Learning Map
Personal & Social DevelopmentEmotional Literacyusually ages 5–7

Naming Basic Emotions

Name and recognise basic emotions — happy, sad, angry, scared, excited, and surprised — in themselves and in others by looking at facial expressions and body language

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

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Try this together

If your child sees a friend crying at a birthday party, can they tell you what that friend might be feeling and name the emotion?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on
Nothing on the map comes before this — it’s a starting point.
Naming Basic Emotionsthis skill · ages 5–7
Unlocks
Emotion Vocabularyages 7–9Wider emotion vocabulary builds on naming basic emotions
Mild to Strong Emotionsages 7–9Emotion intensity builds on knowing basic emotion categories
Everyday Kindness and Careages 5–7Showing kindness benefits from recognising emotions in others
Feelings Change and Differages 5–7Understanding feelings change benefits from naming basic emotions
Simple Calming Strategiesages 5–7Calming strategies benefit from naming the emotion you're trying to manage

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 ACARA · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9HP4P06low confidenceYear 3–4 · Personal, social and community health

explain how and why emotional responses can vary and practise strategies to manage their emotions

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2HPFP04medium confidenceHealth and Physical Education · Foundation · Personal, Social and Community Health – Health Education strand
VC2HP4P06low confidenceHealth and Physical Education · Levels 3 and 4 · Personal, Social and Community Health – Health Education strand
VC2HP2P04low confidenceHealth and Physical Education · Levels 1 and 2 · Personal, Social and Community Health – Health Education strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Expressing Feelings with Wordsages 5–7 Feelings Change and Differages 5–7 Triggers and Causes of Feelingsages 5–7 Emotion Vocabularyages 7–9

All Emotional Literacy skills →