Emotion Tiles

By Kaplan Early Learning Company
Price $35.95
Age 12 mo.+

Emotion Tiles is a fabulous way for parents and educators to promote strong social and emotional development in young children. Each of the set's 20 disk-shaped tiles displays a photograph of either an adult or child whose facial expression conveys a specific feeling: happy, tired, angry, silly or sad. The accompanying activity sheet presents activities and games that include imitation, matching, memory matching, and the identification and discussion of various feelings, including the child's past experiences with a given emotion and the circumstances that triggered it. The images on the tiles are beautifully photographed and come across as authentic rather than staged. The set's inclusion of two distinct tiles for every emotion (one showing an adult, the other a child) makes them all the more relatable and the knowledge absorbed during play transferable to a variety of social contexts. Benefits of play include increased confidence, curiosity, cooperation, acceptance, communication, and self-regulation.