How Am I Feeling Today – Wooden Feelings & Emotions Figures

Explore facial expressions, feelings and communication through hands-on play with How Am I Feeling Today – a 15-piece wooden figure set from Freckled Frog featuring photographs of children displaying a variety of recognisable expressions. Designed as an open-ended early years resource, the figures give children tangible visual prompts for observation, discussion, storytelling and imaginative play.

Expressions represented in the set include happiness, sadness, frustration, and excitement, alongside a broader range of facial expressions for children to observe and interpret. Rather than presenting every face as having one fixed meaning, How Am I Feeling Today encourages children to look closely at facial features, suggest possible feelings and discuss why different people may interpret an expression differently.

Made from sustainably sourced natural wood, each freestanding figure features a non-toxic heat-transfer photographic image protected with a clear matt varnish. The figures range from approximately 7–13cm high and are a substantial 2cm thick, making them easy to pick up, position and incorporate into small-world play.

15 Photographic Wooden Figures

How Am I Feeling Today contains 15 individual wooden figures, each featuring a photograph of a child displaying a different expression.

Using photographs rather than purely illustrated emotion symbols provides children with real facial details to investigate.

They can look closely at:

• Eyes

• Eyebrows

• Mouths

• Facial expressions

• Posture

• Similarities between faces

• Differences between expressions

Adults can encourage careful observation before introducing possible feelings vocabulary.

Explore Feelings Through Facial Expressions

Understanding facial expressions involves more than memorising that one particular face always represents one particular emotion.

A facial expression can sometimes have several possible interpretations.

A child might look at a figure and say the person appears excited, surprised, or happy.

Another child may interpret the same expression differently.

How Am I Feeling Today creates opportunities to discuss these possibilities rather than requiring every conversation to have one predetermined answer.

Build Feelings Vocabulary

The figures provide concrete visual prompts around which adults can introduce useful vocabulary.

Depending on the expressions shown, discussions might include words such as:

• Happy

• Sad

• Excited

• Frustrated

• Surprised

• Worried

• Calm

• Cross

• Confused

Adults can adapt vocabulary to suit the children's age and language development.

The photographs give children something visible to refer to while discussing what each word might mean.

Look Closely at the Clues

Adults can encourage children to explain why they have selected a particular feelings word.

Questions might include:

• What can you notice about the face?

• What are their eyes doing?

• What can you see around their mouth?

• What feeling might this person be showing?

• Could there be another possibility?

• What might have happened in the story?

This moves the activity beyond simply naming an emotion and towards careful observation and explanation.

Encourages Communication and Language

How Am I Feeling Today provides plenty of reasons for children to talk.

They can select a figure, describe what they notice and listen to another person's interpretation.

Adults can introduce new vocabulary while encouraging children to explain their own ideas.

Because the figures are physical objects rather than worksheets, they can remain part of the conversation while children move, compare and organise them.

Storytelling with Feelings

The figures can become characters within children's own stories

A child might select one character to begin a story, then introduce another expression as events change.

For example, children can explore:

What happened first? → How might the character feel? → What happens next?

The same character doesn't need to stay tied to one fixed storyline.

Children can create completely different situations during each play session.

Explore How Feelings Can Change

Stories provide a useful context for discussing how characters change depending on what happens.

Children might arrange several figures in a sequence and invent a story that connects them.

A character could begin excited, experience a frustrating event and eventually become happy again.

The activity shows that feelings can be part of a changing sequence rather than existing in isolation.

Match Expressions to Stories

How Am I Feeling Today can complement suitable children's storytelling activities.

After reading a story, adults can invite children to select a figure that might represent how a character appears at a particular point.

Children can then explain their choice.

Another child may select a different figure and provide an equally thoughtful explanation.

Books are not included with the set.

Encourages Perspective-Taking

The figures can introduce simple conversations about how different characters might respond differently to the same event.

Adults can create an imaginary situation and ask children which figures might represent possible reactions.

The aim does not need to be finding one correct answer.

Instead, children can consider different possibilities and explain their reasoning.

Imaginative Small-World Play

The substantial wooden figures are freestanding, allowing them to become characters within small-world play.

Children can combine them with suitable existing:

• Wooden blocks

• Buildings

• Vehicles

• Play furniture

• Small-world scenery

The photographic characters can then become part of homes, schools, shops or completely imaginary environments.

Additional small-world resources are not included.

Open-Ended Play

How Am I Feeling Today does not require children to follow one fixed activity.

The 15 figures can be:

• Selected

• Compared

• Sorted

• Sequenced

• Arranged

• Used as story characters

• Incorporated into small-world play

This versatility allows the resource to be revisited as children's lachildren's play ideas develop.

Sorting and Comparing Expressions

Children can organise the figures according to characteristics they notice.

They might create groups of expressions they consider similar before explaining their choices.

Adults can ask:

• Why did you put these together?

• Which faces look most different?

• Can you find two similar expressions?

• Could this figure belong in another group?

There may be several reasonable ways to organise the same collection.

Fine Motor Skills Through Play

Each figure measures approximately 2cm thick, creating substantial wooden pieces that children can grasp and reposition.

During play, they can practise:

• Picking up

• Grasping

• Standing figures upright

• Positioning

• Sequencing

• Grouping

• Balancing

These actions provide opportunities for controlled hand movement and hand-eye coordination while remaining connected to the wider play activity.

Small-Group Discussion

The 15-piece format works particularly well for appropriate small-group activities.

Children can select different figures before discussing what they notice.

They can listen to one another'sideas and discover that another person may interpret an expression differently.

This provides opportunities for:

• Listening

• Turn-taking

• Expressive language

• Comparing viewpoints

• Collaborative storytelling

Adults can guide discussion without requiring children to disclose their own personal feelings.

Useful for Circle-Time Activities

Teachers and practitioners can introduce selected figures during suitable circle-time discussions.

A figure might be used as a fictional prompt:

“What do you think might have happened to this character?”

Children can suggest possibilities and develop a shared story.

This keeps the discussion centred on the fictional character rather than requiring individual children to talk about personal experiences.

Sustainably Sourced Natural Wood

The figures are manufactured from sustainably sourced natural wood, giving them a substantial format suited to repeated hands-on use.

Natural wood also provides a warm, traditional appearance that complements other wooden early years and small-world resources.

As a natural material, minor variations in wood grain and appearance may occur.

Durable Photographic Graphics

Each figure features a photographic image applied using non-toxic heat-transfer graphics.

The images are protected with a clear matt varnish, helping preserve the visual detail through repeated handling.

The photographic presentation is particularly important to the resource because the real facial expressions provide the visual information children investigate during activities.

Generously Sized Figures

The figures vary between approximately 7cm and 13cm high.

This range creates visual variation while maintaining a substantial scale for tabletop and floor-based small-world activities.

Each piece measures approximately 2cm thick, allowing the figures to stand independently on an appropriate flat surface.

Screen-Free Learning Through Play

How Am I Feeling Today requires no batteries, apps or electronic components.

Children interact directly with the wooden figures through:

Look → Choose → Handle → Compare → Describe → Imagine

This makes the set easy to incorporate into existing early years provision without additional equipment.

Ideal for Nurseries and Early Years Classrooms

How Am I Feeling Today can complement several areas of early years provision.

It is particularly useful for:

• Communication and language

• Facial-expression observation

• Feelings vocabulary

• Storytelling

• Small-world play

• Group discussions

• Imaginative play

• Fine motor activities

Practitioners can offer the complete collection for free exploration or select a smaller number of figures for a focused activity.

Great for Home Learning

At home, parents and carers can use the figures alongside books and imaginative play.

Children can invent stories, compare expressions or incorporate the figures into an existing wooden-play collection.

The open-ended design means adults don't need to turn every interaction into a formal learning activity.

Why Choose How Am I Feeling Today?

How Am I Feeling Today combines real photographic facial expressions with the versatility of freestanding wooden play figures.

The 15-piece collection gives children tangible prompts to observe expressions, explore feelings vocabulary, and create stories.

Because expressions are not always interpreted in the same way, adults can encourage children to explain what they notice rather than simply memorising a fixed answer for each face.

The robust wooden format then allows the figures to move beyond discussion activities and become characters within imaginative small-world play.

For teachers, early years practitioners and families looking for a thoughtful resource for communication, facial-expression exploration and storytelling, How Am I Feeling Today provides a flexible and engaging approach.

Perfect For...

• Facial-expression observation

• Feelings and emotions vocabulary

• Communication and language

• Perspective-taking activities

• Storytelling

• Small-world play

• Imaginative play

• Sorting and comparison

• Sequencing stories

• Fine motor activities

• Circle-time prompts

• Small-group discussion

• Nursery and early years provision

• Home learning

Product Features

• How Am I Feeling Today

• Freckled Frog wooden early years resource

• 15 freestanding wooden figures

• Features photographs of children displaying varied expressions

• Includes expressions associated with happiness, sadness, frustration and excitement

• Real photographic images provide detailed visual prompts

• Encourages observation of facial expressions

• Supports development of feelings vocabulary

• Provides opportunities for communication and discussion

• Encourages perspective-taking through fictional scenarios

• Excellent for storytelling

• Can be incorporated into small-world play

• Suitable for sorting, comparing and sequencing

• Supports fine motor hand activity

• Figures range from approximately 7–13cm high

• Substantial 2cm thickness

• Made from sustainably sourced natural wood

• Non-toxic heat-transfer graphics

• Clear matt varnish protects the images

• No batteries required

• Suitable for home and educational environments

Specifications

• Product Name: How Am I Feeling Today

• Brand: Freckled Frog

• Product Code: FF-485

• Product Type: Wooden facial-expression and imaginative-play figure set

• Contents: 15 wooden figures with photographic expressions

• Figure Height: Approx. 7–13cm

• Figure Thickness: Approx. 2cm

• Material: Sustainably sourced natural wood

• Graphics: Non-toxic heat-transfer photographic images

• Finish: Clear matt varnish

• Use: Indoor learning, discussion and imaginative play

• Batteries: Not required

• Learning Focus: Facial-expression observation, feelings vocabulary, communication, perspective-taking, storytelling, imaginative play and fine motor skills