Curriculum Guide

Nurturing Emotional Intelligence Through Playful Learning

Social-Emotional Growth

-A Creative Curriculum

Designed for: Occupational Therapists, SEL Specialists, Teachers, and Home Educators
Age Range: Preschool to 3rd Grade
Languages: English / Spanish

Helping our children, students, and loved ones understand their emotions is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. When we create a safe, nurturing space where feelings are named, accepted, and expressed, we empower kids to relate to others with empathy and grow into emotionally intelligent adults.

These tools—whether a cozy pillow, a colorful rug, or a thoughtful book—are not just objects. They are invitations to connect, share, and build stronger relationships. By using these materials consistently, we help children learn that it’s okay to feel sad, excited, angry, or scared—and that each feeling matters.

When children learn the language of emotions, they begin to understand themselves and others. That understanding opens the door to compassion, communication, and confidence. These products use colorful emotion characters to promote social-emotional learning (SEL), self-regulation, bilingual vocabulary, and physical coordination. Each item can be integrated into therapeutic, classroom, or home settings to support whole-child development.

The Language of Emotions: Building Resilience Through Play

📘 Sticky Emotions Book + Activity Cards

Theme: Interactive sticker-based SEL workbook for exploring emotions in daily life
Includes: Sticky reusable character cards + 2 guided activities per emotion + bonus activities using scenes and sticker overlays

Target Skills:

Emotional recognition and sorting
Matching situations to feelings
Expressive storytelling using visual aids
Fine motor coordination (peeling/sticking)

Activities:

Scene Match: Place sticky characters onto illustrated scenes based on how each character might feel in that situation.
Build a Feeling Story: Use the sticky characters and write or say a short story about why the character feels that way.
What Would You Do?: Point to a scene and use the sticker character that fits. Ask, “What could help them feel better?”
Sort by Color: Place all stickers onto a mat by feeling zone (e.g., Red = Anger, Yellow = Joy).

📚 Ahvian the Creative Dreams Book

Theme: Emotions integrated into career exploration and aspirations
Characters: Finger puppet guides (Ahvian & Ahrya) introduce professions like Teacher, Dentist, Artist, Firefighter, Judge, and more — all while exploring feelings such as joy, fear, and determination.

Target Skills:

Emotional awareness through storytelling
Identity exploration & social roles
Career-based SEL
(What do I want to be?
How does it feel?)
Bilingual literacy support

Activities:

Read & Reflect: After reading each profession page, students answer: “How do you think this job makes people feel?”
Career Feeling Charades: Pick a career from the book and act it out with a matching emotion
Draw Your Dream Job: Include how you’d feel doing it — joy, nervousness, excitement, etc.
Role Play Corner: Use puppets or props to act out scenes with feelings in different careers

🧶 Social Emotional Learning Blanket

Design: Emotion zones and character scenes

Activities:

Scene Walk: Point to each emotion zone and ask, “What’s happening here?”
Emotion Connections: Match a real-life experience to one scene on the blanket.
Group Build-A-Story: Students choose one area and take turns creating a story about the characters in it.
Use with Sticky Cards: Place a sticky card character near the blanket scene and narrate the feeling.

🧩 5-Emotions Puzzle

Theme: Matching emotions and colors in English and Spanish (Bilingual)

Activities:

Find and Feel: Assemble the puzzle and say each emotion aloud.
Color + Emotion Game: Call a color; student finds and says emotion in both languages.
Emotion Scenarios: After building the puzzle, each child tells a story about a time they felt that way.
Sticky Combo: Use sticky cards on puzzle box scenes for storytelling or labeling.

5 Emotion
Finger Puppets Set

Characters: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Disgust
Material: Soft felt finger puppets with expressive embroidered faces
Language Support: English and Spanish labels

Target Skills:

Emotion role-play
Empathy-building
Bilingual expression
Turn-taking and communication

Activities:

🔹 Puppet Circle Talk: Each child wears a puppet and speaks “as the emotion.” Example: “I’m Anger. I feel hot when…”
🔹 Feelings Story Skits: Use puppets to reenact classroom scenarios and brainstorm how each emotion might respond.
🔹 Emotion Hide & Seek: Hide puppets around the room. When a child finds one, they act out that feeling.
🔹 Match the Moment: Children share a personal story and pick which puppet matched their reaction.

🛏️ Pillows & Calm-Down Corner Pillowcases

Theme: Cozy visuals with characters and scenes

Activities:

🔹Feeling Hug Time: Pick a pillow, name the feeling, and hug it while taking deep breaths.

🔹Emotion Toss: Toss a pillow; whoever catches it must say a situation that fits the emotion shown.

🔹Mindfulness Routine: Use pillows to teach breathwork and emotional reset.

🔹Quiet Corner Reset: Combine pillow, book, and rug zone for 5-minute calm-down moments.

🪑Bean Bag
Chair Cover – Emotional Galaxy

Theme: Colorful space to support calming and regulation

Activities:

🔹 Galaxy Breathing: Sit back and imagine floating through the emotions in color order (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple).

🔹 Color-Based Storytelling: “Tell me a story from the yellow part… what happened that made you feel joy?”

🔹 Movement + Sit: After a motor break, use the chair as the cool-down zone.

🏠Tufted
Floor Pillows

Theme: Emotions as large visual, tactile seating cues

Activities:

🔹 Emotion Stations: Place pillows in corners; rotate through them with expressions or scenarios.

🔹 Feelings Relay: Run to the pillow that matches how a story character feels.

🔹 Feelings Theater: Sit on a pillow and act out the emotion.

🔹 Sticky Card Match: Use sticky emotion characters as flashcards to find their matching pillow.

🌈Round
Emotion Rug

Theme: Interactive play with bilingual emotion labels

Activities:

🔹 Freeze Dance & Mimic: Move around the rug and freeze on emotion cue.

🔹 Feel + Move: Each color has a move: Red = stomp, Yellow = hop, Blue = curl, etc.

🔹 Rug Yoga Routine: Each section leads a calming pose.

🔹 Emotion Spinner: Use a spinner to pick a section and do the associated activity.

🔹 Group Circle Time: Share “I feel ___ when ___” while standing on a matching zone.

Assessment & Reflection

✔ Color Your Feeling: Children color an outline of the 5 characters to show which one matched their day.
✔ My Emotion Journal: Add a printable sheet for students to reflect:
“Today I felt ___ because ___.”
✔ Thumbs Up / Down / Middle: Quick, kid-friendly way to check comfort level after emotional discussions or activities.

Reflection Prompts:

“What did you learn about your feelings today?”
“How did someone else’s feelings help you understand your own?”
“Was there a time you felt calm after being upset? What helped?”

For more inspiration on how to bring these tools to life, watch this video and explore hands-on ideas to engage young learners with empathy, creativity, and joy.