15 Best Social-Emotional Toys to Teach Kids About Feelings

A Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award winner, this set features big, chunky pieces with expressive faces that kids can use in their imaginary play. There are 10 different faces, plus enough pieces to build five figures at a time. "This set really enhances his creativity and playtime, allowing him to mix and match characters to fit his imaginative stories," one parent tester said. Ages 3+

For each of the tabs included on this toy, kids can see an example of a real face making a certain expression — which they can then try to copy in the mirror. Good Housekeeping Institute kid testers loved trying to make all of the different faces! Ages 3+

A previous Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Book Award winner, this book has rhyming text that explains 10 different emotions. On each page, there are pictures of multiple kids that embody each emotion, so readers can see how that feeling looks on a range of real faces. A mirror at the end lets them show off their own expression. Ages 1-6

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With this set, kids can build the pineapple's face, and then try to match its expression to a poster that offers a range of emotions. Lots of pieces means the pineapple can go through a wide range of feelings. It also comes with a mirror that kids can use to compare their own faces to that of the fruit. “We're working on using our words to describe how we’re feeling, and this is perfect,” one parent said. Ages 3+

This is a social-emotional toy and a sensory toy in one. Each bottle represents a different emotion — angry, sad, happy or scared — and the contents of the bottle swirl around differently to match each feeling. When we tested this in 2022 — when it won a Best Toy Awards — parents said they wished there were more than four bottles, and their wish was granted: A second set of emotions came out earlier this year, featuring excited, impatient, lonely and nervous bottles. Ages 3+

This toy lets kids practice recognizing emotions while working on their memory and matching skills at the same time. Kids can make 12 matches out of the 24 tiles, and then figure out what emotion they represent by matching them to the color wheel. Parents also like the tiles are made out of sustainable rubberwood. Ages 2+

Rather than learning to recognize and name emotions, this toy helps kids learn to regulate them by offering guided meditations designed to calm them down. There are a few different modes, including a daytime relaxation session, a nighttime soothing sounds mode and a three-part bedtime wind-down routine. Ages 2+

This is a fun, soft friend that kids can snuggle up with. But they get to design and re-design the face over and over, and they can use illustrated cards for emotional inspiration. When they're done, the extra face pieces store in a pocket in the front, so they'll always have the pieces they need with them. Ages 3+

This is a cooperative game where players are tasked with recognizing the emotions in other people. The kids on the game board have different problems (one might be afraid of the dark, for example), and players can use different helping tokens to make them feel better (in this case, a night light token). It'll have them working on their empathy skills as they figure out how to help the different characters. Ages 3+

Caring for baby dolls does help enhance a child's nurturing and empathy skills. With this doll set, they can also practice recognizing emotions, since each of the six dolls has a different facial expression that embodies a different emotion. The dolls come in a range of skin tones, too. Ages 0+

These blocks feature big, chunky pieces that kids can build into different characters, matching their expressions to the ones on the different activity cards. The activity cards show real faces, so they can see how those emotions look in a less-than-cartoony form. Ages 2+

This toy comes with three magnetic faces and a bunch of eyes, mouths, eyebrows and other pieces they can use to mix and match. The set comes with some examples they can try to replicate, or they can build their own faces and try to figure out which emotions they represent. Ages 3+

This game lets kids really put themselves in others' shoes. The cards depict common conflicts, and kids have to identify how the people on the cards must be feeling. When they're done, they can use a magnifying glass to reveal a possible solution. Ages 3+

For kids who like to learn in a tactile way, this set has cards lets kids build faces on using squishy, moldable Playfoam. The cards also have suggestions for breathing and mindfulness activities so kids can put their new learnings into action. Ages 3+

Slumberkins has lots of plush, books and toys devoted to social-emotional learning, but the Feelings Adventure Board Game is the most direct. In the game, all of the feelings have been removed from the Feelings Forest, and the players have to work together to return them to their rightful spaces. It's a great way to open up even more conversations about emotions. Ages 3+