INTRODUCTION TO EMOTIONS Kindergarten Self-Regulation Read-Aloud Lesson and Activities- The Colour Monster

INTRODUCTION TO EMOTIONS

Kindergarten Self-Regulation Read-Aloud Lesson and Activities

Help young learners begin noticing, naming and communicating emotions with this engaging, ready-to-teach Kindergarten self-regulation lesson.

Created around The Color Monster by Anna Llenas, this lesson combines a purposeful read-aloud discussion with visual emotion cards and a hands-on Colour Monster art activity. Children explore common feelings, notice facial and body clues, and communicate their ideas through words, pictures, gestures, movement or AAC.

The lesson uses inclusive, developmentally appropriate practices that respect every child’s emotional comfort. Students may work with current, remembered or imagined feelings and are never required to disclose personal experiences or share their completed artwork.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Complete educator lesson plan

• Big idea and learning focus

• Student-friendly learning goal

• Success criteria

• Materials and emotion vocabulary

• Minds On activity

• Before-, during- and after-reading prompts

• Step-by-step Colour Monster activity

• Consolidation prompts

• Assessment look-fors

• Observation, conversation and product documentation

• Differentiation for a range of learners

• Multilingual learner support

• Communication and accessibility options

• Emotional-safety considerations

• Beginning, developing and independently applying next steps

• Extension activity

• Home connection

• Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum 2026 connections

• U.S. Common Core Kindergarten connections

• My Colour Monster student template

• Eight emotion discussion cards

FEATURED READ ALOUD

The Color Monster by Anna Llenas

The book is not included and must be obtained separately.

SKILLS EXPLORED

• Identifying and naming common emotions

• Noticing facial, body and contextual clues

• Developing emotional vocabulary

• Communicating verbally and non-verbally

• Listening and responding during a read-aloud

• Recognizing that people experience and express feelings differently

• Expressing ideas through art

• Developing self-awareness

• Beginning to understand the feelings of others

ONTARIO KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM 2026

This resource includes meaningful connections to:

• Strand A: Foundations of Language and Mathematics

• A1: Oral and Non-Verbal Communication

• Strand C: Self-Regulation and Well-Being

• C15: Self-Regulation

U.S. COMMON CORE KINDERGARTEN

Relevant connections include:

• RL.K.1: Asking and answering questions about key details

• SL.K.1: Participating in collaborative conversations

• SL.K.4: Describing familiar people, places, things and events

• L.K.6: Using vocabulary acquired through conversations and read-alouds

DIFFERENTIATION AND ACCESSIBILITY

Students may participate through:

• Speech

• Gestures

• Visual selection

• Drawing

• Acting

• AAC

• Adult scribing

The resource also includes ideas for adapting materials, reducing language demands, welcoming first-language vocabulary and extending the lesson for students ready to compare or represent multiple emotions.

PERFECT FOR

• Kindergarten and Pre-K

• Ontario FDK classrooms

• Whole-group instruction

• Small-group learning

• Self-regulation lessons

• Social-emotional learning

• Beginning-of-the-year routines

• Read-aloud extensions

• Guidance lessons

• Homeschool Kindergarten

• Early intervention

• Supply-teacher plans

Every feeling is valid, and every child deserves more than one way to communicate. This lesson provides a warm, practical and classroom-ready introduction to understanding emotions.

PLEASE NOTE

The Color Monster is not included with this resource. This independently created educational resource is not affiliated with, authorized by or endorsed by the author or publisher.