The Way I Feel

A wonderful book to help children name and express their emotions! Click the link below to hear this wonderful book read aloud

Learning to Manage Feelings

Children’s feelings and emotions can sometimes be intense. They can be quickly taken over by feelings of excitement, fear, frustration or joy. When feelings take over a child’s behaviour- it can be difficult for them to manage, without help from an adult. It is important for adults and caregivers to be able to recognize these emotions and feelings and label them! Understanding that having all emotions is acceptable, but teaching our children ways to cope with these feelings and emotions is crucial to their development.

How Parents Can help Children Manage Feelings

1. Notice Feelings

Before we can learn how to control feelings, we first have to notice them. You can help your child by noticing and paying attention to the ways they are feeling throughout the day and by giving them names- happy, angry, excited, frustrated.

     2. Talk About Everyday Feelings

Talking with your child about what it feels like when you are angry, sad, scared, nervous etc...will help them find ways to express their feelings without them having to act out through negative behaviours.

3. Create a Space for Talking About Difficult Feelings

Help children separate a feeling from a difficult reaction by helping them name it. Being able to say or think, “I am feeling angry”, means that children don’t have to act really angry before anyone notices. They can then choose how they will respond, perhaps by using one of the tools appropriate to get them out of that zone.

Things To Try At Home

• Use feeling words when you talk with your children about everyday situations: “You scored a goal! How exciting was that!” or “It must be pretty disappointing that you can’t play with Sarah today.”
• Invite children to describe their own feelings: “I’m feeling pretty nervous about going to the dentist. How about you?”

All Zones Are OKAY!

You just need to manage the one you're in!

Self-regulation is something everyone continually works on, whether we are aware of it or not. We all encounter difficult circumstances that test our limits from time to time. If we are able to recognize when we are becoming less regulated, we are able to do something about it to feel better and get ourselves into a better place (green zone). This comes easier for some of us, but for others, it is a skill that needs to be taught and practiced. This is the goal of the Zones of Regulation (or Zones for short) :)

Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.- Charles Swindoll