The Feelings Cards for Kids are a free, printable PDF resource designed to help children recognise, understand, and talk about their emotions in a clear and engaging way. Each card displays a key feeling word such as happy, sad, angry, scared, worried, calm, shy, lonely, or proud, along with related words to expand a child’s emotional vocabulary.
These cards are an excellent addition to any social work toolkit, providing a simple but powerful way to support the voice of the child in direct work. They are equally valuable for use in classrooms, therapy sessions, and at home, helping children of all ages build the skills needed for emotional awareness, resilience, and self-regulation.
Why these cards are helpful:
Support children to identify, label, and express emotions
Encourage open conversations about feelings, worries, and behaviour
Strengthen communication between children and adults
Build self-awareness and emotional literacy through visual and language prompts
Provide a ready-to-use direct work resource for social workers and counsellors
Perfect for use in:
Schools – PSHE lessons, emotional literacy activities, and classroom calm corners
Social work & safeguarding – statutory visits, direct work, and voice of the child assessments
Therapy & counselling – supporting children with anxiety, anger, trauma, or social difficulties
At home – parents and carers helping children explore their feelings and behaviour
Whether used in one-to-one sessions or group activities, these emotions cards give children a safe, structured way to express what’s going on inside, making it easier for adults to understand and respond with empathy.
This is a simple, effective tool to support emotional literacy, direct work in social work, and children’s mental health. Perfect for teachers, parents, counsellors, and social workers.
