5 Ways to Help Your Kids Understand Their Feelings

Dec 2

If you are struggling to help your kids understand their feelings you are not alone! Teaching emotional wellness skills can feel overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some practical tips you can use each day when big or even little feelings come up.

Tip 1: Share your own feelings when you feel them.

Feelings come and go throughout the day so share when you are happy, angry and when you are feeling frustrated. “Dad is feeling frustrated right now so I’m going to take some deep breaths.” This helps our kids see some healthy ways to cope and that our feelings come and go.

Tip 2: Ask how big their feeling is.

“Is this a tiny feeling or a huge feeling? What does it feel like your body?" What can we do to make it smaller? Does this feeling feel good or not so good?” These kind of questions can get them exploring, talking and even help bring the level of feeling down if it’s a tough feeling.

Tip 3: Play feelings charades.

Brush up on your acting skills. Grab some bits of paper and a bowl and list some feelings. Take turns pulling feelings and see if the other person can guess what they are. This helps our kids understand what kind of body language and faces go along with different feelings.

Tip 4: Draw or paint feelings

When your child is experiencing a big feeling ask them to draw it for you. Take out the art supplies and let them get creative. Be curious and don’t pass judgement on their art. Ask them to explain it to you after they finish. This can be a great way to diffuse uncomfortable emotions.

Tip 5: Explore feelings in their books, movies or TV shows.

Next time you are reading or watching a show together get curious about how the characters might feel or how they would feel in their shoes. This can prompt some great conversations.

As you can see, developing feelings awareness doesn’t have to be difficult. You can incorporate this into your regular daily routine to connect with your kids. The more they can express what they are feeling they will learn to tolerate all feelings and move through hard times.