Emotions are expressed through feelings, using language, learning to calm oneself and to treat others with kindness and empathy. Preschoolers learn about these emotions at school and at home. They are often over-excited and give extreme reactions to these emotions such as tantrums, yelling, hitting, biting which sometimes can cause great frustration for parents and caretakers.
Children learn emotional habits in several ways and express their feelings. They learn both at school and at home when they are interacting with their family and friends. They try to pick up these things very quickly and naturally by watching how others respond to various situations and by mimicking their behavior.
Here are a few ways to help the child to identify/recognize their emotions:
Identify different Emotions:
Children should be taught to identify different emotions which they experience at home or school. Let the child know that feeling different emotions is as quiet as normal. By letting them know about various emotions and giving them the vocabulary needed to describe how they are feeling, they can express them more productively.
Help them to recognize their Body Language and Facial Expressions:
Children need to be taught how to identify their own emotions, through their facial expressions and body language and also of others. We can do this is by making them learn to pay attention to their own body signals, such as queasy when nervous, or tight shoulders and balled fists when they are angry. When they recognize it in themselves, they can easily pick up facial expressions and body language of others and learn to react accordingly.
Showing them the Emotions Chart:
We can provide a visual reference for children to use and encourage them to recognize and identify how they are feeling. They simply identify the emotion on the chart and that shows how they are feeling.
Through Fun way:
Emotions can be introduced and taught in a fun way by playing a game with children, by using the emotions chart, matching the emotions or emoji cards, etc. This helps the child to identify their feelings or emotions.
Try to connect their Experiences with Emotions:
Children learn to accept their emotional state when they realize that it is normal to feel the way they are. As parents, we can provide them opportunities to identify their feelings in a correct way. This helps the child to connect with their emotions in the classroom.
Hence, learning to get through these emotions helps the child to succeed not just in childhood but also in adulthood. These playful activities can be a perfect way for engaging young children with recognizing, thinking and talking about emotions. That’s the reason why emotions for kids are very important!
