Group Size: 1 to 25
Time Needed: 15 minutes plus time for discussion
Goal: To help participants learn to recognize and talk about feelings
Audience: Parents, Couples, Children, Teens, Singles
Special Considerations: Some adults may find this challenging. Facilitators should act out a feeling or two to make sure participants understand the directions and most importantly see that it is okay to be silly.
Resources Needed:
- Several different feelings/emotions written on small pieces of paper (e.g. angry, sad, frustrated, excited, happy, calm, worried, etc.)
- Basket to hold papers
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Divide group into two teams.
- Explain that the teams will be competing in a game of charades.
- Tell them instead of trying to guess a movie, song, or book, the teams will be trying to guess what feeling/emotion a participant is acting out.
- Remind participants that they cannot speak when acting out a feeling.
- Decide which team is going to go first.
- Have one person from that team draw a slip of paper and act out the feeling written on it.
- Allow his or her team 30 seconds to figure out the feeling. If they get it right they get a point. If they don’t, the other team gets one guess. If they get it right, they get a point. If neither team gets the right “feeling” then no points are awarded.
- Have teams take turns until all the papers have been used up.
- Total the points to see which team wins.
Tips for Discussion and Processing
Children and teens in particular love this activity, but it is very useful for adults too. A game of charades is a great way to introduce the topic of feelings. It also demonstrates the importance of non-verbal cues and how to identify these cues from others. After the activity, participants can discuss how hard it is to name feelings, express feelings, and recognize them in others.
Note: These activities can be modified to reflect a variety of skills.