Free emotion thermometer printables

An emotion thermometer is a rating scale a child can see. Instead of asking a seven-year-old to explain how angry they are, you ask for a number, and a number is something they can give you before a feeling gets too big to talk about. Catching it early is the point: a 2 or a 3 can be turned around with a drink of water and a stretch, while a 5 has to be waited out. These seven printables use plain wording from calm to upset, with no color-coded zones and no named program, so they fit alongside whatever a school already uses.

What's in this set

1. Emotion thermometer 1 to 5. A large thermometer to color from the bulb upward, with five levels beside it: calm, a little bothered, upset, very upset and out of control. Each has a face and the body signs that go with it, and the bottom strip asks for the level right now and why.
2. Emotion thermometer 1 to 10. Ten points for older students, from calm (1) through annoyed (5) and angry (7) to out of control (10), with a small face at each level and a line for your own wording.
3. Emotion thermometer with coping strategies. The five levels with two or three things to try printed beside each one, from a stretch and a drink at level 2 to a safe spot at level 5, plus a dotted line for the child's own idea.
4. Blank emotion thermometer. Five empty levels: a line for the child's own word, a dashed circle to draw the face they make, and lines for what they look like and what they need at that level.
5. Daily check-in log. Seven day rows with 1 to 5 to circle in the morning, at midday and in the afternoon, a notes column, and boxes for the hardest time of day and the best day.
6. Two thermometers: how I felt and how big the problem was. A feeling scale and a problem-size scale side by side, from a tiny problem you can fix yourself up to an emergency, with lines for what happened and what to try next time.
7. Pocket thermometer cards. Four small cards to a page with the five levels, a face at each level and a name line, sized to cut out and tape inside a desk, a planner or a lanyard.

Frequently asked questions

What is an emotion thermometer?

A rating scale drawn as a thermometer, usually 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, that lets a child show how strong a feeling is rather than having to describe it. The child colors or points up to their level, and the adult can respond before the feeling reaches the top.

What age is it for?

The five-level pages work from about age 5, as soon as a child can order "a little" and "a lot". The 1 to 10 version suits ages 10 and up. Younger children usually need an adult to ask the question at set times rather than checking in on their own.

Does this set use a particular regulation program?

No. The levels are described in plain words from calm to out of control, with numbers rather than color names, so these pages can sit alongside whatever framework a school or clinic already uses without clashing with it.

How often should a child rate themselves?

Three times a day is a sensible start, which is what the check-in log is built around: once in the morning, once in the middle of the day and once in the afternoon. Extra check-ins around a known hard moment are worth adding.

Can I print these in black and white?

Yes. The thermometer is drawn as an empty tube with a bold outline so the child can color it in themselves, and every face is a line drawing, so nothing depends on color.

More printables for feelings and routines

A rating scale works best next to a visible routine and something to work toward. The reward chart printables and sticker charts cover the motivation side, the chore chart printables help with the home routines that often set a hard morning off, and the goal-setting worksheets for students let an older student choose one target of their own.