I love this project.  It is so simple, but it really reveals a lot about what makes us all happy, sad, mad, overjoyed, etc…  (Any emotion you can name, you can use for this one!)  It can be a lot of fun (we laughed a lot when we pulled out our book we made years ago), but it can also be a starting point for having deeper conversations about the complex emotions that make up our lives.

Grab a stack of clean white paper, some pens or markers and crayons.  Sit around the table and pick an emotion.  (Let’s say happy!)  Everyone draws a picture on the paper of something (or some things) that make them happy.  There is no right or wrong answer.  It doesn’t have to be the thing that makes them happiest in the world.  Don’t overthink it.  Just go with whatever comes into your head when you think of being happy.  Don’t stress about the drawing.  It doesn’t have to hang in a museum.  Just do your best to get the thought out of your mind and onto the paper.  Try not to look at one another’s drawings until everyone is fiinished.  Then share and be amazed at what everyone come up with!

Pick another emotion (sad, scared, excited, hopeful, etc.) and repeat.  When you are finished, you can staple all the pages together to make an Emotions Book.  Use a piece of cardstock for the front and back covers.  Have someone decorate it and make Emotion-Word Chapter Pages in between each emotion.  Happy Chapter, Sad Chapter, Laugh Chapter, etc.  Be sure to date the back of the book, because this is a keeper.  It is a fun, simple way to make a record of the feelings of everyone in your family at a particular moment in time.

Hope you enjoy this idea from the Creative Family Idea Box!  See you tomorrow something new!

Love,
Mackenzie