Feelings Song & Activity Ideas and Worksheets for Kids | How Do You Feel Today? (Emotion Trip)

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 Looking for a simple feelings song for kids that helps them say how they feel in English? This episode of Emotion Trip, “How Do You Feel Today?”, focuses on three big emotions: excited, scared, and sleepy/tired. 
It’s perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary EFL learners in class or at home, and works well with printable feelings worksheets or simple emotion cards.

📥 Quick Download for Teachers

📝 Sentence about Emotions Worksheet (PDF)

About the Song

“How Do You Feel Today?” is a short call-and-response feelings song. Each verse starts with “Hello, hello, how do you feel?” and a child answers with “I feel ___ because…”. The song introduces three everyday situations:

  • Excited – “I feel excited because my birthday’s near.”
  • Scared – “I feel scared because I had a bad dream.”
  • Tired/Sleepy – “I feel tired because I stayed up late.”

At the end, the song gently reminds children that all feelings are okay and encourages them to talk, share, and be kind. It’s a warm way to start or end your ESL lesson and to build emotional vocabulary.




What’s Included

  • Feelings vocabulary focus: excited, scared, sleepy/tired.
  • Key sentence pattern: “How do you feel?” / “I feel ___ because…”.
  • Emotional expression practice using facial expressions, voices, and simple actions.
  • Call-and-response structure that makes it easy for young learners to repeat and join in.
  • Flexible activity ideas that you can combine with your own printable worksheets, flashcards, or emotion charts.

Learning Goals

  • Help young English learners talk about basic feelings in simple sentences.
  • Practice the pattern “I feel ___ because…” to connect emotions with reasons.
  • Improve listening and speaking skills in a safe, repetitive song format.
  • Develop emotional awareness by noticing faces, voices, and body language.
  • Support kindergarten and elementary ESL/EFL students in sharing their own feelings.
  • Build classroom routines for daily “How do you feel?” check-ins in English.

How to Use in Class

1. Warm-up – Ask a few simple questions: “How do you feel today?” “Happy? Sad? Tired?” and show basic emotion faces.
2. Pre-teach vocabulary – Introduce excited, scared, sleepy/tired. Use your face and body to act them out and have students copy you.
3. First listen – Play the song once. Tell students just to listen and show the feelings with their faces or actions.
4. Focus on the pattern – Write on the board: “How do you feel?” / “I feel ___ because…”. Pause the song after each line and have students repeat.
5. Sing and move – Play the song again and encourage students to sing along, using gestures for each feeling (jump for excited, hide face for scared, yawn for tired).
6. Speaking practice – In pairs or small groups, have children ask and answer: “How do you feel?” “I feel ___ because…”. They can use the song examples or make their own.
7. Optional worksheet time – Add a simple drawing or writing page where students draw their face and complete “I feel ___ because…”. This extends the song into a full ESL lesson.

FAQ for Teachers

Q. Can I go beyond just “happy” and “sad” with this song?

A. Yes. This song is a great way to move beyond basic feelings like happy and sad and introduce excited, scared, and tired/sleepy. Once students are comfortable with these, you can gradually add more emotions such as angry, nervous, bored, surprised using picture cards, drawings, or extra examples.

Q. How can students practice giving a response after they share a feeling?
A. Use the short reaction lines from the song as a model. For example, if a child says, “I feel scared because I had a bad dream,” the teacher or a partner can reply, “Don’t worry. I’m here.” You can build simple response pairs like:

  • “I feel excited because my birthday’s near.” → “Wow, that’s exciting!”
  • “I feel tired because I stayed up late.” → “You should rest.”

In this way, children practice a full mini-conversation: question → feeling → reason → reaction.

Q. When is the best time to use this song in class?
A. This song and activity work well in several parts of an ESL/EFL lesson:

  • Beginning of class warm-up – Use “How do you feel today?” like a feelings check-in during roll call.
  • Main activity for a feelings unit – Make the song the core of your lesson when you teach emotions vocabulary.
  • After a break or transition – Help students settle down by quickly sharing how they feel before starting the next task.
  • End-of-class closing – Sing the song again and let students say one feeling from the day.

Especially for kindergarten and lower elementary English learners, using the same question and song regularly helps them quickly become confident talking about their feelings in English.

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