Educator Guide: Kit Has Feelings (Book 4)
Free to use in your classroom. The matching Family Activities booklet is on the Educator Resources page.
At a Glance
| Ages | Series One, Ages 2 to 4 |
| Theme | Naming feelings in yourself and reading them on other faces |
| Core lesson | When you know how someone feels, you can help them better. |
| Read-aloud time | 5 to 7 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. |
| Send home | The Family Activities sheet for this book |
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 one face at a time and slows down at the quiet one, giving small the same weight as the loud ones.
Circle Time Discussion
Read it first. Show the cover and ask what Kit's face is doing. Before page one, teach the group the book's running joke: Kit keeps trying to fix Mia's crying, and every try ends with "Is Mia happy?", so practice a big "NO!" with a head shake, and tell them the question changes on the last page. When Mia's cup goes TIP, SPLASH, cry like Mia together, one big Waaaah. In the garage, clap three times with Kit, then three LOUDER claps for the POP. At the new cup, the silly dance, and the beanie, ask "Is Mia happy?" and let the NO! get bigger each time. When Sparks covers her ears, cover yours. When Bao arrives, point to the heart on his vest and tell them to listen for his one question. At Mr. Gomez, let the group guess hungry along with Kit, then look at the picture of his face and make a frustrated face, Grrr. At the dog walker, ask "What do YOU think?" and take the silliest faces in the room. At the fountain, stop. Let a small face be very quiet for a slow count of three. When Bao says HAPPY, everybody makes the big one. Run with Kit by patting knees fast, then freeze on "What if I get it wrong?" and say Bao's answer together: "Then you look again." At "Kit sits down next to Mia," sit down too, make the sad face, and let the group hear the Sniff. On the last page, jump up with Kit and shout "I feel EXCITED!" Then go around the circle once with "I feel..." and take any answer, including none.
Keep the question going all week. Any time a child shows a face, the room asks "How does she feel?" and looks before it guesses. On Friday the group shares the week's Weather Chart, you ask "Is Kit happy?" one last time, and the room gets to shout "NO! EXCITED!" and jump up.
- Kit gave Mia a new cup, did a silly dance, and put his beanie on her. Was Mia happy? [If no words: shake your head and let them copy the NO.]
- Kit thought Mr. Gomez was hungry. Bao said to look at his face. What does frustrated look like? [If no words: make it together and hold it. Grrr.]
- The girl could not reach the fountain, and Kit said she felt small. Have you felt small? [If no words: make a small, quiet face and let them make one back.]
- Kit sat down next to Mia and made a sad face. What did Mia do? [If no words: sniff once and let them sniff back.]
- At the end Kit's heart went BUMP, BUMP, and he said "I feel EXCITED!" What does excited do to your body? [If no words: offer a jump or a wiggle and let them pick one.]
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, and the grown-up points to theirs too.
Materials: none. A body-outline poster helps but is 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, and let a child pick the next one. To end, everyone runs with Kit, knees patting fast, then sits down next to a neighbor like Kit sat next to Mia, makes the sad face, and does one Sniff. That is how the group lands.
Say this: "Think about mad. Put your hand where mad lives in your body. Mine is right here in my jaw."
Adapt it: Younger: copy your placement, then find their own. Ready for more: describe the spot, hot, tight, or fluttery. Mobility: a child who cannot reach the spot points with one finger or tells you where to put your hand. Language: a child whose home language is not English answers in it; you say the idea back in English and keep their word.
Look for: a child who picks 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 and make one small thing from it.
Materials: paper, crayons, and playdough on the table before you start. Small parts: keep dough pieces larger than a toilet paper tube opening in rooms with children under three, with an adult seated at the table.
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, the way Kit claps Sparks awake, 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. A hard lump or a heavy scribble is a real product, so let it be what it is. Every piece goes on the Six Faces wall with the feeling word under it, and the wall is what the group reads on Friday.
Say this: "Feel it. Name it. Make it. Now show me the thing your feeling made."
Adapt it: Younger: skip the pointing and squeeze the dough. Ready for more: ask what the feeling would look like smaller. Mobility: a child with limited hand strength uses a crayon on a clipboard or directs you as you shape the dough. Language: the child says the feeling word in any language; you write it under the piece in both.
Look for: a child who uses 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 looks first, then names it, then mirrors it back, which is Bao's move: look at the face before you guess. A wrong guess is fine; say Bao's line, "Then you look again," and the statue holds one more count. Trade every turn. End with Sparks: everyone tries all six faces at once, and the faces get stuck until a partner names one.
Say this: "Freeze it. Hold it like a statue. Partner, look at the face. What feeling is that? Now make it too."
Adapt it: Younger: work with an adult and pick from three faces you show first. Ready for more: add surprised and proud from the Feeling Faces activity page. Mobility: a child with limited facial movement shows the feeling with hands and shoulders, and the partner mirrors the whole body. Language: the partner names the feeling in any language or points to the matching face in the book.
Look for: a child who names 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, take three slow breaths that shrink the cloud smaller, smaller, smallest, then name the feeling.
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. Then each child whispers the feeling that is left. Take your own visible turn and name your cloud, because the page says storms visit everybody. When the last whisper is done, say "Kit jumps up," and everyone jumps up and shouts "I feel EXCITED!" Quiet, then loud, then back to the rug.
Say this: "Hand on your tummy. Feel it puff up. Now breathe the cloud smaller, smaller, smallest."
Adapt it: Younger: one breath instead of three. Ready for more: start the breaths yourself when a cloud is coming. Mobility: this works as written from a chair or a mat. Language: a child with limited language shows a thumb for a small cloud and wide arms for a big one.
Look for: a child who reaches for cloud breaths alone, later in the week, during a real upset.
Weather Report
The book has children give a morning forecast of their inside weather, then report again later to discover the weather moved.
Materials: a Weather 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 morning circle from Tuesday on, not at arrival or dismissal. Report a second time at closing 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 a forecast is a report, not a repair. Take a photo of the chart each day or mark the cards on a strip, so by Friday the chart shows the week. On Friday, read the week back and ask whose weather moved, then ask "Is Kit happy?" one last time. NO! EXCITED! Everyone jumps up.
Say this: "Today I am mostly sunny with one grumpy cloud. What is your weather?"
Adapt it: Younger: point to a symbol instead of speaking. Ready for more: say what changed the weather. Mobility: the child chooses while an adult moves the card. Language: the child points to the symbol and says the weather word in any language; you say the English word back.
Look for: a child who notices 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, and ends on a feeling so small it needs a magnifying glass.
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 go quiet like the girl at the fountain, pass the magnifying glass, and hunt for a feeling so small it needs the glass. Whoever finds one gets the big HAPPY face from the whole group, Bao's big one.
Say this: "Show me how big your happy is right now. Arms wide, or just this much? Both are real."
Adapt it: Younger: use only big and small. Ready for more: size the same feeling for today and yesterday. Mobility: a child with limited arm movement nods while you move your hands from wide to pinched and stops you at the right size. Language: the child shows the size with hands and you say the feeling word in English and in theirs.
Look for: a child who gives 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's 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 without help 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 what they do in response, such as sitting down next to a crying friend.
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 unbreakable mirror and a sippy cup so children can replay Kit and Mia.
- Outdoors: Play Feeling Freeze, running like Kit and freezing in a face for the feeling you call.
Family Connection
This week we read Kit Has Feelings, the fourth of the Kit's Little Sparks STEM books, and we made six faces, shouted "Is Mia happy? NO!", and looked at a face before we guessed. Your child is bringing home the Family Activities sheet for this book. Make the faces at a mirror together, and next time a real face shows up, look first, name it, then wait.
Next in the Series
Book 5, Kit Draws an Idea, starts at the clothesline, where Kit counts Mia's wet shirts, one, two, three, and a SPLASH from the kitchen makes four. Her cup is still tippy. Sparks glows as bright as a flashlight and says, "Ideas start on paper." Bridge activity: draw the tippy cup, then draw one idea that might stop the splash.