Prompt Library

Big Feelings — for K–2

Twelve simple, developmentally tuned prompts for the youngest students. Shorter than the rest of the libraries. Pitched at the language a five-, six-, or seven-year-old can actually hold. Built to lean on the Sandstories Feelings figures kids may already recognize from Inside Out.

12 prompts K–2 (approx. ages 5–8) Print-friendly

Before you begin

Children between ages five and eight are doing the developmental work of moving from having emotions to being able to name them, and from naming them to being able to act on them with intention (Saarni, 1999; Siegel & Bryson, 2011). The tray is unusually well suited to this work because it lets the child point to a feeling rather than have to describe one — which is a much harder cognitive task at this age.

A note on Zones of Regulation

If your school uses Zones of Regulation (Kuypers, 2011) — the blue / green / yellow / red color-coding system — these prompts pair with it naturally. Where prompts ask about color, that is the entry point for Zones-aligned vocabulary the student is already learning in their classroom.

Naming what's here

1. Pick the feeling for right now

Naming · Ages 5+
"Pick a feeling figure that's closest to how you feel right now. There's no wrong one. You can pick more than one if you need to."
What to watch for Many K–2 students will pick more than one — that's developmentally appropriate, not confused. A student who says "I feel everything" or "I don't know which one" is communicating clearly; honor it. Save the screenshot. This becomes a quick check-in you can repeat at the start of any future session.
Emotion vocabulary development (Saarni, 1999); RULER framework / Mood Meter (Brackett, 2019).

2. Where the feeling lives in your body

Body · Ages 5+
"Where in your body do you feel that feeling? Point to it. Then build a tiny scene that shows what it looks like in there."
What to watch for Young children are surprisingly precise about body locations. "It's in my tummy. It's a hot ball." The act of pointing builds interoceptive awareness, which is the foundation of regulation at every age. The build can be simple — one figure, a swirl in the sand. That's enough.
Interoception in early childhood (Murphy, Brewer, Catmur, & Bird, 2017); Whole-Brain Child "name it to tame it" (Siegel & Bryson, 2011).

3. The size of the feeling today

Scaling · Ages 5+
"Is your feeling big like a giant, medium like a dog, or small like a mouse? Find a figure that's the right size and put it in the tray."
What to watch for Concrete scaling. Younger children can't reliably do 0–10 feeling scales, but they can do giant/dog/mouse. Save the figure choice each session — across weeks, you'll see the size shift, and that becomes data the child and family can both see.
Developmental scaling in young children (Kovács, Téglás, & Endress, 2010); Solution-Focused scaling adapted for young ages (Berg & Steiner, 2003).

4. The color of the feeling

Color · Ages 5+
"If your feeling had a color, what color would it be? Show me with your hands what color the sand should be where it lives."
What to watch for Lets you bring in the digging/coloring tools of the tray to make the feeling visible. Pairs cleanly with Zones of Regulation if your school uses that vocabulary. Notice if a child reaches for surprising colors — pink for sadness, gray for anger. Don't correct. Their internal map is the right one.
Zones of Regulation (Kuypers, 2011); art-based emotion expression (Malchiodi, 2015).

Two feelings can be true

5. Two feelings at once

Both/and · Ages 6+
"Sometimes we have two feelings at the same time. Like sad and okay. Or excited and scared. Pick two feeling figures that are both true today and put them in the tray together."
What to watch for One of the most important developmental moves a young child makes — recognizing that more than one feeling can live inside them at once. Often produces relief: "I can be sad about Grandma AND happy about my birthday?" Yes. Build the both/and explicitly.
Differentiation of self / both/and tolerance (Bowen, 1978); developmental cognitive complexity (Harter, 2012).

6. The feeling that's louder vs. the feeling that's quieter

Layered · Ages 6+
"Sometimes one feeling is loud and another one is quiet. Pick the loud one. Then pick the quiet one underneath it. Put them in the tray, with the loud one in front and the quiet one behind."
What to watch for Especially useful for kids whose anger is loud and whose sadness or fear is underneath. The build doesn't require them to talk about it — just to show it. The image of "what's underneath the loud one" is often more accurate than what an adult could elicit through questioning.
Primary vs. secondary emotion (Greenberg, 2011); developmentally adapted emotion-focused work (Greenberg & Goldman, 2019).

Big feelings need places to go

7. A place where the feeling can be

Containment · Ages 5+
"Build a place where your big feeling can go and be — without anyone being mad about it. A field. A cave. The ocean. Anywhere it has space to be big."
What to watch for Permission. Many young children carry the message that their big feelings are too much for the adults around them — so the feelings get suppressed, then explode. This prompt directly contradicts that message: there is a place where your feeling is welcome. Save the screenshot — the child can return to this image when feelings are big at home or school.
Containment imagery in EMDR resource installation (Korn & Leeds, 2002); Whole-Brain Child connection-before-correction (Siegel & Bryson, 2011).

8. What helps the feeling get smaller

Coping · Ages 5+
"When your feeling is too big, what helps it get smaller? A hug? A song? A snack? Build a scene of the helper — the thing that makes the feeling come down to a regular size."
What to watch for Builds the personalized regulation list. Concrete helpers are more useful than abstract strategies. My mom's lap. The blue blanket. Counting the windows. Bear (the stuffed one). Write them on a sticky note for the family — these are the levers a parent or teacher can actually pull.
Behavioral activation for emotion regulation (Greenberg & Goldman, 2019); attachment-based co-regulation (Powell, Cooper, Hoffman, & Marvin, 2014).

Helpers and helpers' helpers

9. Who helps when the feeling is too big?

Co-regulation · Ages 5+
"When the feeling is too big to handle by yourself, who helps? Build them in the tray. A grown-up, a sister, a pet, a teacher. Whoever it is."
What to watch for Maps the child's actual support network. For most K–2 students, the answer is one or two specific people. If a child can't name anyone, that gap is the most important clinical finding of the session — and the work is to help the child find or build that figure (in real life, with you, with the family).
Polyvagal co-regulation (Dana, 2018); attachment as the central regulatory mechanism (Bowlby, 1988; Schore, 2003).

10. After the feeling moves through

Feelings come and go · Ages 5+
"Big feelings don't stay forever. They come, they're big, and then they get smaller. Build a scene of after — when the big feeling has passed by. What's there now?"
What to watch for Installs the developmental truth that emotions are temporary. For kids whose worst feelings have felt unending, the imagined "after" is itself an intervention. The build often surfaces softer emotions — tired, calm, hungry, ready to play. Validate that those count too.
Emotion regulation as time-limited cycle (Gross, 2015); window of tolerance integration (Siegel, 2012).

Daily check-ins

11. Build your safe place

Resourcing · Ages 5+
"Build a place where you feel safe. Anywhere. Real or made up. Pick figures that go there with you. Take your time."
What to watch for The classic safe-place intervention adapted for the youngest tray clients. Save the screenshot. The image becomes a regulation tool the child can return to verbally ("remember the cloud island?") when big feelings show up at home or school. Share the image with the family if appropriate.
Safe place / calm place protocol (Shapiro, 2018, EMDR); attachment-informed resource installation (Korn & Leeds, 2002).

12. Three feelings: morning, lunch, end of day

Daily check-in · Ages 6+
"Pick three feeling figures: how you felt this morning, how you felt at lunch, how you feel right now. Put them in a row."
What to watch for Builds the meta-skill of noticing that feelings change across a day. For kids stuck in "the whole day was bad," the row of three figures often reveals that one part went better than they remembered. Use as the close of any session. Pairs with the 15-Minute Tier 2 Protocol.
RULER framework Mood Meter for elementary (Brackett, 2019); narrative temporality adapted for early childhood (Engel, 1999).

For school counselors specifically

The post-incident K–2 session. A kindergartner sent to your office after a meltdown does not need a discussion of what they did wrong. They need co-regulation first, then maybe one or two prompts. Lead with #2 (where the feeling lives in your body) and #11 (build your safe place) — both regulating, both gentle. Save the analytic stuff for never; it's not developmentally appropriate at this age.

Whole-class guidance. Several of these prompts adapt to a whole-class lesson with a small physical sandtray (or with each student getting paper and crayons). Particularly #1 (pick the feeling for today) as a Monday morning routine. The visual of every kid placing a feeling becomes a class-wide emotional barometer.

Loop the family in. When you find the regulation helpers in #8 or the support figures in #9, share them with the family — discreetly and respectfully. "In our session today, [child] said hugs from you and the blue blanket help when feelings get big. I'm passing that along in case it's useful." The intervention scales when the family knows the lever.

Refer when needed. Persistent, intense, or unsafe big feelings in young children sometimes signal underlying ADHD, sensory processing differences, trauma, or developmental concerns that exceed brief school counseling. Maintain a referral list of pediatric mental health providers, OTs, and developmental pediatricians, and have the family conversation early rather than late.

Citations & Further Reading

  1. Berg, I. K., & Steiner, T. (2003). Children's solution work. W. W. Norton.
  2. Bowen, M. (1978). Family therapy in clinical practice. Jason Aronson.
  3. Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. Basic Books.
  4. Brackett, M. (2019). Permission to feel: Unlocking the power of emotions to help our kids, ourselves, and our society thrive. Celadon Books.
  5. Dana, D. (2018). The polyvagal theory in therapy. W. W. Norton.
  6. Engel, S. (1999). The stories children tell: Making sense of the narratives of childhood. W. H. Freeman.
  7. Greenberg, L. S. (2011). Emotion-focused therapy. American Psychological Association.
  8. Greenberg, L. S., & Goldman, R. N. (2019). Clinical handbook of emotion-focused therapy. American Psychological Association.
  9. Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26.
  10. Harter, S. (2012). The construction of the self: Developmental and sociocultural foundations (2nd ed.). Guilford.
  11. Korn, D. L., & Leeds, A. M. (2002). Preliminary evidence of efficacy for EMDR resource development and installation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(12), 1465–1487.
  12. Kovács, Á. M., Téglás, E., & Endress, A. D. (2010). The social sense: Susceptibility to others' beliefs in human infants and adults. Science, 330(6012), 1830–1834.
  13. Kuypers, L. M. (2011). The Zones of Regulation: A curriculum designed to foster self-regulation and emotional control. Think Social Publishing.
  14. Malchiodi, C. A. (2015). Creative interventions with traumatized children (2nd ed.). Guilford.
  15. Murphy, J., Brewer, R., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2017). Interoception and psychopathology: A developmental neuroscience perspective. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 45–56.
  16. Powell, B., Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., & Marvin, B. (2014). The Circle of Security intervention. Guilford.
  17. Saarni, C. (1999). The development of emotional competence. Guilford.
  18. Schore, A. N. (2003). Affect regulation and the repair of the self. W. W. Norton.
  19. Shapiro, F. (2018). EMDR therapy (3rd ed.). Guilford.
  20. Siegel, D. J. (2012). The developing mind (2nd ed.). Guilford.
  21. Siegel, D. J., & Bryson, T. P. (2011). The whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child's developing mind. Random House.