4 Easy Ways to Start Helping Kids Understand Their Feelings

Let’s help our kids stop and think about their feelings.

Doesn’t it sometimes seem like kids operate on 3 settings: happy, angry, and unconscious? But kids feel all the emotions, and when they’re little, they don’t often know the difference between being tired and mad, nervous and angry, ashamed and upset, frustrated and furious. If we’re honest, sometimes we don’t know the difference when we’re feeling similarly!

I know I’ve had so many moments when a child has been melting down and it’s been helpful to verbalize, “Hey, you sound upset and angry.” Or “You sound scared right now.” Or “Let’s take a deep breath because you sound so excited your words are rushing together.” Putting words to what must seem like a flurry of yelling, crying, stomping, or fussing helps kids put a name on the mysterious thing going on inside their bodies.