Teaching Your Child to Manage their Emotions

We’ve all been there when we haven’t been able to comprehend our own thoughts and feelings, especially at a much younger age. We’re still developing how to come to terms with these many emotions we face at different stages in our lives – it’s just about recognising them and working on being able to manage them.

For children, here are some top tips from this prep school in Herts to help with the management of their feelings.

Use visual charts

Visual charts with a range of different faces on them will help your child know what to associate with each feeling when they arise. Your child might not know what they’re feeling when they’re expressing frustration for example; use the chart to pick out what your child is feeling. Ask them if they are feeling angry, sad, annoyed, and so on, to help with their understanding of each type of emotion.

Test what emotions your child is aware of

Reading a story, watching a TV programme or a film are all chances for you to test what your child is aware of. You can pause a film and ask your child to tell you what the main character is feeling, or stop for a break when reading with your child.

At a break or the end of a chapter review what your child has learnt about in a story and see if they’re able to identify what each character is feeling at this point. Are there any clear emotions your child can pick out? Give them the chance to have a think about how the story is unfolding and how that will change people’s emotions.

Show your children the importance of mindfulness

In being able to handle feelings individually there is an element of mindfulness involved. If your child is able to take a step back from a stressful situation to assess their next moves, they’ll be much better at handling different emotions.

*This is a collaborative post