It is not easy for children to understand abstract concepts and emotions seem quite abstract. Understanding them without giving them a name is even more complicated. Therefore, children need to understand their emotions in order to express them and thus have good emotional development and mental balance that will help them work more adequately empathy and assertiveness, essential in all areas.
When If your child is able to talk to you or someone they trust about how they are feeling, they will probably feel better later. Even if you’re not entirely sure whether or not they know how to express a certain emotion in words, you need to pay attention to his body language, facial expressions and behavior to help you better understand how he feels.
When a child recognizes his emotions and when he knows that you will always be ready to talk to him when he needs it, this can help him better understand his emotions and Communicate better with yourself and with others. If you don’t know how to help your child express their emotions, follow these tips.
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Be a good example of how to express emotions appropriately
You need to be a good example of how to appropriately express your emotions to your children. They need to see how it’s done with you as an example.It’s important that you express your feelings with words instead of actions so that your children learn to do the same.
For example, If you are excited about your work, tell your children how happy you are and how excited you feel. Alternatively, you can use your words in a calm way to express your feelings if you are upset or disappointed about something. This will help your children understand that feelings are normal for everyone and that expressing them is a good way to feel better.
Help your children put words to their feelings
Your children must put words to feelings and emotions in order to recognize them. For example, if your son is angry with his brother because he doesn’t want to play with him, say something like: ‘Right now you’re angry because your brother prefers to play with his friends.’ The more you make the term right for the emotion he is feeling, the more capable he will be after being able to communicate his emotions instead of doing it with actions -like tantrums-.
Teach him coping strategies
When a child he understands his emotions but does not know how to express them, he will need coping strategies to be able to return to his emotional balance.
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- Do not build a wall around you with punishments and reproaches when your child only needs you to guide him in the face of an overwhelmed feeling.
- Invite him to tell you what is happening to him, without questioning him, without pressure .
- Express your trust in him so that he feels safe and is able to express what is bothering him internally.
- Use the game so that they express the most difficult emotions.
- Use stories so that they better understand the emotions. Read these stories with them and explain that it is very important to have and feel emotions, all of them. They are considered positive or negative.
- Allow him to draw or write a diary to be able to express the feelings that he does not know how to express in words.
- Follow your instinct as a father and mother and give him the space they need to later be able to express their emotions.
Expressing emotions is not always easy and that is why it is necessary that you guide your children on that path so that they are able to traverse it later in the future on their own. How do you help your children deal with their emotions?