Emotion Motion

Topic
- Identity & emotions
Learning skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy & social awareness
- Communication & expression
Activity type
- Group discussion
- Teambuilding game
Materials
- Basic
- Self-made
Age
- 0 - 5 years
- 6 - 11 years
- 12 - 14 years
- 15 - 17 years
- 18+ years
5 - 15 minutes
2 - 4 players
Easy
Medium
Medium (classroom, square)

Contributors

Mobile School

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Everything you need to play this game

1 spinning wheel with different emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Love, Confusion, etc.)
1 set of emotion activity cards (linked to each emotion)
Moodboard, pictures or flashcards showing real-life situations (optional)
Basic craft materials (cardboard, markers, scissors, glue)

Make it yourself

Step 1

Emotion wheel

Prepare the base:

Take a round or square piece of cardboard as your wheel.

Divide it into sections:

Draw lines to divide the wheel into 6 equal parts.

Assign a color and emotion to each part, for example:

💛 Yellow – Joy
💙 Blue – Sadness
❤️ Red – Anger
💜 Purple – Love
🖤 Black – Fear
💚 Green – Confusion

Add a spinner:

Attach a spinning arrow in the center so it can rotate freely and point to one emotion.

Label each section clearly with the emotion word and a small drawing (e.g., a smile for joy, a tear for sadness).

Step 2

Emotion activity cards

Prepare the base:

Take a rectangular piece of cardboard and divide it into six equal parts.

Activities:

For each emotion you add one activity the teams can do:

💛 Joy - Dance battle
💙 Sadness - Act it out
❤️ Anger - Ropeway
💜 Love - Heart challenge
🖤 Scared - Hide and Seek
💚 Confusion - Guess and act

Good job!

A step-by-step guide to play the game

One player spins the wheel to discover which emotion the round will focus on.

All players act out the emotion together — for example, pretending to be sad, happy, or angry.

Then, they share in their own words:

When do you feel that way?
Can you think of something that makes you feel this emotion?
You can also use picture cards/moodboard: children point to pictures that match the feeling.

Each emotion has its own mini-game or activity:

Joy - Dance Battle: Teams dance — the best performance wins 1 point.
Sadness - Act It Out: Players show sadness with facial expressions or body language.
Anger - Ropeway: A quick, physical game to express and release energy. The fastest or most controlled team wins.
Scared - Hide and Seek: The team that hides or finds others fastest earns a point.
Love - Heart Challenge: Teams form a heart shape together using their bodies — first team finished wins.
Confusion - Guess & Act: One player acts out something (e.g., “football player”), others guess.

Each challenge is worth 1 point.

The first team to reach 5 points wins the game!

Extra game information

The goal of Emotion Motion is to help children:

Recognize and name different emotions
Express their feelings safely through movement and play
Build empathy and connection with others

The game works well with children aged 4 and up — but adults can join, too!

This game concept was developed during a StreetwiZe leadership expedition with Telenet in a refugee center in Lanaken, Belgium.

Variations

Solo play: Children can play individually and reflect on their emotions.
Add new emotions: Include more complex feelings like pride, jealousy, or calm.
Creative challenge: Have kids invent their own mini-game for each emotion.
Storytime version: After each emotion, create a short story involving that feeling.

What people said about this game

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