Decorate the Pumpkins Worksheet

Learning to name a feeling is one of the very first social skills a young child practices at school, and this Decorate the Pumpkins Worksheet turns that practice into a friendly fall activity. Before children can talk about how they feel, they need both a picture and a word for happy, sad, mad, and surprised. Matching a face to a feeling word hands them both at once — something clear to look at and a short label to read — so the vocabulary sticks long after the pumpkins are put away.

This kindergarten emotions worksheet has two short parts. First, students study four pumpkins, each wearing a different expression, and draw a line from every pumpkin to the feeling word that matches its face. Then they read three feeling words and draw that face themselves on a blank pumpkin. Use it during a morning meeting about feelings, in a calm-down corner, or as a no-prep page for the Thanksgiving season. Read the four words aloud together first, then let children work on their own.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 4 picture-to-word feeling matches and 3 draw-the-feeling pumpkins

Three things make the Decorate the Pumpkins Worksheet especially useful in a Kindergarten classroom. First, every feeling word sits beside a picture, so a child who cannot yet read the word can still succeed by reading the face. Second, the drawing half asks students to produce a feeling instead of only recognizing one, which is a far stronger check of understanding. Third, the page is short and roomy, so it finishes inside a normal five-to-fifteen minute work block without anyone feeling rushed or crowded.

Away from the page, keep the conversation going. Play a quick feelings charades game where one child acts out happy, sad, mad, or surprised and the class names it. Keep a small mirror in the writing center so children can make a face and then draw what they see. Sort picture-book characters by how they seem to feel, and ask what in the illustration gave the clue. In November, let each student decorate a real mini pumpkin with markers and introduce their pumpkin’s feeling to the group.

Related Resources

• Feelings Worksheet
• Describing Emotions Worksheet
• Emotions Flash Cards
• Caring Song by Have Fun Teaching