Like many parents this summer, I was dragged to the movie theater by my daughter to watch Inside Out. (Oh, who am I kidding? It was the other way around!) I was stoked to watch the film the moment I saw the trailer. Personally, I loved the film and so did my five year old. It is a fantastic movie for all ages, but it is an excellent film for children who have a difficult time dealing with their emotions, like my own daughter who has ADHD and is exhibiting signs of depression and anxiety. While I identify with Joy, my daughter identifies with Sadness.
Inside Out has become a huge part of my daughter’s life. My daughter and I talk about the characters on a daily basis and I use the movie as a reference when my daughter is having a difficult time dealing with her emotions. Her psychologist even uses Inside Out during their therapy sessions! It seems to really help her get through her frustration and it is also helping her have a more positive and happy attitude towards life. (Thanks for the magic, Disney!)
Last week was my daughter’s sixth birthday, so I let her choose the theme for my daycare that day (one of the perks of being a daycare provider’s child). She chose Inside Out of course!
Arts and Crafts: For
a fun arts and crafts project, the children made their very own Inside Out memory balls. I asked the children what their favorite memory at daycare was so far and then I typed it up, printed it, and cut out their answer for them to glue onto the memory ball they decorated. (If the children are older, they can handwrite their memory and cut it out themselves.)
Materials for Memory Ball:
- Colored Foam Circle (I got mine at The Dollar Tree)
- Do-A-Dot Markers
- Paper (and Computer to print out their answer)
- Glue
- Scissors
Show and Tell: It just so happened to be Show and Tell that day, so I asked the children to bring in an item from home that brought them joy to share with the class. Each of the children told the class what they brought, gave a brief description of what it was, and explained why it brought them happiness.
Activity #1: For a fun color recognition activity that also got the children’s blood pumping, they played a Memory Ball Color Sorting Game. I scattered 50 colored “memory balls” around the room (That part alone got the kids jumping with delight!) and placed an Inside Out cubby box in the center of the room. I would call out what color the children needed to collect and then they would work together to collect that color and place them in the box. This was by far, their favorite activity, so I highly recommend this one.
Activity #2: The children used the character figurines of the five emotions from Inside Out (Fear, Anger, Joy, Disgust, and Sadness) to help them identify the emotions, descri
be what the emotions feel like, and give an example of what makes them feel that emotion. Then, they made the face of the emotion. For example, “Sadness is blue. It is what I feel when I am the opposite of happy. Something that makes me feel sadness is when a playdate is over.” (The figurines are sold at The Disney Store.)
Storytime: For Storytime, I read an Inside Out board book called Colorful Emotions. It is a very short, but delightful book that gives a brief description of each of the five emotions from the film. (I found the book at Target for $1! What a steal!)
Special Movie: Unfortunately, Inside Out isn’t out on video yet. (Did I just date myself by saying “video?”) When it is available though, it would be fun to have a special afternoon movie treat for the kids and have them dress in the color of their favorite emotion from the movie.