SEL Movement Game: What is Your Emoji?
In addition to offering programs that help students build SEL skills through dance, Dancing with Class has developed a series of movement games that any educator can use to reinforce SEL skills in a fun and active way. “What is Your Emoji?” is a self-awareness game that help students identify emotions.
What is Your Emoji?
SEL Competency: Self-Awareness > Identifying Emotions
Objective: To allow students to freely express their emotions through their motor skills using familiar emoji symbols.
Space: Open floor space large enough to form a circle
Equipment: Chalkboard, or yellow poster board with crayons/markers, glue and popsicle sticks.
Minimum Preparation: Draw 4 emojis on the chalkboard that represent happy, sad, OK, and mad and write the appropriate emotion next to each emoji.
Maximum Preparation: If you want to be more creative, cut out 4 large circles from yellow poster board or construction paper. On the back of each circle, write out one of the 4 emotions: happy, sad, OK, or mad. On the front of each circle (using crayons or markers) draw in the appropriate face to match the emotion written on the back. After you have created your “emoji,” take a large popsicle stick and glue it on the back of the circle being careful not to block the word. Let dry.
Follow the guidelines from the video.
Dance Game: What is Your Emoji?
Summary
- Have the students sit or stand in a circle.
- Each student walks to the middle of the circle and says Today, I am feeling (1 of the 4 emotions on board or from the handmade emojis). The student will then do a body movement that represents how they feel and repeat it.
- Every time a student demonstrates their movement, the class repeats that same movement back.
Tips
- If you have a larger class, then have 2 students express their feelings at the same time.
- Invite older students to provide one simple reason why they feel the way they do in addition to the movement. Example: today I feel OK because I came in 2nd place for the race that I wanted to win.
- If students are more comfortable in expressing their emotions, invite them to choose 2 emojis instead of 1.
More SEL Movement Games from Dancing with Class:
- Social Awareness: Mirrors
- Relationship Skills: May I Have This Dance?
- Self-Management: Don’t You Budge
- Responsible Decision Making: Super Dance Powers
Additional Resources
EduMotion: SEL Journeys – experiential learning for classrooms around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUBuFzrY4jE&feature=youtu.be
Also, check out some of our videos from our programs!