelings And Emotions
Fun, social-emotional activities for preschoolers and toddlers encourage awareness, understanding, and self-expression.
Feelings Charades
The game is all about emotions. Write down some different feelings on index cards. If you want to elaborate, you can have your kids draw feeling faces on the cards to match the emotion’s name.
Next, have one child pick a card and act out the emotion listed on the card. The rest of the players need to try and guess which feeling they are mimicking.
Why it helps: Builds awareness of emotions and body language.
Tip: Start with just a few easy feelings at first, then add more as your child gets comfortable
Feeling Face Mats
- Create some “Feeling Face Mats” using paper plates or paper circles.
- Either print out emoticon faces from the internet and glue them on. Or have your child draw faces on the plates showing a variety of emotions.
- You can choose to incorporate color to represent feelings. For example, a red face might represent an “angry” face.
- Start with the simplest ones, like happy, sad, scared, or angry. Use more or fewer emotions based on your child’s age and stage of development.
- The mats are perfect for the following games.
Feelings Hop
Tape the “Feeling Faces Mats” to the floor using painter’s tape (please check your floor before taping them all down). Then, call out a feeling and have your child jump or hop to the correct emotion.
Once there, have them tell you, “What makes them feel that way? “ Or, “How do their bodies feel when they experience that feeling?” Keep it to a few “Feeling Face Mats” on the ground for those just learning about their emotions.
Why it helps: Links movement with emotional awareness.
Feelings Bean Bag Toss
In this version, instead of having your kids jump or hop to the “Feeling Face Mats,” have them toss a bean bag to the emotion you called out. Then, have them describe a situation where they felt that emotion.
Why it helps: Promotes emotional expression in a playful way.
Musical Feelings Game
Like musical chairs, use the “Feeling Face Mats” and tape them down on the floor in a circle. Then play some music. Next, have the children walk around the ring. When the music stops, have each child act out the emotion or feeling they landed on.
Why it helps: Encourages flexible thinking and emotional expression.
Emotions Stress Balls
All you need for a fun craft and activity is five balloons, a Sharpie, and some homemade playdough or uncooked rice.
- First, draw faces with a Sharpie on the balloons to represent happy, sad, angry, scared, and surprised emotions.
- Then, create small balls of playdough. Hold open the balloons while your kids stuff the playdough into them.
- Once full, push out any air and tie off the balloons.
- Alternatively, you can fill them with uncooked rice. Why not try both for a comparison?
Why it helps: Provides a calming sensory tool for managing feelings.
Tip: Double-layer the balloons before filling to make them more durable.
Emotion Masks
Kids enjoy crafts, so why not create some masks to help explore their feelings?
- You will need paper plates, Popsicle sticks, tape, and markers, crayons, or paints.
- Cut each plate in half and tape a Popsicle stick to the rounded edge of each half plate.
- Have your child draw a mouth and a nose on each mask.
- Now, get exploring some emotions. Be silly and mix up the feelings; for example, your child could give angry eyes with a happy face mask.
Why it helps: Helps children practice empathy and perspective-taking.
Shake Out Your Feelings
Fill small, clear bottles with water, glitter, and food coloring. Seal the lids tightly. When a child’s big feelings show up, they can shake the bottle and then watch everything slowly settle back down. It’s a gentle way to remind them that feelings can start strong but calm with time.
Why it helps: Provides children with a safe and visual way to practice calming down.
Feelings Walk
Take a short walk, either inside or outside, and invite children to notice things that make them feel happy, calm, or even surprised. Pause to talk about their feelings and connect them to real-life experiences.
Why it helps: Builds awareness of emotions in everyday life.
Story Stones
Paint or draw simple faces on smooth stones to show different emotions. Put the stones in a basket and have a child pick one at a time. They can share a time they felt that way or act it out. The stones are a fun way to spark conversations about emotions.
Why it helps: Encourages storytelling, imagination, and talking about emotions.
Emotion Color Hunt
Pick a color that represents a feeling (for example, blue for calm, red for angry, yellow for happy). Invite your child to walk around the room or outdoors to find objects in that color. As they collect or point them out, talk about how that feeling looks and feels.
Why it helps: Links abstract feelings to concrete, visual examples and builds emotional vocabulary.
Social-Emotional Skills: Cooperation
The ability to work with others is a fundamental skill necessary for building a community. Cooperation requires preschoolers to learn how to communicate, collaborate, and cooperate toward a common goal. They must work together!
Typically, young children do not develop the skills to work together until they are about three and a half years old. At this point, they will begin to engage in cooperative play, whether playing a game or building a tower out of giant blocks.
You may notice leadership roles emerging at this time. Regardless, cooperation requires mutual respect, open discussion, compromise, and a shared understanding.
Block play activities are excellent for inspiring children to engage in child-centered, collaborative play. Playing in a group encourages the development of communication and social skills. Children begin to relate to a common goal, making it easier to establish and maintain relationships.
Throughout life, kids will be asked to work in teams. Therefore, it is essential to communicate and model the importance of collaboration and teamwork. What better way to do this than for the family to work as a “team?”
Consider assigning everyone an age-appropriate chore that creates more time for “family fun.” Or what about dinner time? Give each person a task to help get dinner on the table. Focus on the importance of cooperation and how it makes things work better.
A Good Compromise Is One Where Everybody Makes A Contribution.
Angela Merkel
Sharing And Taking Turns
How do you positively reinforce these skills? One by modeling them. It can be challenging for youngsters who want their magnetic blocks all to themselves.
Yet, children are inclined to imitate the behaviors they see. So set a good example when interacting with your friends and family. Let them see you sharing. For example, you can say to your child, “I will share my orange with you. Here is a section for you and one for me.”
Another way to support these skills is through praise and encouragement. When you see kids sharing and taking turns, praise them for their cooperation and kindness. By bringing attention to their good behavior, they are more likely to repeat it because they like the good feelings it brings.
Both role-playing and discussing sharing with your child are beneficial. Explain why it is important for your child to share, such as asking how they feel when their sibling or friend does not share with them.
When all else fails, use a timer. Despite your best efforts, there are times when kids do not want to take turns or share. A timer, like a stopwatch, can help them get excited about the next activity and prepare for the change. When they hear the timer, they know it is the next person’s turn.
The concept of sharing typically develops around age 5. Consider the child’s age and development to ensure that your expectations align with their capabilities.
Sharing And Turn-Taking Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers
One of the essential skills connected to cooperation is sharing. Taking turns and sharing do not come easily for children; they need a lot of practice. Furthermore, they actually have to be taught, so start small with a few activities below.
Share a Snack
Have your child help you prepare and pass out a snack. For example, give them some boxes of raisins and have them pass one out to each person. Using verbal cues like “One for your sister, please.”
Why it helps: Builds generosity and cooperation.
Bean Bag Conversation
Create a circle. Pass the bean bag to the youngest child. Ask, “What is something you would like to share with your friend or sibling?” After they share their answer. Have them toss the bean bag to another child. Play until everyone has had a chance to take a turn.
Why it helps: Promotes turn-taking and listening skills.
Share A Story
Create a circle. In this activity, you are going to tell a progressive story. Decide together how the story will start. Hold the ball, narrate the story’s beginning, and then add one thing that happens next.
Roll the ball across the circle to the next child. Each child adds one more thing that happens to the story. Use questions such as “Where did he go?” or “What did she do?” to help prompt those struggling with ideas.
Why it helps: Strengthens cooperation and imagination.
Tip: Write down the story as you go, then read it back at the end. Kids love hearing what they created.
Self Portrait Sharing
Inspire your child to draw a picture of themselves. Have them include friends or siblings. Expand the drawing by asking them to show themselves sharing.
Why it helps: Builds self-confidence and appreciation for differences.
Painting Together
Here is an easy and creative way to model sharing: Grab your painting supplies and a large sheet of paper. Decide together what you will paint, then start painting.
Ask them to “Pass you the red paint?” Also, share your tools with them. This type of activity helps “sharing” become a natural part of daily play.
Why it helps: Teaches sharing space and respecting others’ ideas.
Pass It Along
Sit in a circle with a soft ball or stuffed toy. Instead of passing with hands, invite children to pass it using their elbows, knees, or even balancing it together. It’s silly, but it gets everyone cooperating and working as a team.
Why it helps: Encourages cooperation and group problem-solving.
Move Together
Pick an animal and have everyone move like that animal around the room. Then, let the children take turns choosing what comes next, hopping like bunnies, stomping like elephants, or tiptoeing like cats.
Why it helps: Builds cooperation, listening skills, and turn-taking.
Teamwork Tower
Bring out blocks, cups, or cans, and invite children to work together to build one big tower. Children will need to take turns adding pieces, share ideas, and help each other as they build. If it falls, they can rebuild as a team and celebrate the effort they put in.
Why it helps: Fosters teamwork and resilience through play.
Social-Emotional Skills: Friendship
Having friends is important at any age. Everyone wants and needs friends. Some friendships last a season, and others a lifetime. Regardless, the value of friendship is priceless. It provides experiences and builds memories, which is why teaching kids about friendship is essential.
Making and keeping friends can sometimes be challenging for kids. Regularly discuss friends with your children. Ask them, “Who are your friends?” or “What do you like to do together?” Discuss “What makes a good friend,” and “How can they be good friends?”
To have a friend, you must be a friend. For example:
- If you are kind to others, they will be kind to you
- Friends play together and work together
- They are someone you enjoy spending time with
- Friends are kind, caring, and gentle
- A friend is a “pal” or a “buddy.”
- You can laugh or cry with a friend
- Friends make you feel special
Social-Emotional Activities For Toddlers and Preschoolers: Friendship
Discuss some of the keys to friendship. For example, friends should be respectful, kind, helpful, forgiving, generous, and patient. This means that your child needs to develop these valuable qualities as well.
Try out some of these easy social-emotional learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers.
What Is A Good Friend?
This is an easy activity that explores the concept of “What Makes a Good Friend?” Work with your kids to create a list of the qualities that they think make a good friend, such as someone who shares, is kind, or makes you laugh.
Once you have completed your list, have your kids draw pictures for each quality. Then, post the pictures somewhere as a reminder of “What makes a good friend?”
Why it helps: Teaches qualities of healthy friendships.
Please Pass The Ice Cream
Based on the book “Should I Share My Ice Cream?” by Mo Willems.
- Create cones from brown cardstock rolled into the shape of a cone, one for each player.
- Use a lightweight ball, such as a plastic softball, a foam ball, or a ball from a ball pit. Before you begin, ensure that the ball fits snugly inside the cone.
- Put the ball into one of the cones to represent the “ice cream.”
- Pass the “ice cream” from cone to cone, having each child share it with a friend. Encourage them to use “please” and “thank you” when sharing.
- For instance, one child asks, “Would you like to share my ice cream?” Another child answers, “Yes, please!” or “No, thank you!”
Why it helps: Encourages kindness and positive interactions.
Matching Game
This game is a fun way to introduce “new friends” and the concept of having more than one friend. Each child is given a magnetic wooden block. Make sure you have enough matching blocks so that every child will eventually find a partner.
Have the kids move around the room looking for their “friend,” the child with the matching block. Once they find their “buddy,” they click their blocks together, link arms, and stay together until everyone has a “pal.”
Why it helps: Builds memory and social awareness.
That’s Me!
Kids love this fun and interactive game. Create a circle. One child stands and calls out one thing about themselves, such as “I like apples” or “I have a pet.”
All the other children who agree, stand and shout, “That’s me!” The person who shared then chooses one of the kids who stood up to lead.
Why it helps: Builds connections and celebrates similarities.
Say Something Kind
Another circle game. Do you see a theme here? Circles have no beginning or end and are inherently inclusive. They are a great way to build community.
Have your kids form a circle. To start, have an adult toss a beach ball to one of the children and say something kind about them. When the child catches the ball, they toss it to another kid, saying something kind to them. Ensure that everyone has an opportunity to share something kind.
Why it helps: Promotes empathy and positive communication.
At the Zoo (or other familiar places)
Encourage your children to work together in their block play area to build a zoo!
- Prompt them with questions like, “When they went to the zoo, what did they see?”
- They can build enclosures for the animals.
- Get creative and use pieces of fabric or paper for water.
- Include natural elements like stones, leaves, and small trees to create habitats for animals.
- Add some books about the zoo, block play, people, animals, signs, and vehicles.
Why it helps: Encourages role play and cooperative imagination.
Easy social-emotional activities for preschoolers and toddlers are an exciting way to help children learn about their emotions, cooperation, sharing, and the importance of friendship. For more activities that support social-emotional development, check out our “Easy Social Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers” post.
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