Supporting Children in Childcare with Big Emotions
As children grow and develop and navigate the world around them, they are likely to experience a wide range of feelings and emotions with varying levels of intensity. For children, experiencing these feelings can be confusing and overwhelming at this early stage of development.
Supporting children’s emotional development is vital at a young age. As adults we have a key role in helping children to identify, understand and manage their feelings, often referred to as ‘Emotional Literacy’ or ‘Emotional Intelligence’. These key terms are defined as the ability to understand, express, and manage the emotions of oneself and others. Supporting emotional literacy in children contributes to building lifelong skills for wellbeing, healthy relationships, and resilience.
Big emotions can occur at any point in time and can sometimes be difficult to prevent as well as to diffuse. Here are some factors that can contribute to children’s big emotions:
- Feeling hungry, thirsty or tired
- Being overstimulated
- Being sick or unwell
- Individual personalities and temperaments
- Experiencing big changes – new home, sibling, changes within the family unit.
- Unrealistic expectations
- Inability to communicate needs and wants
- Not wanting to follow rules or boundaries
- Desire for attention and interaction
Here are some tips to support your child with big emotions:
- Naming feelings – help your child to connect language with emotions. Identifying and naming what they are feeling will help in the process of communicating feelings to others.
- Validate feelings - Ensure you are not dismissing or reducing feelings, take the time to acknowledge your child’s feelings to let them know its okay to feel whatever it is they are feeling.
- Routines and Consistency - Predictable routines and consistency with boundaries and behaviours can be comforting and reassuring for children. Children can regulate their emotions if they feel more in control knowing what is happening next and what the consequences will be for certain behaviours and actions.
- Lead by example - Children mirror our behaviour and will often follow our lead and pick up on our energy. When you model emotional intelligence, they learn by example. Ensure you remain cool, calm and collected to support co-regulation.
- Teach calming methods – If your child’s emotions have escalated, have some calming methods handy to share with your child. This can be counting to 20, practicing deep breathing, using fidget or comfort toys, listening to relaxation music, a physical activity to release tension, or simply some solitude in a calming space. Once a child is regulated and their emotions aren’t heightened, it is then a good time to talk to them and work through any issues.
- Teach through stories – explore a range a story books, songs or play materials that focus on feelings and emotions. Talk to your child about feelings and how they can be expressed appropriately. Discuss different scenarios you think your child may come across and talk to them about how they might feel, how others may feel and what actions would be appropriate.
Your child’s ability to understand and manage emotions will develop over time and often at their own unique pace. Having adults actively support them with emotional development in the early years and in their childcare will lay the groundwork for emotional intelligence into adulthood.
Children smiling and enjoying lunch at Sage Early Education Centre.