Are You Looking for Ways to Teach Children Emotional Regulation?
Your toddler may have thrown a major tantrum in the middle of your weekly supermarket run- that’s natural and expected. However, if you’ve been sensing that your child is experiencing issues regulating his emotions even as he is growing, it might be a sign that he needs your help and assistance.
Ways to Teach Children Emotional Regulation
And that’s exactly what this post is all about. Scroll down and keep reading to discover 5 effective ways to help your child navigate his emotions in a much better way.
Open Up About Feelings & Emotions
One of the best ways to help a child regulate his emotions better is to allow him to be open about them. As much as you’d like to, don’t shut him out when he complains and gets majorly upset about the fact that his favorite cereal isn’t in stock. Remember that it might not be a big deal to you, but it is to him.
Allow him to open up to you, and listen to what he has to say without judging him. Acknowledge his feelings and show empathy. Then gently remind him that it is okay to feel how he feels at the moment, but that there are better ways to deal with those feelings.
Relax and Breathe
The effects of deep breathing and relaxation are underestimated. They can show magical results when it comes to helping your child feel more calm and composed. Make it a point to practice deep breathing the next time any of you in the house feel like your emotions are getting the better of you.
This seemingly simple act has been found to promote emotional well-being by regulating the nervous system, increasing the relaxation response of your body, and just making you feel more in your natural state.
In fact, some experts also believe that practicing deep breathing exercises on a daily basis can help you regulate stress and control the fight or flight response of your body.
Create a Calming Corner
Having a calming kit or a calming corner to help your child out when his emotions get too much to handle is another excellent approach you can take. If you’re setting up a corner, make sure it is the space in your home where your child feels the most relaxed. It could be anywhere- his playroom, a spot in the garden, or even the kitchen. Let him spend a few minutes there, preferably uninterrupted to allow him to just be himself.
You could create a calming kit by putting together a small bag filled with his items like his favorite toy, his favorite books, or even just some craft and activity sets to keep him occupied and get him to feel less overwhelmed.
Teach Action and Consequence
Remember that emotional regulation is not a skill that we are born with. It is learned over time. One of the best ways to teach that to children is to get them aware of actions and consequences.
For instance, after your child is calm after a major meltdown, sit down with him and explain how his actions may have impacted the people around him. Remind him that his actions and behaviors have a consequence. You can also create a chart that maps these together if you’d like. Engage in meaningful conversations about these topics.
This will help him get vigilant the next time he experiences any of these big emotions and he’ll want to feel more in control before expressing them.
Teach Emotional Regulation Through Stories
Storytelling is a powerful way to teach growing children about literally anything, and that includes emotional regulation too. Look up some good books that teach children about how to conduct themselves better, and how to deal with situations when they feel angry or upset or hurt, all through stories.
Ways to Teach Children Emotional Regulation – Books that will help
Create Your Own Calm and Create Your Own Happy are 2 of my books that are packed with activities to helps kids learn ways to emotionally regulate. they are also tons of fun and will keep kids entertained for hours whilst still teaching them some important stuff.
if you have any ways to teach children emotionally regulation that you would like to add then I would love to hear form you. Do drop me a comment below.