☹ STEM Emotion Activity ☺

Here is a fun, hands-on science experiment that is helpful to explain and show the different intensities of our emotions.

Sometimes our emotions are small and manageable,  but sometimes our emotions feel huge, overwhelming and uncontrollable, and this is when they spill out, just like in our experiment, but sometimes not in the best of ways.

You’ll need some kitchen roll tubes or toilet roll tubes,

Baking powder

Food colour

Vinegar

Water

A pen

A tray or tub

You’ll cut the carboard tubes and chat to your wee one about what different faces/emotions/feeling you’d like to put on them.

This is a great chance to use a mirror to make different emotion faces, discuss things that make you feel each way, names for different emotions and do some mark making to see your childs interpretation of their different emotions.

Place the carboard tube faces into the tray, and add some baking powder (the more you add, the bigger your results will be!) and some food colouring.  Another great opportunity to discuss the link between different colours and emotions and feeling, and which colour they would like to add to which face.   Remember there are no right or wrong answers to this, it just helps build your childs level and add another dimension of understanding of their varying emotions!  Why not even mix different food colours to see what happens!

Then, you’ll add a mix of vinegar and water, and watch the overspilling emotions!!  Was the anger REALLY overflowing?  Or maybe just a little spill of worry?  Was there a big bit of happy, or just small?

A fun, play based way to show how our feelings come in waves, sometimes intense and overspilling, uncontrollable, and sometimes in small doses. 

You can use some of the other materials on the blog to discuss with your child, ways to manage overspilling emotions, such as mindfulness and calm-down strategies.

Big hugs!  Sarah 😊 x