December can be full of wonderful holiday memories, but it can also carry with it a lot of worry and stress even for kids. The anticipation of Christmas, the change in routine, the extreme sensory overload, and the later nights can bring about some big emotions in kids that can be hard for them to pinpoint and even harder for them to express. That’s why this December Feelings Log for kids can be such a useful tool.
When children are able to name and express their emotions, they are better able to manage them. It’s kind of like the first line of defence when it comes to challenging behaviours.
Giving them this tool can give them a leg up in beginning to express their emotions in healthy ways. It invites the child to consider their feelings about winter break (big change in routine) and to keep a record of how they feel each day. There are cute Christmas tree emotion visuals to help them better identify and sort out their own feelings.
Keeping a daily log allows kids to examine their emotions and it gives the opportunity for parents, teachers, or therapists to see if there are any obvious patterns emerging when looking back over the log. It’s a great tool!
December Feelings Log for Kids:
Supplies needed:
- printed Feelings Log (download here)
- scissors
- glue stick
- markers, pencil crayons, or crayons
- pen or pencil
I suggest you use the Feelings Log as a jumping off point. If you find there are several days in a row where your child has placed a more challenging emotion in their daily feelings log, you can use it as a conversation starter. This allows you to delve deeper into WHY they may be feeling the way they are and to come up with coping strategies together.
Perhaps have them draw how they are feeling about other events in December such as Christmas, an upcoming concert or performance, visiting relatives, or grieving the loss of a relative, pet, or friend who will not be celebrating the holidays with them this year. This can be so helpful.
Just enter your email below to download your copy of the December My Feelings Log. You can use it with your child at home or print it off to use with your students in the classroom.
Check out these other resources for helping kids with their emotions:
Practising gratitude sets the stage for a happier life. 
This game can be played with 2-4 players at a time.
Assembly instructions:
Game Directions:
It may be hard for some children (depending on their age and developmental abilities) to think of things in each category to be grateful for. You can help by proving prompts or examples of your own.
Just like in some of the other emotions learning activities I’ve created to help kids such as our 
The game requires kids to predict what a certain circumstance or action would cause a spider to feel, so it’s best used to reinforce the concepts in children who already have an 
These spiders are adorable. This is a cute activity for Hallowe’en at home or in a classroom. It’s a nice one to have set out in a quiet corner for kids who need a calm down area or for students who have completed their other work.
This activity also provides good sensory input. As your child squeezes and shapes the playdough, they are using their proprioceptive and tactile sensory systems. Reading the words and looking at the pictures uses their visual sensory system. If you use 
You can use 
The thing about something that you hear or say over and over is that it gets stuck in your brain. It becomes part of your inner voice. This is true for both positive and negative words.
A positive affirmation is a statement meant to overcome negative thoughts. Negative thoughts contribute to self-sabotage, stress, pessimism, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, you want to retrain your child’s brain to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones.
