Free Printable Feelings Chart Templates [Toddlers, Kids, Adults] / PDF

Identifying our emotions and feelings is an important part of self-awareness and mental health. However, pinpointing and articulating exact emotions can be difficult, especially for young children. Using a feeling chart provides a visual aid for recognizing different human feelings across the spectrum. With images and words representing various emotions, feeling charts help expand children’s emotional intelligence. To help kids and adults alike better understand their inner world, we’ve compiled some useful, free printable feeling charts.

These PDF and Word feeling charts illustrate a wide range of familiar emotions through pictures and terminology. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, counselor, or looking for your own emotional toolkit, these charts are valuable references to have on hand. In this guide, we’ll explore different informative feeling charts and how to effectively use them for identifying and expressing emotions. Let’s get started building emotional awareness!

What Is a Feeling Chart?

A feeling chart is a visual tool used to help identify and express different human emotions. Feeling charts display a spectrum of emotions through images, colors, and descriptive words. Simple feeling charts may show just basic emotions like happy, sad, angry, while more complex charts expand into broader feelings like frustration, jealousy, pride, etc. The illustrations and terminology on a feeling chart help children and adults put a name to emotions they are experiencing.

Using feeling words and facial expressions, feeling charts encourage emotional awareness and intelligence. They provide a concrete reference for recognizing sensations and articulating them to others. Feeling charts are commonly used by teachers, parents, counselors, and mental health professionals to promote psychological wellbeing. Having access to a feeling chart helps build the emotional vocabulary and self-understanding necessary for mental health.

Feelings Chart Templates

A feelings chart template is a tool used to help children identify and express their emotions. The template features a grid with various feeling words and corresponding emoji faces.

The top row includes basic feelings like happy, sad, angry, scared, and tired. The next rows become more nuanced with feelings like frustrated, proud, lonely, loved, and confused. There are columns for positive, negative, and neutral feelings. This helps kids categorize them.

Teachers often laminate the feelings chart and have students point to or move clip art magnets to the feelings they are experiencing. At home, parents can go through the chart with a child and have them identify how they feel. It helps them build emotional awareness and vocabulary.

The feelings chart template works for a wide age range. Simple for young students yet detailed enough for upper elementary. Teachers often print them poster size for classrooms. At home, they may be letter sized for kids to keep in their rooms or on the fridge for quick reminders about expressing emotions appropriately.

Importance of Feeling Charts

Feeling charts, often utilized in therapeutic, educational, and personal growth contexts, are tools that help individuals identify and express their emotions. They can range from simple illustrations with a few facial expressions to more complex charts that list a broad range of feelings. Understanding the importance of feeling charts requires delving into their functions and applications in various settings:

1. Emotional Literacy: Feeling charts foster emotional literacy by giving names to emotions, allowing individuals to differentiate between various feelings. By understanding these nuances, a person can better articulate their experiences and respond appropriately to their emotional states.
2. Validating Emotions: For many, especially children, seeing an emotion represented visually can be affirming. It provides validation that their feelings are real, recognized, and shared by others.
3. Emotional Regulation: Recognizing and naming emotions is the first step to effectively managing them. Once identified, strategies like deep breathing, positive self-talk, or seeking support can be employed to handle challenging emotions.
4. Enhanced Communication: Expressing emotions can be challenging. Feeling charts provide a reference point, making it easier for individuals to convey their emotional states to others, whether it’s between a child and parent, student and teacher, or therapist and client.
5. Therapeutic Applications: Therapists often use feeling charts with clients, especially those who struggle with emotional expression. By pinpointing emotions, therapists can understand underlying issues, triggers, and patterns more clearly, leading to more effective interventions.
6. Developmental Tool for Children: Kids are still learning about their emotions and how to articulate them. Feeling charts, especially those with illustrations, are excellent aids in teaching children about the vast array of emotions they might experience.
7. Promotes Self-awareness: Regular use of a feeling chart can lead to heightened self-awareness. Over time, an individual can notice patterns in their emotional responses, enabling proactive management of emotional triggers.
8. Supports Healthy Relationships: By fostering improved communication and understanding, feeling charts can aid in resolving conflicts and promoting empathy in relationships.
9. Reduces Stigma: Discussing and acknowledging emotions can help in breaking down societal stigmas around feelings, especially those perceived as negative or weak.
10. Aids in Trauma Recovery: Trauma can lead to disconnection from one’s emotions. Feeling charts can act as a bridge, helping individuals reconnect with their feelings and facilitating healing.
11. Cultural & Linguistic Applications: Emotions are universal, but not every culture or language has words for all feelings. Feeling charts, especially those that are diverse and inclusive, can bridge this gap.
12. Guided Reflection: In educational settings, feeling charts can be used to guide students in reflecting on their feelings about particular experiences, promoting deeper introspection and personal growth.
13. Supports Mental Health: Recognizing and addressing emotions can play a crucial role in mental well-being. Feeling charts provide a structured way to engage with one’s emotional landscape, potentially preventing escalation of negative feelings or even mental health crises.

Which Emotions Are Most Commonly Found On A Feelings Chart?

A feelings chart is often designed to assist individuals in recognizing and naming their emotions. While the specific emotions to include might vary depending on the target audience (e.g., children vs. adults), the following provides a comprehensive overview of primary feelings often found on such charts:

1. Happy: This is a positive emotional state and can range from contentment to intense joy. It’s the emotion people often aim to experience the most in their lives.
2. Sad: This emotion often comes from experiencing a loss or disappointment. It can range from feeling a little down to profound grief.
3. Angry: This emotion can result from frustration, feeling wronged, or facing injustice. It’s essential to differentiate between feeling angry and acting aggressively.
4. Fear: This emotion arises from perceived threats or dangers. It can be a primal reaction (e.g., to physical danger) or more complex (e.g., fear of failure).
5. Surprised: This is a brief emotion that comes from encountering the unexpected. It can be positive (pleasant surprise) or negative (shock).
6. Disgusted: This emotion often arises from an adverse reaction to something considered repulsive, whether it’s related to taste, sight, or a moral judgment.
7. Confident: Feeling self-assured and trusting in one’s abilities or qualities. It often results from positive reinforcement and past successes.
8. Embarrassed: This emotion arises when one perceives oneself to have acted in a socially unacceptable manner, leading to a sense of exposure or awkwardness.
9. Jealous: Stemming from the fear of losing something or someone of value, or from envy over someone else’s possessions or qualities.
10. Anxious: A feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe. It often relates to uncertainty about future events.
11. Bored: A state of weariness and dissatisfaction stemming from a lack of interest or excitement.
12. Overwhelmed: The feeling of being unable to cope due to the sheer amount or intensity of things or emotions one is experiencing.
13. Grateful: A warm feeling of thankfulness towards someone or something.
14. Lonely: A complex and usually unpleasant emotional response to isolation or lack of companionship.
15. Hopeful: Optimism about future events or the outcome of something.
16. Guilty: A feeling of having done wrong, either morally, legally, or personally.
17. Calm: A state of peace and quietude, often following the resolution of challenging emotions or situations.
18. Loved: Feeling cherished and cared for by someone else.
19. Frustrated: Feeling upset or annoyed because of inability to change or achieve something.
20. Curious: A strong desire to learn or know something.

Feelings Charts For Adults

Let’s delve into the details of several feelings charts that are printable and suitable for adults. These charts aid in the process of emotional identification and articulation.

Smiley-face Feelings Guide

This chart is simplistic yet powerful, reminiscent of the charts used for children, but adjusted for an adult audience. At a glance, one can identify emotions ranging from joy to sadness using various smiley-face graphics. Although seemingly basic, these visuals can evoke immediate recognition, making it an accessible tool for those new to emotional exploration. It’s especially beneficial for quick check-ins with oneself or during therapy sessions.

Degrees of Emotion

Rather than just identifying the primary emotion, the Degrees of Emotion chart goes deeper into the intensity of the feeling. This gradient-style chart helps individuals discern between being slightly irritated and absolutely furious, or between being mildly content and exuberantly joyful. It’s an invaluable tool for nuanced emotional understanding, allowing for a more precise emotional response and management.

The Emotions Wheel

The Emotions Wheel, sometimes known as the Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions, is a comprehensive tool that arranges emotions in a circular format. Starting with basic emotions at the center, it branches out to more nuanced feelings as one moves outward. By identifying a core emotion and moving outward on the wheel, individuals can pinpoint the specific shade of their feeling. This wheel is particularly valuable for those aiming to enhance emotional literacy.

Anger Ladder Chart

Anger is a complex emotion with many underlying layers. The Anger Ladder Chart breaks down the progression of anger from its mildest to its most intense form. Starting with feelings like irritation, it climbs up to frustration, resentment, and finally to fury. By visualizing anger as a ladder, individuals can identify which rung they are on, facilitating better anger management and communication.

Emotions Spectrum

Envision a color spectrum, but instead of colors, it’s filled with emotions. This chart presents feelings as a continuum, blending into one another, highlighting the interconnectedness of our emotional experiences. It’s a vivid tool that draws attention to the subtleties between emotions, such as the thin line separating contentment from joy.

Body Sensation Map

Sometimes, emotions are felt more tangibly in the body than in the mind. This chart provides a silhouette of a human body, with markers indicating where one might feel specific emotions, like butterflies in the stomach for nervousness or a heavy chest for sadness. This map is instrumental for those looking to understand the physical manifestations of their feelings.

Mood Meter

Imagine a quadrant system where emotions are plotted based on their energy and pleasantness. The Mood Meter does precisely that, helping individuals discern where their current feeling lies on axes of energy and valence. It’s a structured approach, ideal for those who appreciate analytical methods in understanding their emotional state.

Emotional Landscape

A more artistic representation, the Emotional Landscape chart uses visual metaphors like stormy seas for turbulent emotions or sunny meadows for joy. This chart is excellent for those who resonate with visual imagery, providing a rich tapestry of emotions depicted through familiar scenes.

Daily Emotion Tracker

This chart is designed for regular check-ins. Each day, users can mark their dominant emotion, allowing them to observe patterns over time. It’s a wonderful tool for those looking to track the impact of lifestyle changes on their emotional well-being.

Cultural Emotions Chart

Emotions aren’t experienced in isolation; they’re influenced by cultural backgrounds. This chart brings attention to emotions that might be more prevalent or specifically named in different cultures. It’s an excellent tool for broadening one’s emotional vocabulary and understanding diverse emotional experiences.

Emotions Vocabulary List

While not a visual chart in the traditional sense, this list provides a lexicon of emotions, helping individuals expand their emotional vocabulary. It’s especially useful for writers or therapists seeking diverse ways to express or identify feelings.

Conflict Resolution Chart

Specifically designed for moments of tension or disagreement, this chart aids individuals in identifying the underlying emotions behind their reactions. Recognizing these emotions is the first step towards healthy communication and conflict resolution.

Relationships Emotion Map

This chart centers on emotions specifically tied to interpersonal relationships. Whether it’s love, resentment, admiration, or jealousy, this tool helps individuals navigate the complex web of feelings related to their connections with others.

Emotions Pyramid

Inspired by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the Emotions Pyramid categorizes emotions based on their complexity and depth. Foundational feelings lie at the base, with more intricate, layered emotions at the top, guiding users through a journey of self-exploration.

Emotions Checklist

A straightforward tool, this chart lists various emotions with checkboxes beside each. It’s designed for daily use, allowing individuals to quickly mark off emotions they’re experiencing, providing clarity and aiding in emotional regulation.

Introspection Guide

More of an interactive tool, the Introspection Guide provides prompts that lead individuals through the process of identifying, understanding, and reflecting upon their emotions. It’s akin to a self-led therapy session on paper.

How Do You Use Feeling Charts?

Understanding our emotions is key to overall wellbeing. However, it can be difficult to accurately identify what we’re feeling in the moment. This is where feeling charts come in handy! Feeling charts are visual tools that help map out the range of human emotions through images and words. Using feeling charts is straightforward with just a few key steps:

Step 1: Selecting the Right Chart

Begin by choosing a feelings chart that aligns with your current objective. Are you exploring your feelings for the first time? A basic Smiley-face Feelings Guide may be perfect. But if you’re diving into deeper emotional introspection, something like the Emotions Wheel might be more fitting. Your choice also depends on your preference for visual aids, lists, or interactive tools. For example, Sarah, who’s new to therapy, might start with a simple chart with basic emotions. Over time, as she becomes more comfortable, her therapist could introduce more complex charts to help her articulate subtler emotions.

Step 2: Familiarize Yourself with the Chart

Spend some time understanding the emotions represented on the chart. Some charts will have straightforward labels, while others might use imagery or gradients. Familiarization will help you use the chart more efficiently in real-time. For instance, David, upon receiving an Emotions Spectrum chart, takes an evening to study it. He reviews each emotion and even looks up definitions for feelings he’s unfamiliar with, ensuring he truly grasps the spectrum of emotions on his chart.

Step 3: Check-In Regularly

Set aside specific times to check in with yourself using the chart. This could be during moments of intense emotion, at a specific time each day, or during therapy sessions. Regular check-ins help in recognizing patterns and triggers over time. For example, Emily uses her Daily Emotion Tracker every evening. She reflects on the predominant emotion she felt that day and marks it. Over weeks, she starts noticing patterns, such as increased anxiety on Sundays as she anticipates the upcoming workweek.

Step 4: Articulate and Record

Upon identifying an emotion, articulate it. Speak it out loud or write it down. If you’re using an interactive chart, mark or color the emotion you identify with. Recording these emotions can be beneficial for tracking emotional patterns and triggers. For instance, after a disagreement with his partner, Raj consults his Conflict Resolution Chart. He identifies “hurt” as his primary emotion and writes in his journal about the specifics of the situation that led to that feeling.

Step 5: Reflect on the Cause

Once you’ve identified and articulated the emotion, delve deeper to understand its cause. Was it a specific event? A memory? A physical sensation? This step is crucial for emotional intelligence and effective management. Let’s consider Maya, who feels consistent sadness during her mid-afternoon work breaks. By reflecting, she realizes it’s because she misses her recently deceased pet, with whom she’d spend these breaks.

Step 6: Explore Coping Mechanisms

After identifying and understanding the emotion, think of how you can cope with or address it. This might involve seeking support, practicing mindfulness, or implementing problem-solving strategies. For example, Alex uses his Emotion Ladder Chart and identifies that he’s feeling frustrated. Instead of lashing out, he takes a walk to clear his head and later discusses his feelings with a close friend.

Step 7: Revisit and Adjust

As you evolve and your emotional understanding deepens, your feelings chart might need adjustments. You might graduate from a basic chart to a more complex one or find that a different style suits you better. Anna, for instance, started with a Body Sensation Map but later felt that the Emotions Wheel was a better fit for her evolving emotional awareness.

Step 8: Share and Discuss (Optional)

If you’re comfortable, share your insights with trusted individuals – this could be a therapist, a close friend, or a family member. Their perspective might offer additional insights. After consistently feeling “overwhelmed,” John shares his feelings with his partner using his Emotions Vocabulary List. His partner offers comfort and suggests they work together on managing household tasks, revealing a source of his stress.

How to Create Your Own Feeling Chart?

Creating your own feelings chart is a personalized way to understand, articulate, and navigate your emotions. Crafting a chart that speaks to your unique emotional landscape can be a transformative tool. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create one:

Step 1: Identify the Purpose

Determine why you’re creating this chart. Are you trying to track daily emotions, navigate complex feelings, or manage specific events like conflict or stress? Knowing your purpose will shape the structure and content of your chart. For example, Jake, a school teacher, wants to create a chart to help him navigate and express the daily stresses of teaching. His chart would be oriented towards emotions related to his work environment.

Step 2: Research Existing Charts

Before crafting your own, take a look at existing charts to draw inspiration. This can give you an idea of format, style, and the range of emotions you might want to include. For instance, Leah, inspired by the Emotions Wheel she saw online, decides to create her own, tailored to include feelings specific to her experiences as a new mother.

Step 3: List Out Emotions

Jot down emotions you frequently experience or wish to track. Be authentic and don’t limit yourself. It’s okay if your list is long; it can be refined later. For example, after going through a breakup, Carlos lists out emotions like sadness, nostalgia, anger, hope, confusion, and relief. This exercise helps him realize the complexity of his feelings.

Step 4: Organize and Categorize

Depending on the number of emotions and the structure you want, you can group similar emotions together. For instance, ‘elated’, ‘happy’, and ‘content’ could fall under a broader ‘Joy’ category. Sophia, who’s creating a chart to navigate her anxiety, categorizes emotions under ‘Triggers’, ‘Symptoms’, and ‘Coping States’.

Step 5: Choose a Visual Format

Decide how you want to present these emotions. Some prefer a list, while others lean towards visual representations like wheels, spectrums, or pyramids. Visual aids can make the chart more intuitive. For example, Martin, a graphic designer, crafts an emotions spectrum using a gradient of colors, where each color corresponds to a specific emotion.

Step 6: Add Descriptions or Prompts (Optional)

This is particularly useful if you’re delving into nuanced emotions. By adding a brief description or a prompt, you make the chart more insightful. For instance, alongside the emotion ‘Resentful’, Priya adds a prompt: “What unmet expectation is causing this feeling?”

Step 7: Design and Create

Using paper, digital tools, or any medium you’re comfortable with, design your chart. It should be aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Mia, for instance, uses an online design tool to create a circular emotions wheel, prints it out, and places it in her journal for daily check-ins.

Step 8: Test and Refine

Spend a week using your chart. You might find that certain emotions are redundant, while others are missing. Adjust based on your experience. After using his chart during therapy sessions, Omar realizes he often feels ‘defensive’, an emotion he initially missed. He adds it to his chart.

Step 9: Place in a Visible/Accessible Location

For maximum benefit, ensure your chart is somewhere you can easily see or access it. This encourages regular engagement. Nina, trying to better communicate with her partner, places her feelings chart on the fridge, making it a reference point during discussions.

Step 10: Review Periodically

As you evolve, so might your emotional landscape. Revisit your chart every few months to ensure it remains relevant. After starting a new job, Aisha revises her chart to incorporate feelings related to professional growth and workplace dynamics.

Conclusion

With this diverse selection of free feeling charts, you now have helpful tools for understanding emotions better. Use these printable PDF and Word charts to boost emotional awareness in yourself, your students, your kids, or clients. Refer to them anytime you need help deciphering a feeling or putting words to your inner experiences. Whether you want to display these charts in your home, office, or classroom, they serve as valuable visual reminders of our human emotional spectrum. Keep several copies on hand to incorporate into lessons, counseling sessions, or daily reflections. Revisit this collection whenever you need to refresh your feeling vocabulary or print out new chart designs. These free feeling charts are just a click away whenever you need support on your emotional journey.

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