Where Do I Feel It? — The Feelings Body Map

The child colours in a body outline to show where in their body a feeling lives — butterflies in the tummy, a hot face, heavy legs — building the link between body sensations and emotions.

Draw a simple body outline on paper (a gingerbread-person shape is enough), or trace around the child on a big sheet or with chalk on the pavement. Set out a few crayons.
Warm up with body-only sensations so the idea is clear. “Where do you feel it when you’re really hungry? When you’ve been running?” The child colours those places.
Pick one feeling and tie it to a real, recent moment: “Remember waiting to go on stage at the show? You said you felt nervous.”
Ask: “Where in your body did you feel it? What was it like?” Offer a menu of body words if they are stuck — fluttery, tight, hot, heavy, shaky, buzzy, squeezy, warm, floppy. Put your own hand on your tummy, chest, or throat to show where you feel it.
The child chooses a colour for that feeling and colours the places on the outline — scribbles, dots, zigzags, whatever fits.
Say it back as one sentence: “So nervous feels like flutters in your tummy and tight in your throat.” Then make your own map of the same feeling and compare — different is normal.

Variation: catch a feeling live. When the child is clearly excited, cross, or worried (and calm enough to talk), ask them to put a hand where they feel it most. Or act feelings out with the whole body first — stomp angry, tiptoe nervous, bounce excited — then freeze and ask what the body is doing inside.

Requirements

Space: A table, or floor/pavement space for a life-size tracing
Surface: Table or smooth floor; pavement for the chalk version
Materials: Paper and crayons or markers; optional large roll of paper or pavement chalk
Participants: 1 adult + 1 child; siblings can each make their own map
Supervision: Light — adult asks the questions and shares their own map

Rationale & Objective

Emotions are felt in the body, and people across cultures report consistent places for them — Nummenmaa et al. (2014) mapped these “bodily maps of emotions” in adults, and Hietanen et al. (2016) found that children as young as 6 already link distinct body regions to feelings such as happiness and fear, with the maps becoming more specific with age. A 5-year-old is right at the start of that process, which is why a first map is often vague, and why the subdomain’s measure is simply being able to point to where a named emotion is felt. Body mapping of sensations is a core activity in Mahler’s Interoception Curriculum; two small studies of that programme with autistic students aged 6–19 (Hample, Mahler & Amspacher, 2020; Mahler et al., 2022) reported gains in interoceptive awareness, and the second also in emotion regulation, though the samples were tiny and that second study had no control group. Research with preschoolers is only beginning: the first study to measure heartbeat perception in 4–6-year-olds found no clear link with emotion recognition or regulation (Schaan et al., 2019). The practical payoff: a child who can notice “my tummy feels funny” has an early warning that arrives before the meltdown, and something concrete to tell an adult.

Progress Indicators

Early: colours the whole figure or the face only; describes feelings by events (“when he took my toy”) rather than sensations; needs the adult to suggest every body word
Developing: points to one body place for one or two strong feelings (often tummy or head) with prompting; picks body words from the menu you offer
Proficient: shows different places or sensations for different feelings (e.g., nervous in the tummy, angry in hands and face); uses a few body words unprompted; can point to the spot on their own body, not just the drawing
Advanced: reports a body clue in the moment (“my tummy feels funny — I think I’m worried”); notices early, small signs before a big feeling; guesses how a story character’s body might feel

Safety Notes

Do the mapping when the child is calm, never in the middle of a meltdown, and start with pleasant or mild feelings before difficult ones
There are no wrong answers — do not correct a map or tell the child where they should feel something; “I don’t feel it anywhere” is acceptable
Do not use the map to dig for causes or interrogate; if the child brings up something upsetting, listen and comfort first and put the crayons aside
Body complaints that are frequent or persistent (regular tummy aches or headaches, especially around school or separations) deserve a check with the pediatrician rather than being assumed to be “just feelings”
A child who is very distressed by body sensations, or who seems largely unaware of pain, hunger, or strong emotions in their body, may benefit from an occupational therapy or psychology consultation

Hints

Playfulness: give sensations characters — butterflies, a volcano, jelly legs, a buzzing bee, a heavy rock — and let the child draw them inside the outline
Sustain interest: keep the maps in a folder as a “feelings atlas” and add one new feeling now and then; revisit an old map and ask whether it still fits
Common mistake: covering five feelings in one sitting. One feeling, tied to one real memory, is plenty — more turns it into a worksheet
Limited space: no paper needed — use the child’s own body or a teddy and simply put a hand (or a sticker) where the feeling is
Cross-domain: builds feelings vocabulary and descriptive words (language); crayon control and colouring inside a shape (fine motor); comparing maps shows that other people feel things differently (perspective-taking)
Progression: map body-only sensations (hungry, tired, puffed) → map one strong feeling with help → map two contrasting feelings → point to the spot on their own body in the moment → use the body clue as an early warning and ask for help

Sources

Hietanen, J.K., Glerean, E., Hari, R. & Nummenmaa, L. (2016), “Bodily maps of emotions across child development,” Developmental Science, 19(6)
Nummenmaa, L., Glerean, E., Hari, R. & Hietanen, J.K. (2014), “Bodily maps of emotions,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Mahler, K. (2019), The Interoception Curriculum: A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Mindful Self-Regulation — body mapping of sensations and emotions
Hample, K., Mahler, K. & Amspacher, A. (2020), “An interoception-based intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot study,” Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention
Mahler, K., Hample, K., Jones, C., Sensenig, J., Thomasco, P. & Hilton, C. (2022), “Impact of an interoception-based program on emotion regulation in autistic children,” Occupational Therapy International
Schaan, L. et al. (2019), “Interoceptive accuracy, emotion recognition, and emotion regulation in preschool children,” International Journal of Psychophysiology