Feelings Game: A Card Game to Match Colors and Share Feelings
A card-shedding game where every color is a feeling family. Match by color or number, and action cards ask you to share a feeling or name a coping skill. Kids and teen decks.
Keep prompts light for the first rounds and let the child pass any question.
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If a share brings up something serious (harm, abuse, safety), pause the game and follow up outside it.
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One person secretly draws a feeling or coping skill on a timer, the others guess, then everyone shares when they've felt it.
Therapy Board Games
Three classic board games where every color pulls a counseling question: feelings, family and friends, school, coping and just-for-fun.
Session Toolkit: Dice, Spinner & Token Jar
Shared dice (numbers or feelings faces), a prompt spinner you can edit, and a token jar that fills toward a goal. Everyone sees the same roll.How to play
How to play- Match the top card by color (the feeling family) or by number.
- Share: tell about a time you felt a feeling from that family. Coping skill: name something that helps.
- Skip jumps the next player. Swap color lets you pick the next feeling family.
- No match? Draw one card. Passing on a question is always OK.
- The first player with no cards left wins the round.
About the technique
About the techniqueAdapting familiar games for therapy is a long-standing part of child and play therapy. A deck of cards gives children a reason to sit together, take turns and talk, with the game carrying some of the social pressure (Schaefer & Reid, 2001). This card-shedding game assigns a feeling family to each color and adds action cards that ask the player to share a feeling or name a coping skill, so emotion talk comes up in small, regular doses during play.
The rationale is emotional literacy. In a longitudinal study of children from low-income families, emotion knowledge at age five predicted social behavior and academic competence four years later (Izard et al., 2001). A review of games for social and emotional learning argues that they give children repeated, low-stakes practice in a setting they enjoy (Hromek & Roffey, 2009). This particular game has no outcome research, so treat it as a practice-based vehicle for rapport and feelings talk, not a treatment on its own.
It suits school-age children, preteens and groups, in the office or over video. Keep prompts light for the first rounds and let anyone pass. Watch for players who find losing hard; that is something to name and practice coping with in the moment. If a share points to harm, abuse or a safety concern, pause the game, follow up privately and act on your reporting duties.
For therapists: how to run it
For therapists: how to run itGoal
A child or teen names feelings, links them to real moments and says one coping idea, while the game carries the pressure.
In session
- Choose Kids or Teens in Settings. For a quiet or younger child, keep Feelings talk on action cards; for more talk, switch to every card.
- In person or on a shared screen, play You against Therapist: the hand shown is whoever's turn it is. On video, press Play together and send the link so the client holds their own cards on their device.
- Answer the feelings cards yourself too. A short, real answer from you models how to share and lowers the pressure.
- At the end, look at the summary together: which feeling was easiest to talk about, and which coping idea will they try this week? Copy it for your notes.
As homework
Not given as self-guided homework. Use it together in session.
With a group
- Press Play together and share the link or code. 2 to 4 players hold cards; you deal, and choose in Settings whether you also play.
- Each person sees only their own hand on their own device. Every screen shows whose turn it is and the feelings card being answered.
- Agree before dealing that anyone can pass on a question, and that what people share stays in the group – except that if someone shares that they are being hurt, the leader has to help keep them safe.
- With more than 4 people, run two tables, or let extra members watch and join the next round.
Exercises like this can lead to disclosures of abuse, neglect or risk. Know your reporting duties before you start, and pause if one comes up.
A card-shedding game in the tradition of therapeutic card games: the four colors are feeling families (Happy, Sad, Mad, Scared for kids; Good, Low, Mad, Anxious for teens), so every match keeps feelings on the table. Kids and teens practice feeling words and coping ideas while the game carries the pressure.
Worksheets that pair with this tool
Sources & credibility
- Method
- Therapeutic card games: a card-shedding game with feeling families and feelings and coping prompts
- Developed by
- Practice-based play therapy tradition, collected by Charles Schaefer and colleagues
- First described
- 1986–2001
- Approach
- Play therapy, emotional literacy
- Evidence
- Practice-based (limited trials)Adapted card and board games are widely used in child therapy to build rapport and get feelings talk going, but the games themselves have little outcome research. Knowing feeling words is linked to better social and school outcomes in children.
References
- Izard C., Fine S., Schultz D., Mostow A., Ackerman B. & Youngstrom E. (2001). Emotion knowledge as a predictor of social behavior and academic competence in children at risk. Psychological Science, 12(1), 18–23. Source
- Schaefer, C. E. & Reid, S. E. (Eds.) (2001). Game Play: Therapeutic Use of Childhood Games (2nd ed.). Wiley.
- Hromek, R. & Roffey, S. (2009). Promoting social and emotional learning with games. Simulation & Gaming, 40(5), 626–644. Source
How it was made
Built by the Mentalyc team from the original method and the published sources listed here. Nothing you enter is stored.
Questions people ask
Questions people askHow do you play a feelings card game in therapy?
Players take turns matching the top card by color or number. Each color is a feeling family, and action cards ask the player to share a time they felt a feeling or to name a coping skill. The first player to run out of cards wins, and anyone can pass on a question.
Can I play a therapy card game over telehealth?
Yes. Press Play together and send the link: each player holds their own cards on their own device, and every screen shows whose turn it is and the feelings card being answered. You can also share one screen and take turns.
What age is this card game for?
There is a kids deck with simple feeling words (happy, sad, mad, scared) and a teen deck with more nuanced words (stressed, left out, resentful). Most children from about 6 can play with a little help reading the cards.
Why use a card game in counseling?
A familiar game lowers the pressure, so children talk about feelings while their hands are busy. Short, playful prompts and the option to pass make it easier to open up, and the therapist can model answers too.
How do you adapt a card game for feelings work?
Assign each color to a feeling family and add action cards that ask players to share a time they felt that way or name a coping skill. Let anyone pass, and keep rounds short so the game stays light.
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Made for use in therapy: a licensed mental health professional decides whether a tool suits their client and guides its use.
Children should use this with a parent, therapist or teacher, not on their own.
Educational practice aid, not a medical device. Not a substitute for therapy, diagnosis or emergency care.