Educator Guide: Kit Has Feelings (Book 4)
Free to use in your classroom. The matching family activity sheet is on the Educator Resources page.
At a Glance
| Ages | Series One, Ages 2 to 4 |
| Theme | Naming feelings in yourself and reading them in other people |
| Core lesson | When you know how someone feels, you can help them better. |
| Read-aloud time | 6 to 8 minutes |
| Best group size | Whole group to read, 4 to 6 for activities |
| Staffing | Small groups assume a second adult covers the room. Alone, run one table with the other centers set out first. |
| Timing | Times are teaching time. Add five minutes for cleanup. |
Why This Book Matters
Between two and four, children move from having feelings to noticing they have them, and the words lag behind. A child who can only say mad or sad will act out the rest. This book widens the list gently and slows down at the quiet feeling, giving small the same weight as the loud ones.
Circle Time Discussion
Read it first. Tell children Bao asks one question over and over, so they should listen for it. At "Mia's juice tips over. SPLASH! Mia cries," ask how Mia feels, face first, then the word. At "The girl can't reach the fountain," Kit says she feels small, so sit with that quiet answer. Close by asking when each child last felt excited.
- Can you tell how someone feels by their face? [If no words: make two faces and let them point to the sad one.]
- What does frustrated look like? Everybody make a frustrated face. [If no words: this needs none. Make it together and hold it.]
- Kit felt excited and his heart went bump bump. What does your body do? [If no words: offer jumping or wiggling, and let them copy one.]
- The girl at the fountain felt small. What would have helped her? [If no words: hold up a step stool and a cup and let them choose.]
- Kit wanted to help his sister. What is one way to help somebody here? [If no words: offer fetching a tissue or holding a door, and let them act it out.]
The Six Activities, Adapted for the Classroom
Feeling Finder
The book has children name a feeling, then hunt for where it lives in the body.
Materials: none. A body-outline poster is useful but optional. Group: small group of 4 to 6, 10 minutes, while the rest of the class is at centers. How it runs: Name one feeling and give quiet time for every child to put a hand where they feel it, without commenting on the choice. Let each child say or show their spot, then add your own honestly, because the page says grown-up feelings hide in bodies too. Run three or four feelings, loud and quiet. Say this: "Think about mad. Put your hand where mad lives in your body. Mine is right here in my jaw." Adapt it: Younger children copy your placement, then find their own. Ready for more: describe the spot, hot, tight, or fluttery. A child with limited mobility or language points with one finger. A child whose home language is not English can answer in that language, and you repeat the idea back in English while keeping their word. Look for: choosing a different spot than the child beside them.
Feel It, Name It, Make It
The book has children chant the three steps, then walk today's biggest feeling through them.
Materials: paper, crayons, and playdough on the table before you start. Group: small group of 4 to 6, 15 minutes plus 5 for cleanup, while the rest of the class is at centers. How it runs: Chant the three steps twice with a clap on each so the sequence is in their bodies first. Each child points to where today's biggest feeling sits, says the word, then makes one small thing from it. Do not steer the making toward anything recognizable: a hard lump or a heavy scribble is a real product. Say this: "Feel it. Name it. Make it. Now show me the thing your feeling made." Adapt it: Younger children skip the pointing and squeeze dough. Ready for more: ask what the feeling would look like smaller. A child with limited hand strength uses crayon on a clipboard or directs you as you shape the dough. Look for: using the sequence unprompted, especially the naming step.
Feeling Faces
The book has one player freeze a feeling face like a statue while the other names it and mirrors it back.
Materials: an unbreakable hand mirror if you have one. Group: pairs, 8 minutes, all pairs at once while you circulate. How it runs: Partners sit knee to knee. One child freezes a feeling face and holds it for a slow count of three, because a flashed face is unreadable. The partner names it and mirrors it back, which is the empathy move inside the game. Trade every turn, then ask which face was hardest. Say this: "Freeze it. Hold it like a statue. Partner, what feeling is that? Now make it too." Adapt it: Younger children work with an adult and pick from three faces you demonstrate. Ready for more: add proud, shy, and surprised. A child with limited facial movement shows the feeling with hands and shoulders, and the partner mirrors the whole body. Look for: naming a feeling beyond happy, sad, and mad, with a mirrored face that matches.
Cloud Breaths
The book has children put a hand on the tummy and shrink the cloud smaller, smaller, smallest.
Materials: none. A cloud picture on the wall helps as an anchor. Group: whole group, 5 minutes. Teach it while everybody is calm and cue it later. Never run it on a child who is already flooded. How it runs: Everyone puts one flat hand on their tummy to feel it rise and fall, which is what makes this work at three. Lead three slow breaths, saying the words with each: smaller, smaller, smallest. Take your own visible turn and name your cloud, because the page says storms visit everybody. Say this: "Hand on your tummy. Feel it puff up. Now breathe the cloud smaller, smaller, smallest." Adapt it: Younger children take one breath instead of three. Ready for more: start this yourself when a cloud is coming. A child with limited language shows a thumb for a small cloud and wide arms for a big one. Look for: reaching for cloud breaths alone, later in the week, during a real upset.
Weather Report
The book has children forecast their inside weather and re-report later to see how it moved.
Materials: a chart with sun, cloud, rain, and storm symbols, plus one card per child with the name and a photo, because a two year old reads the photo. Group: whole group, 3 minutes at circle, not at arrival and dismissal. Report a second time at closing circle only if the day allows. How it runs: Children move their card to the matching symbol and say the forecast out loud, mixing symbols: mostly sunny with one grumpy cloud. Do not counsel anyone, just record it, because forecasting is not therapy. On the second run, ask whose weather moved. Say this: "Today I am mostly sunny with one grumpy cloud. What is your weather?" Adapt it: Younger children point to a symbol instead of speaking. Ready for more: what changed the weather? A child with limited mobility chooses while an adult moves the card. Look for: noticing without prompting that their own weather changed.
Big Feeling, Small Feeling
The book has children show each feeling's size with their hands, arms-wide happy to two-finger sad.
Materials: a magnifying glass for the ending. Group: whole group, 8 minutes. How it runs: Call a feeling and have everyone show its size, arms wide for huge and fingers pinched for tiny. Point out disagreements without settling them, because two children can honestly hold different sizes for one word. Say "Big Feeling, Small Feelings" together, then hunt for a feeling so small it needs the magnifying glass. Say this: "Show me how big your happy is right now. Arms wide, or just this much? Both are real." Adapt it: Younger children use only big and small. Ready for more: size the same feeling for today and yesterday. A child with limited arm movement nods while you move your hands from wide to pinched and stops you at the right size. Look for: giving a feeling a small size without treating small as unimportant.
Learning Standards
The table below cites three frameworks: the Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
| Framework | Element | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| NGSS Practice | Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information | Weather Report: a child posts their own forecast and later says how it changed. |
| NAEYC | 2.B Social and Emotional Development, recognizing emotions | Feeling Faces: a child names the feeling on a partner's frozen face and mirrors it. |
| NAEYC | 2.D Language Development, vocabulary | Feeling Finder: a child uses frustrated, silly, small, or excited about a real moment. |
| NAEYC | 2.B Social and Emotional Development, self-regulation | Cloud Breaths: a child takes three slow breaths and names the feeling left. |
| CASEL | Social Awareness | Big Feeling, Small Feeling: a child accepts that a friend's size differs. |
This title carries a light science and engineering load by design, so schedule it beside a building-heavy book.
About these frameworks
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): the accrediting body whose Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards define what a high-quality preschool curriculum covers. Standard 2, Curriculum, is the section directors document during accreditation, and the rows above name the topic area each activity supports.
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): the kindergarten through grade 12 science standards adopted by most states. Formal NGSS expectations begin at kindergarten, so this table cites only its Science and Engineering Practices, naming the precursor behaviors this book builds rather than grade-level performance expectations.
- Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): the research organization whose five social-emotional competencies most states use to define social-emotional learning. Naming them shows where each activity builds skills such as self-management, social awareness, or relationship skills.
Key Vocabulary
| Word | Child-Friendly Definition | Teacher Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Feeling | Something you feel inside | "There is a feeling in there. Let us name it." |
| Frustrated | Upset when something will not work | "You look frustrated. That zipper is winning." |
| Small | Feeling little next to something big | "She felt small. Have you felt small?" |
| Excited | A happy, jumpy feeling | "Your whole body is excited. I can see it." |
| Calm | Quiet and settled inside | "Three cloud breaths, then we talk." |
| Care | Wanting good things for someone else | "You noticed he was sad. That is caring." |
Watch For and Note
Emerging. The child joins the faces and motions but names only happy and sad. They may label any unpleasant feeling as mad.
Developing. The child names three or four feelings independently and matches them to simple situations. They begin noticing a classmate's face without being asked to.
Proficient. The child names a range of feelings in themselves and others, connects a feeling to its cause, and changes their behavior in response, such as fetching a tissue.
Center Extensions
- Blocks: When a tower falls, name the builder's feeling before rebuilding.
- Art: Offer paper and one crayon for the mark a feeling makes, scribbly or loopy.
- Dramatic play: Add a small mirror so children can practice reading faces in free play.
- Outdoors: Play Feeling Freeze, running and freezing in a pose for the feeling you call.
Family Connection
This week we read Kit Has Feelings, the fourth STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) book in the Kit's Little Sparks series, and practiced naming feelings in ourselves and in other people. Your child is bringing home the "Feeling Faces" mirror game sheet. Make the faces together: happy, sad, frustrated, excited, surprised, proud. Then ask about the faces around you.
Next in the Series
Book 5, Kit Draws an Idea, introduces Marco, a boy covered in marker smudges, who teaches Kit that a messy scribble is a real first step. Bridge activity: draw a feeling as a squiggle, then say it out loud.