Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a very popular concept today, as numerous studies have shown that it brings multiple benefits to our mental health and performance.

Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to identify, understand and regulate one’s own emotions and those of others , and applies to both clinical, work and educational settings.

Dynamics for emotional education

Emotional education should be compulsory in all schools, because emotionally intelligent students enjoy and will enjoy greater mental well-being and a stronger personality and are prepared for the possible adversities that life may present to them in the future.

In this article, you can find different activities and simple dynamics to work on emotions.

Emotional Activities for Children

If you are a teacher and want to educate your students in emotional intelligence, below you can find a list of activities that will allow the youngest to develop emotionally intelligent skills.

1. Group balance: the star

Objective: Self-confidence and group cooperation

Duration: 15-20 minutes

Self-confidence is a psychological variable and an emotion that gives us strength and courage, it allows us to achieve new goals and overcome the complicated moments that may arise on our path . Having positive expectations about what we can do helps us to set ourselves motivating goals and orient ourselves towards problem solving.

This dynamic is simple. If it is done in the classroom, simply make a circle with the group of students. The members of the circle should open their legs a little and shake hands, and the group is separated so that the arms are stretched out. The participants are listed with the numbers one and two. People with the number one will go forward and people with the number two will go backward.

It is important that participants move forward or backward slowly until a point of balance is reached. In addition, it is also possible to switch from number one to number two, and even to do so continuously. After finishing the exercise, participants are asked a series of questions so that they can share their experience and better assimilate what they have learned. For example, have you noticed any difficulties? How would you represent what you have learned in real life when it comes to trusting a group?

2. The name game

Objective: Self-knowledge

Duration: 15 minutes

This game is ideal for children. Furthermore, although it is simple, is useful for children to get to know their positive qualities, which encourages self-knowledge .

The children are given two sheets of paper and asked to write down their first and last names. Then, on one of the sheets, they are asked to write down the qualities they consider they have with each letter of their name (if the name is very long, they can be asked to write only their first or last name). For example: If the person’s name is Bea Salta, the qualities or virtues can be Good, energetic, kind, confident, pleasant, smart, hardworking and assertive.

On the other sheet, the children are asked to write the name of someone who has influenced their life. and then they should write words that express how they have been influenced by these . In this way a link is created between self-concept and the positive values that have been associated with oneself, generating an autobiographical narrative about the development of one’s personality that helps to consolidate these memories.

3. Responding to an accusation

Objective: Emotional regulation

Time: 25 minutes

This dynamic is ideal for teachers to educate their students in emotional control . In the classroom, the teacher should read aloud the beginning of this story.

“Pepe goes around the park very happy, when suddenly he sees Rafa coming to meet him. Rafa has a very strange look. Pepe wonders what’s happening to him. They approach and greet each other, but immediately Rafa starts to scream. He says that Pepe has made him look very bad with the other boys in the neighbourhood, that he is a bad friend, that he is to blame for everything that is happening to him. Then Pepe…”.

Once the story has been read, the students must think individually about how they would act in the situation Pepe is in . Afterwards, the answers are shared and classified in two groups: those that allow conciliation and seek a peaceful path and those that promote greater conflict. In the form of a debate, the conclusion is reached as to why the former are better than the latter.

4. Write a story

Objective: Assertiveness

Duration: 45 minutes

As in the previous exercise this activity aims to make students distinguish between the ways of responding to an accusation and, in addition, to learn to control their emotions and learn to solve conflicts by training them through imagination in hypothetical situations that go beyond the social environments to which one is accustomed.

The group of students is separated into pairs and then they imagine a situation where there is a conflict. Then, each pair writes a short story that should contain these elements:

  • Teenagers who talk or text each other
  • An accusation
  • Solution that leaves the way open for dialogue

The stories are shared and a group assessment is made of the advantages and disadvantages of conflict resolution, so that it is understood what one end or another implies from the emotional point of view for the people involved in the story.

5. Protective screens

Objective: Empathy

Duration: 25 minutes

Through this activity the student is expected to verbalize his/her ideas, beliefs, values and variables related to emotional intelligence. Knowing the other person and having him/her explain his/her ideas and beliefs is ideal for respecting him/her and understanding his/her lifestyle. The aim of this dynamic is that it produces efficient communication and respect on the part of all the members of the group.

The teacher, therefore, presents a great variety and quantity of photos or magazine clippings and invites each participant to choose two. In turn, each student describes to the others what the photos they have chosen mean to them, what they suggest to them, what values and ideas are reflected in the images and what the reason for the choice is.

Activities for youth and adults

Emotional intelligence activities are not only restricted for the youngest . Young people and adults can also benefit from emotional learning, since education is a lifelong process.

6. Discussion group

Objective: Self-awareness and teamwork

Time: 30 minutes

The aim of this dynamic is to create a discussion group to discuss and find a joint solution . The participant should share his/her ideas, beliefs and thoughts about some topic that has been proposed and that deals with the subject of emotional intelligence or education in values. For example:

  • Volunteering is a good way to learn to be responsible. Why and why not?
  • The only person I’m competing with is “myself”. Why and why not?
  • If I am part of a group, the needs of the group must be more important than my wishes. Why and why not?

From these discussion proposals, synergies are generated to reach a solution that satisfies most of the sensitivities.

7. The wheel of life

Objective: Self-knowledge

Duration: 20 minutes

The wheel of life is a tool widely used in coaching, because it allows us to know our desires or needs . It gives us the possibility to have a clear vision on paper about what aspects we consider important in our life and want to work on. However, the rue de la vie is a flexible technique that can be adapted to the situation that interests us most. For example, for our personal development or to find a job and know what skills we need to work.

To carry out this dynamic we deliver a sheet of paper containing a circle with space to write the variables we want to work on. These spaces will be filled in by the participants. For example, if happiness is being worked on, participants should write down the aspects they consider most important: partner, friends, work, leisure, etc. Afterwards, they evaluate from one to ten each aspect to know in which moment they consider that they are.

With this tool the person becomes more aware of the areas he or she needs to work on to achieve a fuller life , and it is possible to design the necessary actions for each point he or she has chosen. For example, if the participant thinks that her partner relationship is at a low level, she can design different strategies to improve it: communication, spending more time together, etc. This activity is suitable for adolescents and adults.

8. Conversation 1 to 0

Objective: Active listening and interpersonal communication

Duration 15 minutes

As a research conducted by Albert Mehrabian concludes, in a face-to-face conversation the verbal component only represents 35% . Therefore, more than 65% is non-verbal communication, that is, the communication of our emotions, body posture, eye contact or gestures. This activity aims to develop active listening and improve interpersonal communication.

To do this, it is necessary to place a row of chairs in a circle. In front of each chair, another chair must be placed so that the participants sit in front of each other. The idea is that each participant sits for two minutes and then moves to the next chair.

In those two minutes that they are sitting, first one of the two participants who is sitting in front speaks, while the other one listens actively, that is, paying attention to the non-verbal language (emotions, gestures, etc.). After one minute, the roles are changed and the other one speaks while his partner actively listens to him. After two minutes, each participant changes chairs. Logically, one member of the couple will go in one direction and the other in another.