Emotion, Need and Friendship Skill Cards
- Price:
- 12 €
- Publisher:
- MIELI Suomen Mielenterveys ry
- Year of publication:
- 2026
- Size:
- A6
Emotion, Need, and Friendship Skill Cards are tools for strengthening emotional skills, friendship skills, and self-awareness. The cards can be used during lessons, in guidance, and in one-on-one conversations such as educational conversations. The cards were designed especially for pupils in grades 4–7.
Card pack includes:
• 13 feeling cards
• 14 need cards
• 8 friendship skill cards
• 9 conflict situation cards
• 1 introduction card
• 4 instruction cards
Publisher: MIELI Mental Health Finland
Illustrations: Jenni Kärnä-Escalante
Authors: Riikka Nurmi and Anna-Lena Sahlström, MIELI Mental Health Finland We thank Elizabeth Ko and Luokka loistamaan project for development cooperation!
Download material
Ideas for use
Alias
With feeling or conflict cards: One team member draws a card and describes the feeling or conflict. The rest of the team guesses.
With need cards: The person drawing the card describes a situation in which the need arises. The team guesses the need.
Skill of the Week
Choose one friendship skill card as the week’s goal. Attach a paper heart next to it. Every time the class succeeds in practicing the skill, they get to stamp the heart. At the end of the week, reflect on how the practice went and how it felt.
Storytelling
Alone or in small groups, choose 1–3 cards and create a story. Discuss and reflect on the stories afterward.
Guess the Feeling!
The group draws a feeling card and expresses the feeling together. Other groups guess the feeling.
Feelings Telephone
The group forms a line. The person at the back draws a card and expresses the feeling to the next person, who passes it on, and so on. The person at the front tries to guess the feeling.
From Conflict to Solution
The group chooses one conflict card and pairs it with a need card and a friendship skill card that they think fit the situation best. They perform a short scene about what happens in the situation.
Three-Image Scenario
The group chooses a conflict card and creates a series of three frozen images: what happened before, during, and after the moment shown. Discuss the images by adding thought bubbles or naming the characters’ feelings.
What Makes Me Happy?
Choose a need or friendship skill card that reflects something positive that is already happening in your class and that you want to thank others for.
Class Rules
Discuss class rules using the need and friendship skill cards. Write the rules down and place them somewhere visible.
A Safe Space
What does a safe space mean? What is needed to create one? Discuss with the help of the need and friendship skill cards.
Needs – Conflicts – Feelings – Friendship Skills
Choose a conflict situation familiar to the group and reflect on what needs might lie behind it. Consider what feelings the conflict triggers in the people involved. Discuss which friendship skills could help resolve the situation.
Card Work for a Shared Educational Dialogue
In this conversation, you may speak only about yourself, your own feelings, and what you did.
• What was the conflict?
• What feeling guided your actions?
• What need is behind that feeling?
• What feelings did your actions evoke in the others involved?
• What friendship skills are needed to resolve the conflict together?
• What do I hope from others in the future?
Strengths
Which friendship skills are your strengths? Name at least three!
Classification
Sort the need cards: Which needs can you meet on your own? For which needs do you require others, such as classmates, teachers, and parents?
Express a Wish!
What friendship skills do you wish that your schoolmates or adults at school would use?
Which of your own needs would you like your schoolmates or the adults at school to pay attention to?