More than just matching
Use the SPARK Emotions Matching Cards to play various games that improve language skills while having fun.
~ACT IT! On your turn, draw one card from the pile. Act out the emotion that is on the card. Use the facial expressions and body language depicted on the emotion card to have the other players guess the correct emotion. NOTE: Some emotions that are similar in characteristics can be acted out comparably.
This helps to improve:
- Non-verbal communication
- Perspective-taking
- Inferencing skills
~COMPARE IT! Select 2 Spark Emotion cards. Describe the features and emotions of each character. Talk about the various body parts that depict the emotion of the character. Describe the details of the character's eyes, eyebrows, mouth position, hands, feet, and posture. Compare the body language of the characters on the cards and tell how they are the same, then contrast and tell how they are different.
This helps to improve:
- Comparing and contrasting
- Analyzing details
- Perspective-taking
- Perception skills
~MATCH IT! Shuffle cards and place face side down on a flat surface. Players take turns selecting and turning 2 cards over on each turn. If they are the same and ‘match,’ the player keeps the set of cards. If they do not match, the cards are turned over and the next player takes a turn. The player with the most card sets at the end of the game is the winner.
This helps to improve:
- Working memory skills
- Visual discrimination
- Improves concentration
- Turn-taking and social skills
~ ASK IT! Spread the SPARK Emotion Cards face-up on the table. One person selects a SPARK Emotion Card by thinking about it and the other players ask questions in an effort to guess “who” the selected emotion character is. Ask questions like “Is your character a girl or a boy?” or “Is your character experiencing a positive emotion?” The game continues until the correct card that was chosen is identified by opponents.
This helps to improve:
- Process of elimination
- Formulating questions
- Discrimination
- Describing
~LINK IT! Select an emotion card. Describe the emotion. Make a connection to a time you or someone you know felt that way. Discuss the cause and effect of that specific situation. If relevant, identify the problem in the scenario. Solve the problem with 2-3 possible solutions for the problem ~OR~ Present your child with a specific scenario and have him select the correct emotion that matches how the character felt in that story.
This helps to improve:
- Comparing and contrasting
- Conversational skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Social-emotional intelligence
~USE IT! Use Emotion SPARK Cards when teaching students about feelings and emotions. Teach the concept of answering “WHY” and “HOW” questions for feelings, an important skill for the foundations of language. These incredible illustrations are fresh, bright, and amazingly kid-friendly.
This helps to improve:
- Increasing vocabulary
- Emotional literacy
- Describing
- Asking & answering WH questions
~REMEMBER IT! Use SPARK cards to work on improving memory skills by taking a card, labeling it, and putting it face down on the table. Each player takes a turn to add a card face down to the row but first lists all the emotions on the cards that are already in line. Players take turns to list all the cards that were labeled and in line until one player misses a card and does not remember the correct card.
This helps to improve:
- Concentration and word recall
- Working memory
- Making associations
- Turn-taking
