The importance of teaching children how to identify their emotions and express their feelings.

During the toddler and preschool years, children experience great emotions. Meltdowns and outbursts tend to be daily occurrences. If children grow up not learning how to express their feelings, it can end up harming their mental and physical health. Repressing feelings can lead to unhealthy relationships and poor decision-making. Teaching children how to identify feelings will help manage their responses to their emotions and help promote emotional intelligence. Learning this at a young age will help them realize that feelings are a normal part of our daily life.

How can you help children acknowledge and express their feelings and emotions?

1. First, acknowledge how they are feeling. Most of the time, children do not know what feelings they are experiencing at that moment.
2. Ask them questions to help them recognize the emotion they are feeling. Are you feeling frustrated, upset, mad, angry, or happy? When you help provide explanations it will help them understand more about how they are feeling. Give them a moment and listen to them. Get down to their eye level when you are talking to them, this will help them not feel intimidated.
3. Recognize the emotion. Try and ask a lot of questions which will help produce a response. “Did something or somebody hurt or bother you?” If they were able to express how they felt, show them empathy, and ask them how we can help them feel better. “Do you need a hug?” “Can I help you talk to your friend about how they made you feel?” These are just a couple of examples. When children can recognize their emotions and understand them, they will have fewer behavioral issues and a positive attitude.
4. Reassure them and let them know that it’s ok to have these feelings. Ask them what we can do next time to help them not feel “upset” or “mad.” Talk and come up with solutions together. “Maybe next time, try going to your teacher and tell them someone is not sharing with you.” “Tell your friend that their words are making you feel sad.”
5. If a strong emotion has a violent outcome, first we always acknowledge the emotion. Tell them it’s ok to have these feelings and emotions. However, it’s never acceptable to hurt someone.

If your child is still having trouble expressing their feelings and is having daily meltdowns, there are some great resources available that can help.

Music is one great example. Listening to peaceful music can help reduce anxiety and overstimulation. Music has a positive effect on mental health, mood, and attitude. Start your day by listening to soothing music and see how it affects your attitude.

Journals and coloring books are other great examples. Writing and coloring are therapeutic and calming. It is a creative outlet when children are unable to verbalize how they feel.  Sensory play also has many benefits that can help with self-expression. Sensory activities support language development, cognitive growth, and social interaction.

Conclusion

Children learn by observation. Modeling a positive attitude and watching how you react to situations, will affect their responses. Talk to your child about your feelings too, try making it a part of your daily routine. This will make them more comfortable talking to you and help them learn that everyone has feelings and emotions. Teach them positive words they can say and start familiarizing them with labeling their feelings. Learning how to express emotions will help reduce anxiety, promote emotional intelligence, and gain self-confidence. Normalizing how we feel and deal with emotions will have a lasting and healthy impact on your child’s life.