Teaching emotions ESL doesn’t have to be stiff or scripted. With just a few playful tools and routines, you can help young learners express their feelings with confidence. Even if they’re still finding the words.
When kids are learning English as an additional language, expressing their emotions can feel particularly tricky. Especially when they don’t yet have the words. But with the right support, even simple daily moments can become rich opportunities for connection, regulation, and language growth.
In this post, you’ll find playful ideas and practical tips for teaching emotions ESL, along with ways to naturally integrate feelings ESL lesson ideas, emotions ESL activities, and emotion vocabulary ESL into your classroom. These strategies are designed with ESL feelings activities in mind, and work beautifully across Grades K–5.
No worksheets required.
This post is all about teaching emotions ESL.
Teaching Emotions ESL Through Movement and Play
When kids are still developing both language and self-awareness, physical play becomes a powerful way to explore emotions. These movement-based activities offer a natural, low-pressure space for children to experiment with feeling words and expressions. Without needing to speak fluently.
Use Emotion Charades and Facial Expressions
Young ESL learners often understand emotions through body language long before they master the vocabulary. That’s why movement-based activities are such a powerful entry point when teaching emotions in ESL settings.
One simple favorite is emotion charades. You or a student silently act out an emotion (e.g. excited, tired, angry, or proud) and the others guess what it is. It’s playful, low-pressure, and gives children a chance to connect feelings with physical expression. You can make it even more accessible by starting with familiar gestures or facial expressions.
It’s also helpful to gently remind students that there’s no one “correct” way to show a feeling. For example, someone who’s angry might stomp and shout, but they might also go quiet and pull away. Cultural background, personality, and past experiences all shape how we express emotions. This can be a beautiful opportunity to talk about how we all feel things differently, and how we can learn to recognize and respect that.
Even a short classroom conversation like “What might sad look like for different people?” or “Does happy always mean smiling?” can open up deeper understanding without needing perfect English to get there.
No materials needed; just your imagination, openness, and a little courage to get silly and curious with your learners.
If you’re looking for more inspiration for SEL activities, including tips to adapt for ESL learners, you should check out this post:
Try Emotion-Based Freeze Dance
For a high-energy class or a group that learns best through movement, emotion-based freeze dance can be a game-changer. It combines physical play with emotional expression, and it doesn’t require any materials; just music and a bit of space.
Start by playing music and having students dance freely. When you pause the music, call out an emotion—like nervous, proud, or frustrated—and everyone freezes in a pose that shows how that feeling might look. You can also let students suggest the next emotion, giving them more ownership of the activity.
This isn’t just a fun brain break: it’s a chance for kids to explore how emotions feel and move in their bodies. And just like with charades, you can normalize that feelings show up differently for different people. One child’s excited might be big arm waves and a huge grin, while another’s might be a quiet bounce on their toes. Both are valid.
To help multilingual learners connect language with feeling, consider repeating the emotion word after each freeze: “Great! That was your worried pose. Can we say worried together?”
You might even add home-language translations or gestures for extra support. It’s a simple, joyful way to build both language and empathy.
Teaching Emotions ESL with Visual Cues
When teaching emotions ESL, visual supports can be incredibly effective, especially for younger learners or those with limited vocabulary. These ESL feelings activities offer playful, low-pressure ways to explore emotion words and connect language with meaning.
Use Picture Cards, Emojis, or Book Characters
Visual cues are such a lifesaver when kids don’t yet have the words. You’ve probably had those moments: blank stares, fidgety silences, or the classic “I don’t know” shrug when you ask how a student feels. That’s where pictures can help take the pressure off.
Try using emotion cards, emojis, or even book characters with expressive faces. Ask: “What feeling do you think this is?” or “Have you ever felt like that?” There’s no right or wrong answer; it’s all about helping kids connect what’s inside with something they can see and name. And to build awareness and curiosity around emotional expression.
You don’t need fancy materials here. Hand-drawn faces or magazine cut-outs work just fine. But if you do want something ready to go, this body awareness printable can be a great support tool, especially if you’re helping ESL learners connect emotions to what they feel in their body.
Create an Emotion Wall or Feeling Chart
Creating a space in your classroom where emotions are visible and welcome can be a game-changer. An emotion wall or chart gives kids something concrete to reference and revisit throughout the day, almost like a visual pause button for emotional check-ins.
You can start simple: a handful of basic feeling faces and words pinned to a board or posted near the door. Invite students to move a clothespin with their name to show how they’re feeling, or to choose a card that reflects their mood. It doesn’t have to be fancy or color-coordinated. (Though if that’s your thing—go wild!)
What matters most is that the space invites honesty and makes room for nuance. You can include feelings in multiple languages, or encourage kids to add their own home-language labels. A chart that includes blij, triste, müde, or zangwe is more than just multilingual. It’s a message: all parts of you are welcome here.
It’s also a beautiful conversation starter: “Has anyone ever felt this way but didn’t know the word for it in English?” Suddenly, your wall becomes more than just a tool: it’s a tiny act of belonging.
Emotion Vocabulary ESL: Helping Kids Find the Words
Teaching emotions ESL isn’t just about understanding what angry or tired looks like; it’s also about helping kids find the words to name what they feel. And for multilingual learners, that can be tricky. Feelings words often come later than colors, animals, or actions, and they can feel abstract or hard to translate. But with just a few simple routines, you can gently build emotional vocabulary into your day in a way that feels natural. Not like you’re sneaking in a grammar lesson.
Introduce Simple Feeling Words in Daily Routines
One of the easiest ways to teach feelings words is to work them into the flow of the day. Instead of setting aside a separate “feelings lesson,” try anchoring vocabulary to familiar routines.
For example, start the day with a quick check-in:
“Good morning! How do you feel today?”
(Cue five different versions of “happy.”)
You can scaffold the responses by giving students a few options to point to or say: “happy,” “hungry,” “a little nervous,” “I don’t know.” Repeating these words daily (without pressure to get it “right”) helps the language settle in naturally.
You can even play with gestures or colors to represent each word, or let students use home-language support to connect with meaning. A child might say a word in their home language first, then repeat the English version after hearing it later.
Sometimes just hearing you say, “It’s okay not to know how you feel yet,” is a powerful moment of modeling in itself.
Build Confidence When Teaching Emotions ESL with Sentence Starters
We don’t expect kids to master a whole new feeling vocabulary overnight—especially not in a second or third language. But with repetition and the right scaffolding, emotional language can become something they reach for with confidence, not hesitation.
One way to do this is by introducing simple sentence starters like:
“I feel ___ because ___.”
“Sometimes I feel ___ when ___.”
“Today I am ___.”
Even if students can’t fill in the blanks yet, just hearing those frames day after day helps the structure settle in. You can model responses out loud and encourage them to copy you or respond in their home language first. From there, you can gently repeat the feeling word in English, without correcting or over-explaining.
For students who are nervous to speak, consider call-and-response games, drawing activities, or even letting them whisper their answers into a partner’s ear. Emotional expression doesn’t have to mean full-group speaking time. (Unless your group is particularly enthusiastic, in which case: carry on, brave soul!)
Repetition in a safe, low-pressure environment builds both language and trust. And when kids know there’s no wrong way to feel (or say how they feel) they’re much more likely to try.
Feelings ESL Lesson Ideas That Don’t Require Worksheets
There’s nothing wrong with a good worksheet, but when it comes to emotional expression, sometimes the most meaningful moments happen when the paper stays tucked away. These feelings ESL lesson ideas are low-prep, low-pressure, and designed to fit naturally into the rhythm of your classroom. Whether you’re starting the day, winding down, or following a student’s emotional lead.
Use Storytelling and Drawing to Explore Emotions
Books are one of the best ways to help children explore feelings, especially when you pause mid-story to ask, “How do you think she feels right now?” or “Why do you think he’s so quiet here?” It invites empathy, even before vocabulary has caught up.
Afterward, you can give students space to draw their own version of the character’s feeling, or to make up a face of someone who might feel that way. You’ll often see more emotional depth than you expect—sometimes in bright marker scribbles, sometimes in tiny details like eyebrows or posture.
You don’t need a formal lesson plan here—just curiosity, a few open-ended questions, and a willingness to slow the story down.
Add Emotion Words to Songs or Greetings
Sometimes the simplest classroom routines are the most powerful. Daily greetings, morning circles, or end-of-day songs can all be gentle spaces for introducing emotion words, without needing anything extra.
For example, try turning your morning hello into an emotion check-in:
“Good morning! How are you feeling today?”
“I’m feeling… sleepy!” (bonus points for a good yawn and stretch)
You can repeat the response as a class or act it out together. Over time, kids start to anticipate the pattern, and even the quieter learners may surprise you by joining in when they’re ready.
If your class uses songs or chants, slip in a few emotion words that match your current focus. Something like:
“If you’re feeling happy, wave your hands…”
“If you’re feeling nervous, take a deep breath…”
The rhythm helps the vocabulary stick and the movement makes it fun.
Remember, it’s okay if students use their home language first, or mix the two. What matters most is that they feel invited to show up as they are. The English will come. But the trust, the safety, and the joy of expression? That starts right now 🙂
Final Thoughts on Teaching Emotions in ESL
Supporting emotional expression in an ESL classroom isn’t about perfect vocabulary or polished grammar. It’s about connection. When kids feel safe to share what’s going on inside, even in simple ways, their confidence grows right alongside their language skills.
Whether you’re using charades, daily check-ins, or emotion walls, these small moments add up. And when you make space for home language, varied expressions, and emotional nuance, you’re not just teaching feelings…you’re honoring your students’ full identities.
So take a breath, start where you are, and know that your presence, your curiosity, and your care already make a difference.
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