Teaching Kids About Emotions: 21 Fascinating Facts

When we focus on teaching kids about emotions, we give them tools they’ll use for the rest of their lives. Wondering where to start? These 21 fascinating facts are the perfect place…

Emotions! We feel them every single day — they’re so familiar, yet somehow still annoyingly complicated.

And for kids, emotions aren’t generally gentle visitors… they’re full-blown parades:
🎉 Confetti-explosion joy.
💥 Firework frustration.
🌧️ Sudden downpours of sadness.

That’s exactly why helping kids make sense of their feelings matters so much. There’s a lot we can teach them — and a lot researchers have discovered.

Although emotional psychology is still evolving, scientists have learned so much about what emotions are, why we have them, and how we can understand them better. When kids learn even a little of this early on, they gain self-awareness, confidence, and emotional tools they can carry through life.

In this guide, we’ll explore what kids should know about emotions – the big ideas, the surprising science, and the things deep-thinking psychologists have uncovered.

Teaching kids about emotions is so important. So, here’s 21 things every child should know about emotions…

(Are you teaching kids about emotions and need some helpful printables? Then don’t miss the Crazy Beautiful Play Kit — it’s packed with fun, easy tools to support emotional learning 👇)

Teaching Kids About Emotions: 21 Things Every Child Should Know

1. Emotions aren’t just in the mind — they affect our whole body

Emotions are a mind-body experience. They influence our energy, posture, behavior, and even our long-term health.

2. All emotions are valid

Some emotions feel wonderful, some feel awful — but every one has a purpose and brings an important message. None are “bad” – it’s just some are harder to sit with.

3. You can feel more than one emotion at the same time

Kids often think emotions work like on/off switches — but in fact they’re more like layers. You can feel excited and nervous, angry and sad, grateful and disappointed.

(Want a colorful way to help kids learn how their feelings are layered and changable? Learn how you can do a Mandala Emotions Activity For Kids here.)

4. Hiding emotions might seem easier… but it can actually stress the body

We can mask how we feel, but regularly bottling emotions increases stress. Even holding back for something as small as a sad scene in a film, can raise our heart rate. Letting ourselves express emotions in healthy ways — whether it’s laughing, talking, crying or creating — is much better for our overall well-being.

5. Naming your emotions helps calm them

Dan Siegel calls this “name it to tame it.”
When a child can say “I’m frustrated” or “I’m overwhelmed,” the emotion often becomes less intense — because the brain shifts from reacting to understanding.

6. There are two main groups of emotions: basic and complex

Basic emotions show up fast and clearly. Complex ones are layered and trickier.

7. Basic emotions are universal — even if psychologists disagree on the exact number

Different researchers list different “core” emotions:

Paul Ekman felt we have six – happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust (though he couldn’t resist adding a few more later on!)
Robert Plutchik felt we have eight eight – joy and sadness, anger and fear, trust and disgust, and surprise and anticipation. He even kindly arranged them in opposite pairs and placed them on a color wheel (simplified emotional color wheels are a great visual for children)
Some psychologists argue there may be as few as four

But despite these disagreements, researchers agree on this: there is a core set of basic emotions which humans across cultures can recognize in facial expressions, instantly. That’s why emojis work so well! 🙂 😵 🤣

8. Complex emotions are combinations of basic ones

Love, guilt, jealousy, embarrassment — these emotional “mixtures” look and feel different for everyone. Complex emotions are complicated, not as easy to recognize and they don’t always have recognizable facial expressions – in fact, some don’t have a facial expression at all.

(Emotion cards are a wonderful way to help kids explore and understand their feelings. Don’t have any? You’re welcome to grab my free printable set pictured below – it’s part of the Crazy Beautiful Therapeutic Play Kit.)

Set of 9 printable emotions cards for kids to support emotional intelligence activities

9. Sometimes our emotions don’t have names — and that’s normal

The Japanese (and several other cultures) create new emotion-words to capture feelings we don’t have labels for.

So for instance, you know that warm, gentle feeling you get with a nostalgic memory, that’s sort of happy but yet sort of sad all at the once? Well, the Japanese call that ‘Natsukashii’. Or what about that“so-cute-I-could-squeeze-it” feeling? That’s‘Gigil’ in Filipino.

10. Emotions, feelings, and moods are different

Emotions: are fast reactions to something that matters. They involve three things at once — 1. What we feel inside after something has happened. 2. How our body reacts (racing heart, tight stomach). 3. How we show it on the outside (facial expression, tone of voice, or actions).

Feelings: are how we interpret those emotions. They are the label we decide to give them. For example, “I feel rejected,” or “I feel ignored.” Feelings are shaped by past experiences, beliefs, memories. So, if you’ve felt overlooked before, the feeling might land stronger.

Moods: are softer emotional “weather patterns” that last longer and don’t always have a clear cause. When you feel angry because someone insulted you – that’s an emotion. But you can also just “be in an angry mood” without knowing why. This helps kids understand why they might “feel off” without knowing why.

11. Emotions show up physically

Racing heart, heavy chest, butterflies, shaky hands — these are automatic signals that your body is responding to something important or threatening. It’s the same system that prepares us to fight, run, or freeze when something feels threatening.

12. Emotions come out in our behaviour

Smiling, frowning, snapping, stomping, hiding, laughing, letting out a sigh — these are our emotional “signals”. They are what emotions look like on the outside. They can differ depending on personality and culture and they let others know how we’re feeling.

13. Breathing can calm big emotions

Slow breathing tells the brain, “I’m safe,” which helps feelings settle. This is why breathing exercises are powerful tools for kids.

(Looking for simple breathing techniques to use? Check out these 7 Best Breathing Strategies For Kids)

14. We can’t choose our emotions, but we can choose our reactions

This is the cornerstone of teaching kids about emotions: emotional regulation. Feeling anger is natural. Throwing a chair is optional.

(Here’s further research explaining how children can learn to manage their emotions.)

15. Big experiences create big emotional mixtures — and every person feels them differently

Two kids can experience the same event but feel completely different things. Knowing this helps children understand that complex emotions aren’t universal — they’re personal. Emotions can even vary in their intensity:

• Feeling annoyed is like a tiny spark — feeling furious is the full fire.
• A little worried feels different from feeling really scared.
• You can feel a bit happy… or bursting-with-joy happy!

**16. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is understanding emotions in ourselves and others**

EQ helps kids notice, understand, and respond to feelings. Its a study that has grown over the years – and it’s not just for children. It’s promoted in many walks of life, such as business and relationship coaching, as it is recognised as a key to improving happiness, friendships, work relationships and success rates.

(Want to help your child build emotional intelligence using play therapy-inspired methods? Take a look at How To Teach Kids Emotional Intelligence: 6 Play Therapy-Inspired Techniques)

17. Most researchers agree EQ can be strengthened

Like a muscle, emotional intelligence grows with:

guidance
practice
reflection
conversations about feelings
healthy modelling by adults

Great news for kids: you’re not stuck with the EQ you’re born with.

18. EQ may matter more for success than IQ

Psychologist Daniel Goleman argues that EQ plays a huge role in our successes — sometimes even more than raw intelligence.

19. Emotions helped humans survive

Fear kept our ancestors alive. Anger protected boundaries. Joy bonded communities. Excitement pushed us to explore. Emotions are part of our survival toolkit. According to Ekman, “It would be very dangerous if we didn’t have emotions. It would also be a very dull life. Because, basically, our emotions drive us — excitement, pleasure, even anger.”

20. Colours can influence our emotions — and vice versa

Warm colours energize, cool colours soothe, and some people “feel in colours.” Kids often naturally express emotions this way (e.g., “I feel grey today”). It’s another great tool for emotional literacy.

21. No emotion lasts forever — all feelings pass

When teaching kids about emotions, this is one of the most comforting truths they can learn. Emotions rise, peak, and fade like waves. Even the biggest feelings don’t stay big forever.

(Want an effective and fun way to help kids grasp this? Learn How To Do The Feelings Hotel: A Creative Emotional Check-In for Kids here.)

Final Thoughts: Teaching Kids About Emotions

Teaching kids about emotions isn’t about preventing difficult feelings — it’s about giving them the tools to understand what’s happening inside them.

When kids learn emotional literacy, they learn how to:

make sense of their inner world
express themselves safely
navigate friendships
calm their nervous system
build confidence, resilience, and empathy

It’s one of the greatest gifts we can give them.

Want more practical tools and ideas you can use to support your child’s emotional growth? Then don’t miss this…

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:

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Child drawing faces showing different emotions with crayons to learn about feelings — teaching kids about emotions activity pin for Pinterest

Image credit: Oksana Latysheva from Oksanavectorart/Canva

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