Author: Stella Lawson (Nigeria) | Published on 23 January 2026

 

Read what Stella says about this activity

This activity helps learners identify emotions, express feelings, and practice speaking through movement-based SEL activities.

Stage 1: Warm Up (Pre-teach)

Ask: “How are you feeling today?”

Elicit simple emotion words (happy, tired, angry).

Model 1–2 emotions with facial expressions and gestures.

Stage 2: (Main Activity) The Emotion Walk

  1. Students spread out in the room or playground.
  2. Call out an emotion: happy, angry, tired, frustrated.
  3. Students walk around acting out the emotion for 20–30 seconds.
  4. Switch emotions several times.
  5. Students can take turns leading the activity, calling out the emotions.
  6. Finally, ask the students to walk in a way which shows how they genuinely feel now.

Stage 3 (Post-Activity Speaking + Reflection)

Students work in pairs or small groups.

Use sentence frames to describe experiences:

I feel happy when…

I feel angry when…

I feel tired when…

I feel frustrated when…

Elicit answers from the class.

Tell students they don’t need to ignore their emotions or feel guilty about them, but they should remember that each feeling is only temporary.

Notes 

  • No materials needed.
  • Ensure safe  space for movement.
  • Great for low-resource classrooms.
  • Can be adapted for any age group.

Emotion Walk: A movement activity where students act out emotions.

SEL (Social Emotional Learning): Teaching students to understand and manage emotions, show empathy, and build positive relationships.

Reflection: Letting learners think about and share their experiences.

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