Anger

• Materials: Happy Images (click here for link).
• Emotion Wheel

Anger Activity Instructions

These child-friendly illustrations, created using AI, are designed to show actions or social interactions that express anger and its many shades. The goal of this activity is to help children explore the deeper context of these emotions and practice putting them into words.

Exploring Core Emotions Under Anger
In this level, children are encouraged to identify and differ between basic feelings related to anger, helping build comfort with emotional language.

• Let Down – Sad and heavy inside when something you hoped for doesn’t happen.
• Humiliated – Small and exposed, like you want to hide.
• Bitter – Holding onto anger and sadness, like a bad taste that won’t go away.
• Mad – Heat rising inside you because something feels unfair or hurtful.
• Aggressive – Acting loud or forceful.
• Frustrated – Feeling stuck and tense when things aren’t going the way you want.
• Distant – Putting up a wall to keep feelings and people out.
• Critical – Pointing out everything that’s wrong.

Granular Emotions Under Anger
In this more advanced level, children are guided to use more specific and nuanced vocabulary to describe emotional experiences. Use the emotion wheel to help them explore and expand their vocabulary.

• Let Down
  • Betrayed – Broken trust.
  • Resentful – Holding onto anger.
• Humiliated
  • Disrespected – Being treated as less important.
  • Ridiculed – Being made fun of in a hurtful way.
• Bitter
  • Indignant – Feeling angry at unfairness.
  • Violated – Feeling harmed because someone crossed your boundaries.
• Mad
  • Furious – Anger boiling over inside of you.
  • Jealous – Longing for what someone else has and feeling bad about it.
• Aggressive
  • Provoked – Someone pushing your buttons, triggering your anger.
  • Hostile – Ready to attack or defend, seeing others as threats.
• Frustrated
  • Infuriated – Feeling like a fire is inside of you and you can barely hold it in.
  • Annoyed – Feeling like something is poking at you but not enough to make you lose control.
• Distant
  • Withdrawn – Pulling away from people and the world.
  • Numb – Feeling emotionally frozen inside, like you can’t feel much of anything.
• Critical
  • Skeptical – Questioning carefully.
  • Dismissive – Rejecting quickly or carelessly.

💬 How to Guide the Conversation

1. What emotions are the characters feeling?
   Encourage specific words that go beyond “happy.”

Example:

Girl: Proud, relieved, appreciated

Boy: Playful, cheerful, included

2. What do you think led them to feel this way? What “triggered” this emotion?
   Ask children to imagine what happened before the moment shown in the picture.

“Was there a celebration? Did someone do something kind for them?”

3. What thoughts do you think the characters are having?
   Encourage empathy and perspective-taking.

“What might they be thinking right now? How did they feel just before this?”
“What do you think they’ll feel or think after this moment?”

4. What would you do or say in this moment?
   Help children explore appropriate communication and connection.

“What could someone say to keep this happiness going?”
“What words might make this moment even more special?”

5. Don’t forget the background characters!
   Ask about people in the background. What are they doing? How are they feeling? Are they supporting the emotion or missing a chance to connect?