Emotion Garden
Emotion Garden is a mobile game that helps children ages 3 to 9 build emotional awareness through gentle, visually guided check-ins. Many children don’t have access to therapy or consistent support at home, which can make it harder to learn how to name and process feelings. This app explores how design can fill a small but important gap. It gives children a calm, accessible way to express emotions and giving caregivers a simple entry point for building emotional vocabulary together.
The app utilized emotional check-ins by asking a child to choose the feeling that fits them best from a set of expressive illustrations. Their answer grows a flower in a personal digital garden, turning feelings whether happy, sad, or angry, into something that blooms either way. By avoiding rewards or right answers, the app encourages children to see emotions neutrally and without judgment.
This project began as a Design for Good prompt in my UX course and was inspired by time spent with my 3-year-old niece, who is learning these skills with the guidance of her mother (a clinical therapist). I wanted to explore how a mobile experience could make that same kind of emotional foundation more accessible to families everywhere.
Research shows that emotional skills in early childhood can have a lifelong impact on wellbeing. Not all families have access to therapy or structured support, so I set out to create a playful way to help kids express feelings and start conversations with caregivers.
Key goals guided every decision: make it usable for non-readers, avoid rewards or punishments, and keep the experience calm and simple.
I designed a simple, linear flow so that even a 3‑year‑old could use the app without much help. Each check-in grows a flower, no matter the feeling.