COVID-19 PACKAGE - Emotions • Four Situations

This activity is a part of the COVID-19 package. The package aims to give youth workers the tools to discuss the consequences of the pandemic with their target group. The COVID-19 overview panel is the starting point for all the discussions. After playing the overview panel, extra activities on the seven different topics are available to dive deeper into the matter. 

This panel shows four situations linked to the four basic emotions that can be found on the 'Tell me how you feel'-panel. These emotions can be interpreted against the background of a pandemic. For example:

1. Sick old man, his wife is very sad (= sadness)
2. A fight between two people (living too close to each other) (= anger)
3. Child walks the dog of a neighbour and gets a reward (= happy)
4. Child being caught or arrested (= afraid)

A pandemic undoubtedly has short-term and long-term effects on children's wellbeing. However, the best way to help kids cope with crisis is to teach them to recognize, understand and manage their emotions. Therefore, these activities about expressing emotions are crucial. They can help the kids to alleviate emotional stress, improve concentration, boost their immune system and enhance brain development.

• Link the panel to the COVID-19 Overview Panel and ask the children how different characters feel on the panel. What is the reason for their positive or negative emotion?
• Colored circles: draw a big blank circle in the middle of a square or field. Next to the circle, draw four colored circles. Each of these four colored circles will represent one of the four basic emotions as described above. All players gather in the centre, in the blank circle. Read a situation out loud linked to the pandemic. The players jump or run to one of the colored circles, depending on which emotion they would link to this particular situation. Discuss afterwards why the players have chosen their circle.

• Learn to name emotions and link them to specific situations