We are long time fans of The Color Monster book by Anna Llena– with it featuring on our 21 Best Books about Feelings and Emotions and 101 Social Skills Books for Kids booklists and one of our earliest Social Emotional Learning posts – 4 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Emotional Intelligence. Colour in some old bits of card, cut out some shapes, piece them together and see what you can create. (Interestingly, this is very similar to the way that Chris Haughton develops his art for books like A Bit Lost and Shh! We have a Plan.) If you are looking for some engaging and hands-on printables to make learning about colors and emotions so much more fun, you have come to the right place! ‘The Color Monster’ by Anna Llenas is a great book to help little learners make more sense of all those feelings they feel, by connecting them with a more concrete thing – colors.

Experimenting with and mixing paint is such a fun and concrete way for the little thinkers to learn about primary and secondary colors. What you need: Color Recognition is an important concept to master in the younger learning years. Children at this age are still in the process of putting words to the different things they see around them. And everything they see has color! Everything they feel is still a bit difficult to express though, and these two activities will help them to realize that they are not the only ones that are a little confused. A certain monster needs their help! Practice drawing faces that show different emotions. Can you draw a happy face? Can you draw an angry face? Use a mirror to see how your facial expression can change to show emotions. How does music make you feel? Think of different songs/styles of music that make you happy, sad, angry etc. It’s not always easy to articulate our emotions, even at the best of times. COVID-19 has stirred them up good and proper (as they say here in Dorset).

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As an extension activity, the discussion could also focus on what things help when they are feeling sad, afraid or angry. Look again at the book, focusing on one emotion at a time. Have each child choose a square from the corresponding pile of colored emotions squares to paste into their jar. Make a list of words that the author links with each colour, e.g. yellow = bright and light, blue = gentle and alone. Can you think of synonyms for these words? Llenas’s art is so expressive - childlike in its simplicity and sheer exuberance, with intensely scribbled crayon marks and wild brush strokes. It’s a joy to behold!

The little girl puts the Colour Monster’s feelings into separate jars. Use the template below to draw things that make you happy/ angry/sad etc. Think of other emotions and choose colours that might represent them (e.g. frustration, disgust, envy).

Young children, in particular, may not have the words to describe how they’re feeling (which is why they end up having tantrums). One of the many benefits of picture books is that they can enable children to find ways - and words - to help them express what’s going on inside.My Good to Read this week is a fantastic example of a book that does just that - in a gentle and entertaining way. At the start of the story, the Colour Monster is feeling confused. When have you felt confused? What did you do in this situation? What can we do when we feel confused in the future? Explain to the children that the color monster is a bit confused. He has only 3 colors, which are red, blue and yellow, but he needs orange, purple and green to try and make sense of all those other feelings he feels. What should he do? So it came as no surprise to read that The Colour Monster’s creator, Anna Llenas, cites her art psychotherapy training as an influence. Llenas ‘currently acts as a teacher and art therapist specialising in art and emotional education.’ Her experience in these fields shines through her work - and makes The Colour Monster a valuable addition for any bookshelf. Inside: This free, printable The Color Monster Emotions Activity is a fabulous activity for developing emotional intelligence with children in the early grades.