List of Emotions & Feelings for Kids + Free PDF Emotions List

What’s inside this article: A list of emotions and feelings for kids – this includes the five core emotions, a list of 27 emotions identified by scientists, and a list of 150 emotive words for kids. Includes a PDF version of the list, along with an Inside Out color-coded chart to use as a teaching tool.

Did you know that there are actually over 34,000 different motive words? Yikes.

But how many different emotions are there?

One scientific study claims there are 27 distinct emotions that humans experience. On top of that, we can experience more than one emotion simultaneously.

We’ll take a look at that list of 27 emotions in a moment – but first. I want to introduce you to a more straightforward concept that I prefer when teaching emotions to children—the Discrete Emotion Theory.

Discrete Emotion Theory

Discrete emotion theory suggests there are five core emotions and thousands of emotion-related words, which are all synonyms or describe varying intensity levels of these core emotions.

The five core emotions:

Happiness
Sadness
Anger
Fear
Disgust

What’s great about this concept is that these five core emotions are the same five emotions/characters from the Disney Pixar movie Inside Out.

This makes it much easier to teach children about their feelings in a relatable, tangible way.

No child, or even adult, is going to be able to identify 34,000 emotions, and even 27 is way too many for a child to be able to distinguish and understand.

Five core emotions is a much simpler concept to teach children. Later, you can progress to teaching more complex emotive words as your child better understands their feelings.

Let’s look at that list of 27 emotions that we first talked about.

List of Emotions

According to research conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, there are 27 distinct categories of emotions. They are as follows:

Admiration
Adoration
Aesthetic appreciation
Amusement
Anxiety
Awe
Awkwardness
Boredom
Calmness
Confusion
Craving
Disgust
Empathetic pain
Entrancement
Envy
Excitement
Fear
Horror
Interest
Joy
Nostalgia
Romance
Sadness
Satisfaction
Sexual desire
Sympathy
Triumph

As you can see, the majority of these emotions are too complex for children, and some of the core emotions, like happiness and sadness, aren’t even on this list.

Teaching Emotions to Kids

From the moment we are born, we have the ability to experience emotions. But, it’s not until much later that children can identify what they are feeling and why.

That’s part of the reason why toddlers are prone to tantrums and emotional outbursts so frequently. Once children develop recognition of their emotions, they can start learning regulation. Until then, they rely exclusively on co-regulation strategies.

In early childhood, most of what kids know about emotions is learned by observing parents, caregivers, and peers. We name our toddler’s feelings for them, provide comfort, set boundaries, and over time this knowledge comes naturally to many kids.

But, it doesn’t come as quickly to others. Some children continue struggling to identify their emotions and benefit from explicit teaching.

These kids need to learn about specific emotions in detail, with no room for confusion. Basically, emotions are taught the same way schools teach academic skills like math and literacy.

Social-emotional learning programs, such as the Zones of Regulation or Think Social! can help with this. But there are many other ways to help children learn about feelings, too.

List of Primary Emotions

As mentioned, the primary or core human emotions are:

Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Disgust

If you’re teaching kids about their emotions, this is a great starting point.

Children need to be able to identify their basic emotions before learning more complex emotive words such as frustration, or anticipation, for example.

List of Emotions for Kids

This list breaks down how more complex emotive words can be categorized under five core emotions. You can use this list as a teaching tool when advancing vocabulary.

Happiness
- Amazed
- Awe
- Bliss
- Cheerfulness
- Confident
- Contentment
- Delighted
- Eager
- Ecstatic
- Enchanted
- Energized
- Engaged
- Enthusiastic
- Excited
- Exhilaration
- Free
- Glad
- Glee
- Inspired
- Invigorated
- Joyous
- Lively
- Loving
- Passionate
- Playful
- Proud
- Radiant
- Satisfied
- Thrilled
- Vibrant
- Worthy
Sadness
- Anguish
- Depressed
- Despondent
- Disappointed
- Discouraged
- Dissatisfied
- Empty
- Forlorn
- Gloomy
- Grief
- Guilty
- Heartbroken
- Hopeless
- Isolated
- Lonely
- Melancholy
- Rejected
- Remorseful
- Shut down
- Sorrow
- Teary
- Unhappy
- Upset
- Weary
- Weak
- Woeful
- Worthless
Fear
- Afraid
- Alarmed
- Anxious
- Apprehensive
- Ashamed
- Concerned
- Cowardice
- Dismay
- Disturbed
- Frightened
- Helpless
- Hesitant
- Inhibited
- Mortified
- Nervous
- Panic
- Paralyzed
- Scared
- Self-Conscious
- Shaken
- Terrified
- Timid
- Uneasy
- Uncertain
- Ungrounded
- Worried
Anger
- Agitated
- Aggravated
- Animosity
- Annoyed
- Bitter
- Bothered
- Contempt
- Cranky
- Cynical
- Disdain
- Disgruntled
- Disturbed
- Edgy
- Exasperated
- Frustrated
- Furious
- Grouchy
- Heated
- Hostile
- Hotheaded
- Impatient
- Irritated
- Irate
- Moody
- On edge
- Outraged
- Peeved
- Resentful
- Spiteful
- Vindictive
Disgust
- Abhorrence
- Appalled
- Aversion
- Bitterness
- Dislike
- Displeased
- Disturbed
- Hatred
- Loathing
- Nauseating
- Offended
- Repelled
- Repulsed
- Revolt
- Sick
- Skeptical

Finally, If I were to add a 6th core emotion, it would be calm, so the following is a list of emotive words for calm.

Calm
- Appreciative
- At Ease
- Carefree
- Centered
- Compassion
- Composed
- Focused
- Mindful
- Patient
- Peaceful
- Present
- Relaxed
- Rested
- Restored
- Serene
- Tranquil