Mirror emotions

What you need

A mirror.

Benefits

This activity works to develop your child’s understanding of what emotions and feelings are and what these look like. It will also help them with recognising themselves as well as others.

The experience

Sit your child in your lap in front of a mirror.

Smile and say, “Look, mummy/daddy is smiling. Mummy/daddy is happy.”

Then, change the expression on your face to a sad expression and say, “Look, mummy/daddy is crying. Mummy/daddy is sad.” Variation:

You can do this with a range of different emotions.

For older children, ask them to show you a ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ face in the mirror, then show them yours in return.