How to Identify Emotions in Kids

Video Transcript

"I'm going to talk a little about the skill of identifying their emotions and managing their emotions and as most of with younger children are aware children's emotions can get very intense sometimes very quickly and things that are very important to keep in mind is that for children their emotions do feel overwhelming and do need help containing them. It?s really important not to personalize their feelings if they're feeling very angry or lash out verbally to you. It is very important not to take that personally and take a time out for yourself if you need to, take a couple deep breathes for example you have child that brings a broken toy to you and they're upset about that. Some parents are really quick to say, "Oh! You know we'll get to another toy, its okay, don't worry about that its alright, its not a big deal. Essentially what you're doing is you're teaching that child to ignore their feelings and for that child it may be an important toy that maybe a big deal. so its important not try to jump in and fix it and take away the feeling. What is important is to validate so to let them know its important to have those feelings and to help them to put words to it. Such as "what to you feel when your toy is broken?" mad and angry I know I get mad and angry sometimes when something happens that breaks of mine that I really care about. What?s the best thing to do when you get mad and angry? Take some deep breathes. Take some deep breathes, yeah that could be a way to try to deal with it. Talk about it sometime you might feel like crying that?s okay too. So the important thing is you want your children to be able to start to be able to put words articulate the feelings that are coming up to them. Help them know they are safe, they are still loved and that you're going to protect them from hurting themselves or other things. Sometimes the temper tantrums can get pretty intense and again don't try to minimize their feelings or just try to get rid of them. They're real, they're valid and for children they can be very intense at times."