World Emoji Day: Teaching emotions using emojis and emotion cards

These days, digital communication is becoming more and more common! EMOJIs play an important role in our digital communication, allowing us to express emotions quickly and effectively.

In order to use these emoticons well, children must be able to distinguish and understand emotions through emoticons, and furthermore, they must be able to express their emotions appropriately.

The Importance of Emotional Literacy

Emotional literacy refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and appropriately express emotions. In recent years, the importance of emotional literacy in child development has been increasingly recognized. This skill plays an important role in forming healthy relationships, improving mental health, and academic success.

Using EMOJI and emotion cards

Emojis can be a great tool for teaching emotional literacy because they are visually appealing and children can easily relate to them. Here are some ways parents and teachers can use emojis and expression cards in their daily lives:

1. Learn emotions with emoji cards

   Please introduce emoji cards that express various emotions. It would be a good idea to hold up a card and ask your child to name the emotion and, furthermore, to describe the situation when he or she felt that emotion.

   • Parent: [Showing emoticon] What card is this?
   • Child: Happy card!

2. Emotion matching game

Children can match emojis with various situations or emotions.

You can use it as an assignment!

• Teacher: [Show emoji] Shall we find the same emotion card?
• Student: [Match the sad emoji with the same face.]

3. Create a story using emojis

Give children the opportunity to tell stories using emojis. This activity not only improves your emotional expression but also improves your communication skills! If you know how to chat or text, why not practice a little bit every day in the family window?

😊😂😭😍More than just a fun way to communicate online, emojis are a valuable tool for teaching children about emotions. By using emojis and emotion cards in your everyday life, you can help your child develop essential emotional literacy skills.

I am making and using emotion cards, but it is not necessary to use emotion cards like this, and I think you can use various resources.

• Emotion Chart: You can create a chart with various emojis, find pictures related to those emotions, and tell a story about something that happened in the past.
• Books: Try explaining different emotions using children's books that feature different emotions. Or, it would be a good idea to use animation (there was INSIDE OUT that came out a while ago, right?) and connect with EMOJI to talk about it.
• Online Resources: You may want to find various educational websites or digital apps that focus on emotional learning and use them along with emoticons.