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Tap a face to see what the feeling means and get a question to talk about. Or let the chart pick one.
An educational aid to use with a therapist, teacher or parent. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose anything.
How to use the feelings chart
There are three ways to use it. Pick the one that fits the person in front of you.
- Feelings chart. Tap a face to see what the feeling means and get a question to talk about. Good for a quick check-in at the start of a session, or for building a feelings vocabulary.
- Random feeling game. Press "Pick a random feeling" and take turns: act it out, tell about a time you felt it, or say where you notice it in your body. It plays like feelings charades, and it is a gentle way into harder topics.
- Check-in. Five short steps: pick up to three feelings, rate how big each one is, mark where you notice it in your body, and choose something that might help. It ends with a card to print or copy.
Using it in a therapy session
- Open each session with a check-in, and compare the cards over a few weeks.
- When a client says "I'm fine" or "I don't know," ask them to point to a face instead.
- With kids, take turns picking a random feeling and telling a story about it. Go first yourself, so it feels like a game and not a test.
- Use the body step to talk about where stress shows up physically, before you teach a calming skill.
- Send the link as homework. Nothing is saved, so a client can use it at home without making an account.
Using it over telehealth
- Open this page before the session and choose Teens and adults or Kids.
- Share your screen and press Present mode, so only the chart shows, in large print.
- Ask the client to point to or name the face that fits, and tap it for them. Or send them the link so they can tap on their own device.
- At the end of a check-in, copy the summary as text if you want it for your notes. It is never sent to us.
Feelings chart for kids
The Kids setting shows twelve big faces with simple words: happy, excited, proud, calm, sad, lonely, angry, frustrated, worried, scared, surprised and tired. The check-in asks whether a feeling is small, medium or big instead of using a 1 to 10 scale. It suits children from about 4 to 10. Older kids often prefer the full chart.
Young children often know they feel bad before they can say which kind of bad. Pointing to a face gives them a way to answer, and naming the feeling out loud is a first step toward calming it.
Why naming feelings helps
Putting a feeling into words is called affect labeling. In a well-known study, people who named the emotion on a face showed less activity in the amygdala, the brain's alarm center, than people who did not (Lieberman and colleagues, 2007). A wider vocabulary for feelings also helps people tell "I am stressed" apart from "I am disappointed," and those two point to different kinds of help.
List of emotions
The chart groups feelings into nine families. Here are more emotion words in each family, for when none of the faces is quite right.
Happy
- joyful
- cheerful
- glad
- delighted
- excited
- proud
- grateful
- hopeful
- optimistic
- playful
- confident
- inspired
- loved
- satisfied
- relieved
- amused
Calm
- peaceful
- relaxed
- content
- safe
- secure
- settled
- comfortable
- centered
- rested
- patient
- accepted
- balanced
Sad
- unhappy
- down
- lonely
- hurt
- disappointed
- discouraged
- grieving
- heartbroken
- hopeless
- empty
- left out
- rejected
- homesick
- regretful
- gloomy
- helpless
Angry
- annoyed
- frustrated
- irritated
- grumpy
- resentful
- bitter
- furious
- jealous
- offended
- impatient
- defensive
- betrayed
- disrespected
- fed up
Afraid
- worried
- anxious
- nervous
- scared
- tense
- uneasy
- overwhelmed
- panicked
- insecure
- stressed
- vulnerable
- threatened
- on edge
- terrified
Surprised
- amazed
- startled
- shocked
- confused
- curious
- stunned
- unsure
- speechless
Ashamed
- embarrassed
- guilty
- humiliated
- self-conscious
- awkward
- not good enough
- exposed
- foolish
- regretful
- small
Disgusted
- grossed out
- repulsed
- disapproving
- appalled
- sickened
- turned off
Tired
- sleepy
- drained
- worn out
- bored
- numb
- restless
- burned out
- flat
Printable feelings chart (PDF)
The free PDF has four pages: the full feelings chart with 30 faces, a kids chart with 12 big faces, a blank check-in sheet with a body outline to color in, and the list of emotions. Print it for a classroom, an office wall or a client's fridge. It is free to print and share.
