Coco Koala's Emotions Cards: Help Children Learn to Recognise and Name Feelings
24 beautifully illustrated, double-sided cards featuring Coco Koala. Designed by a speech pathologist to build emotional literacy through discussing facial expression, body language clues, internal body senses and context. All using child-friendly language.
Why these cards are different
Coco Koala's Emotions Cards are designed with intention. Every detail - from the character to the language - supports genuine emotional learning.
Built for guessing
Children are encouraged to observe Coco's facial expressions, body language and context clues before guessing what emotion is being felt. Guessing about someone else's emotional state is an important part of social awareness.
Variations on an emotion
Not just "angry" but also frustrated, annoyed, jealous and furious. Children learn that some emotions can "look" like another - but often context gives us additional clues.
"Pleasant" states included
So many cards target only the not-so-nice to feel emotions, but these focus on the nice to feel emotions too! Calm, proud, creative, kind and more. It is reinforced that it is OK to feel ALL emotions. (There are no "good" and "bad" emotions).
Front and back learning
The front shows Coco's illustration with visual clues. The back normalises the feeling and describes more such as context, body senses and/or behavioural cues.
Gender and ethnicity neutral
Coco is a koala. No gender, no ethnicity, no distracting features. Children can focus entirely on emotional expression without bias.
Child-friendly language
Coco feels "left out" rather than "rejected" and "sorry" rather than "guilty". Language is chosen to match how children actually experience and talk about their feelings.
How to use the cards
Don't explore all the emotions at once! Start with just one or two, maybe happy and sad, and then start to build.
When exploring a card:
- 1 Study the illustration and glean as many clues as you can about Coco's emotional state
- 2 Read the back of the card
- 3 Encourage the child to guess the emotion - and praise any attempt
- 4 State the emotion that Coco is feeling according to the title on the card - but acknowledge that it is not always easy to guess
- 5 Relate the emotion to the child's own life - when have they experienced that emotion? What happened?
- 6 Download and explore the picture sheets or complete the worksheets in the bonus downloadables online (licence protected)
Explore the emotions
Twenty-four emotions important to young children are covered.
Who uses these cards?
Coco Koala's Emotions Cards are used by professionals and families across Australia to support social-emotional learning in a variety of settings.
Speech Pathologists
Use emotion cards in therapy sessions to support social-emotional goals. Ideal for children working on emotion recognition, social awareness and understanding non-verbal communication. Cover one emotion per session.
Wellbeing Teachers and Education Support Assistants
Integrate the cards into classroom wellbeing programs, circle time or small-group activities. The cards support the Personal and Social Capability strand of the Australian Curriculum.
Parents and Carers
Use the cards at home to open conversations about feelings. The child-friendly language and visual clues make it easy to talk about emotions without specialist knowledge. Great for building emotional vocabulary during everyday moments.
More than just labelling
When children can name an emotion, they are more likely to recognise it in themselves and in others. This emotional awareness is the first step towards self-regulation and social understanding.
Coco Koala's Emotions Cards build this foundation by combining the reading of facial expressions, body language and context clues - with emotional vocabulary.
The cards encourage a format that feels like a guessing game rather than a lesson.
What's included
Everything you need to start building emotional literacy with children.
A physical card set posted to you, plus online bonus materials (more than 20 sheets to explore the emotion further).
- 24 double-sided illustrated emotions cards (9cm x 12cm)
- Sturdy 100% post-consumer recycled cards
- Online bonus activities and teaching tips (password-protected)
- General tips for introducing emotions to children
A peek inside the pack
Beautifully illustrated cards designed to make emotions tangible and relatable for young learners.
A peek inside the bonus materials
Each emotion comes with downloadable bonus activities to further explore the target emotion.
Created by a speech pathologist
Coco Koala's Emotions Cards are written and illustrated by an experienced clinician who works directly with children.
Lucia Smith
Speech Pathologist
Lucia is an Australian Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with over 30 years' experience.
She has been writing and illustrating for Pelican Talk Speech Therapy Resources since 2012, drawing on evidence-based practice and her extensive clinical work with children across a wide range of settings and age groups.
Lucia is also the developer of a specialist training program focused on using puppets to support social and emotional learning. This program has been listed on the Victorian School Readiness Funding Menu since 2021.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from educators, therapists and parents about Coco Koala's Emotions Cards.
What age group are the emotions cards suitable for?
Are the cards suitable for autistic children or other neurodivergent profiles?
What are the bonus online materials?
Why is a koala used instead of a human character?
Can I use these cards in a whole-class setting?
Are the cards environmentally friendly?
Do I need to be a speech pathologist to use these cards?
Get Coco Koala's Emotions Cards
A complete set of 24 illustrated emotions cards with online bonus activities, teaching tips and guidance.
Coco Koala's Emotions Cards
A set of 24 illustrated cards posted to you, plus online bonus activities and teaching tips.
- 24 double-sided emotions cards
- 100% recycled card stock
- Online bonus activities included
- Teaching tips and guidance
All prices in Australian dollars. Cards posted to you.
Related resources
Other Pelican Talk resources that support social and emotional learning.
Social Sam - Version 2
Social Sam is an Australian-made resource designed to promote pragmatic language, self-regulation, and social understanding in young children aged approximately 4-7 years. It is ideal for teachers and therapists looking for an engaging, evidence-informed resource to support all children in developing essential social understanding whether in the classroom or therapy setting. With activities including 42 illustrated stories and 570+ pages of goodies, this downloadable resource helps children develop: ✔ Social understanding – Considering others’ perspectives, observing consequences and outcomes of Sam's behaviours, words and actions ✔ Self-regulation strategies – Learning about ways to manage emotions and behaviors ✔ Self-reflection – Connecting learning to real-life experiences ✔ Self-efficacy – Building confidence in navigating social situationsDownload the Social Sam - Version 2 manual here. Download the Social Sam Pragmatics Checklist and Goalsetter here. Register your purchase and gain access to Social Sam’s bonus materials here.
Social Puppets - Two Puppets and Downloadable Program
Social Puppets (Version 2) is a brilliant program that is perfect for young children (preschoolers to first year of school). Using two puppets, the program explores 27 typical social situations common to young children. Its emphasis, however, is not simply teaching children to learn a routine of behaviour, but really developing the social understanding and the notions of empathy and persepctive of others - important facets underpinning successful social interactions.Popular for use with children who have social difficulties.The program comes with a downloadable program (containing 27 scripts and tips for teaching and two puppets (a girl and a boy - 35.5 cm tall - each RRP $70).You can purchase extra puppets at $70 each. See puppetsforlearning.com.au if you would like to add more puppets to the program.
Story Talk 2
A great kit to work on story-telling and story-writing skills!Based on the Story Grammar model...Work through character and setting development - events, feelings, thoughts, problem (conflict) and ending (resolution).You receive:magnetic frames to highlight elements of story structure a Story Star a bendy character downloadable resources containing many activities, images to view, cards to create and blackline masters to printUses: Develops and extends narrative skills.Suitable for: Early to middle primary school
Ready to build emotional literacy?
Help children learn to recognise, name and understand emotions with Coco Koala's beautifully illustrated cards. Designed by a speech pathologist for classrooms, clinics and homes.
Get Coco Koala's Cards