How do we recognise our emotions? Why do we sometimes show one feeling while experiencing another? And how does our body respond to fear, stress, or uncertainty?
As part of the SAVE – Speak Out Against Violence project, the Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria (CRWB) conducted two group sessions involving six unaccompanied refugee children at the Safe Zone of the Registration and Reception Centre in Harmanli.
The sessions focused on recognising and expressing emotions, understanding stress responses, and developing empathy.
The first session explored emotional awareness and the connection between emotions and physical reactions. Through the “Guess the Emotion” game, children practised identifying feelings and communicating with one another. Using emotion cards, discussions, and an educational video, participants learned about the body’s natural responses to stress – fight, flight, and freeze.
Children also reflected on activities that bring them comfort and positive emotions, including sports, music, drawing, and spending time with friends. At the end of the session, several participants shared that they had learned how emotions can be experienced physically and that stress responses are natural.
The second session, “Behind the Mask,” explored the difference between emotions we show to others and those we keep inside. Children created paper masks using colours, shapes, and facial expressions to represent different feelings.
Most participants actively engaged in the creative process. For some, drawing provided a more accessible form of self-expression than talking directly about their emotions.
The following discussion revealed that recognising and understanding other people’s emotions remains challenging. Some children found it easier to describe the visible elements of the masks than the feelings they represented.
Both sessions provided a supportive environment for self-expression and created opportunities to gradually develop emotional awareness, empathy, and coping skills.
For unaccompanied refugee children, these skills are particularly important, supporting communication, positive relationships, and the ability to navigate everyday challenges.
The activities were implemented as part of the SAVE – Speak Out Against Violence project.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s CERV programme under Grant Agreement No 101138279, the Daphne-CHILD programme with Eurochild and Terre des hommes.
Eurochild plays a leading role in the project. For more information, visit: https://eurochild.org/.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
