How to Play The Hide and Seek Emotions Game: A Fun Feelings Activity for Kids

If you’re looking for a playful emotional intelligence activity for kids, the Hide and Seek Emotions Game might just become your new favorite. It’s easy to set up, low-prep, and—even better—kids love it.

This activity strengthens emotional intelligence skills, such as self-awareness and naming feelings… all through a game they already know and enjoy.

Here’s a run-through of how to play, plus tips for maximizing emotional learning while keeping things fun.

(Ready to start hiding, seeking, and feeling… but don’t have any emotion cards? No worries! Grab your free printable feelings cards included in the Crazy Beautiful Play Kit below – you’ll be ready to play in minutes…👇)

Here’s What We’ll Cover

Here’s a quick guide to what we’ll cover – feel free to skip ahead or follow step by step.

Why The Hide and Seek Emotions Game Works for Kids

Children learn best when they’re engaged, curious, and moving their bodies. Hide and Seek Emotions taps into all of that while creating a gentle way to talk about feelings that might otherwise feel hard or intimidating.

This game:

• Normalizes all emotions (not just the “comfortable” ones)
• Helps children connect feelings with real-life situations
• Builds emotional vocabulary
• Encourages healthy sharing and self-expression
• Strengthens connection between child and adult
• Can be used in play therapy, classrooms, family time, or SEL Classes in school.

If you’re looking for an easy emotional-intelligence activity to try, this one is a gem.

What You’ll Need To Play The Hide and Seek Emotions Game

The beauty of this activity is that you can keep it very simple. Use whatever you already have on hand — no fancy materials required.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Emotion cards, pictures or symbols

Choose whichever option fits your home, classroom, or therapy space:

• Feelings cards
  If you don’t have any feelings or emotions cards, be sure to grab my free printable set pictured below. Just print and cut – and laminate if you’d like them to be extra sturdy.
• Emotion plushies or soft toys
  Perfect if you already own something like this — kids love the tactile element.
• Emotion stress balls
  Make your own by filling balloons with flour or play dough and drawing simple faces on them. These are a hit with sensory-seeking kids.
• Hand-drawn emotions on paper
  All you need is paper, colouring pens/markers, and scissors. Kids can draw the emotion faces themselves, which makes the activity even more engaging.

2. A room or small space to hide things in

Any space works — a living room, therapy room, or classroom.

Step-By-Step: How To Play the Hide and Seek Emotions Game

Step 1: Introduce and Explore the Emotions with Kids

Start by showing or creating the feelings together. This helps ensure kids understand the different emotions and builds emotional vocabulary.

Include the core emotions—happy, sad, angry, and scared/afraid—and add others such as excited, embarrassed, calm, worried, proud, or frustrated. Ask the child:

• “Which emotions should we add?”
• “What colour do you think ‘sad’ should be?”
• “How would you draw ‘angry’ so someone else could recognise it?”

Inviting their ideas boosts ownership and engagement right away.

Step 2: Hide the Emotion Cards or Toys Around the Room

Next for the fun part!

Let the child decide whether they want to hide or seek first. If they are hiding first, let them place the emotions around the room while you (truly!) close your eyes.

A helpful option:
Encourage the child to hide the emotion in a place you think the feeling would want to be.
This layer brings out incredible insight. For example:

• Worried hidden under a pile of pebbles — “When I’m worried, it all feels so heavy.”
• Embarrassed hidden behind a cushion — “Sometimes being embarrassed makes me want to hide.”
• Sad tucked under a blanket — “When I’m sad, I like to feel cozy.”

This simple twist deepens emotional reflection beautifully.

Then switch roles.

Step 3: Seek Emotions and Talk About Feeling

As the seeker looks around, let them make guesses:

• “Is angry behind the cushion?”
• “I think happy might be hiding near the window!”

When an emotion is found, pause for a gentle check-in:

• “Can you think of a time you felt this way recently?”
• “What helps you when you feel ___?”
• “What’s a safe way to let this feeling out?”

Adults can model this, too:

• “I felt annoyed yesterday when I was running late to meet a friend. I took deep breaths and that helped.”

This normalizes all emotions and shows children that grown-ups have difficult feelings too—and manage them safely.

Step 4: Switch Roles and Repeat the Game

Once all the emotions are found, switch roles and play again. You can even turn it into a family game, where each person hides or finds emotions. Kids love seeing parents or siblings play along, and it naturally reinforces emotional vocabulary in a relational way.

How This Hide and Seek Emotion Game Supports Emotional Intelligence

This Hide and Seek Emotions game works so well because it uses play — and play is one of the most effective ways children build emotional intelligence, as Kids First Services explains here. The Hide and Seek Emotions game builds emotional intelligence by:

• Strengthening self-awareness (“I know what I’m feeling and why”)
• Increasing emotional vocabulary (“I can name my feelings”)
• Practicing empathy (“Others feel this way, too”)
• Encouraging healthy expression (“This is what helps me when I feel ___”)
• Enhancing co-regulation and connection

In a world where children face so much change and uncertainty, activities like this help them feel seen, supported, and understood.

(If you’re looking for more simple, play-based ways to help your child understand and express their feelings, you might like my guide on teaching kids emotional intelligence with play-therapy-inspired techniques.)

Final Thoughts: A Simple Play-Based Game to Help Kids Express Emotions

This Hide and Seek Emotions game isn’t just an activity—it’s a bridge. A bridge to conversations, to connection, to understanding ourselves and each other a little better. Kids and young teens respond beautifully when emotions are made tangible, playful, and safe.

And truly… we need each other.💛
Taking time to build connection, is one of the most powerful supports we can offer children as they grow their emotional intelligence.

So, happy hiding, seeking, and feeling.

(Want even more simple, creative ways to help kids explore their emotions? Sign up below and get your free printable feelings cards—perfect for home, school, or therapy play.)

More on this topic…

If you found this helpful, you might want to explore other fun ways to help kids develop emotional intelligence, right here on the blog:

• How To Teach Kids Emotional Intelligence: 6 Play Therapy-Inspired Techniques
• How To Do The Feelings Hotel: A Creative Emotional Check-In for Kids
• How To Do a Mandala Emotions Activity For Kids
• The Magic of Guided Meditation for Kids: Discover Its Benefits
• 7 Best Breathing Strategies For Kids: How to Calm Stress
• Body Scan for Kids: The Magic Moonbeam (Free Script)

Pin to read later…

Don’t miss a thing…

Want to stay up to date? Sign up for the ‘Surviving the Crazy Beautiful’ newsletter here. Or join our communities on Pinterest or Facebook for the latest tips and support.