Guess How I Feel

Taking turns, one child stands in the middle and shows a feeling with the body only; the others guess how they feel and copy them. It builds reading how a classmate feels from face and posture.

How to play

1. Sitting in a circle, the teacher silently shows a feeling and asks: “How do I feel? What tells you?” (2 min).
2. Children point out the clues: mouth, eyes, shoulders, hands. Everyone copies the teacher's pose (2 min).
3. One by one, a child goes to the middle, the teacher whispers a feeling and the child shows it with their body (3 min).
4. The circle guesses and, once they get it, everyone stands and moves like their classmate for a moment (2 min).
5. The child in the middle says what makes them feel that way (for example, “I'm happy when I play at the park”) (2 min).
6. End with a rain-sound round of applause for everyone who took a turn (1 min).

Rules

• I watch my friend closely.
• I raise my hand to guess.
• I don't laugh at the friend in the middle: all feelings are okay.

Variations

Adaptations

• Autism: allow going up with a support card or with the teacher; never force a turn.
• Visual impairment: the child may feel a classmate's face and shoulders, with permission, to guess.
• Hearing loss: give the child in the middle the feeling on a card instead of whispering.

Learning goals

• Recognize feelings in another person's face and posture.
• Express a feeling without words.
• Listen to and respect how a classmate feels.

Teacher tip

Always ask “what tells you?”: it makes them look at the body instead of just guessing. With a big group, run two circles with an adult each so the waits stay short.

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