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As dads, part of our job is to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of parenting. If you've been a dad for more than 5 minutes, you already know how much of a wild ride that can be. One minute, you're enjoying a quiet Saturday morning, and the next, your peace and quiet are rudely interrupted by slamming doors, raised voices, and teary toddlers.
Teaching kids to identify emotions is critical to their development. Getting a handle on their feelings allows kids to communicate better, build empathy, and generally handle life's ups and downs without having a meltdown at every upset.
Understanding Emotions
Psychologists have identified several basic emotions: happiness, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust. We express our feelings differently through facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language.
Emotions help us navigate and respond to the world. For example, fear can help us avoid danger, while happiness can encourage us to do more of what's good for us. Understanding emotions in ourselves and others can make us better decision-makers and improve our communication.
"The ability to understand and manage your emotions, and those of the people around you, is emotional intelligence."
Emotional Training Aids for Kids
Emotional training aids are great for dads to help children of all ages understand and express their emotions effectively.
1. Emotion Flashcards
You can purchase ready-made flashcards online or make your own with the kids (here are some templates to help). You play the game by showing a card and saying the emotion out loud. Get your kids to mimic the expression and repeat the word. Use them as part of a daily routine, or play a quick round before bed or playtime.
2. Mirror Play
Sit in front of a mirror with your child and make different facial expressions, encouraging your child to copy you as best they can. Make it interactive by asking the child questions, such as "Can you show me a happy face?" or "What does a surprised face look like?"
3. Storytime with Emotions
Reading stories based on emotional themes is a great way to teach kids of all ages about emotions. Select a story with a clear emotional theme as part of the plot line. As you read out loud, ask questions about the character's feelings and how the child thinks they relate to real-life situations. A fantastic book series for this is When I'm Feeling by Trace Moroney, which covers a variety of emotions in a relatable way for young children.
4. Emotion Charades
Charades is a fun game that helps kids of all ages express and recognise emotions through acting. Write down different emotions on cards, and take turns drawing a card to act it out without speaking. After each successful guess, discuss the emotion and how to handle it, making it both educational and entertaining for everyone.
5. Emotion Journals
This is an excellent way for kids to explore and work through their feelings using the written word. Provide each child with a notebook to be used as their journal and then discuss their entries to help them understand more about their feelings. For older kids, you could also suggest using the Journey app—a simple digital journaling tool that helps users reflect on their emotions and promote mental clarity.
6. Roleplaying Scenarios
Role-playing is an immersive way to help kids recognise and understand emotions and ideas about how to handle them. You can create scenes from real-life situations or make them up, such as resolving a conflict with a friend. Allow each child to play a role from both sides of the engagement. After the role-play, you can discuss the emotions and how they were handled.
Helping your kids get a handle on their emotions is like giving them a cheat code for life. Flashcards, charades, and the occasional meltdown are all part of the journey—just remember, the smoother their emotional ride, the less likely you’ll be the one getting slammed by the door.
DADDING IN ACTION |
Tonight, play a quick round of emotion charades with your kids and talk about how they would handle the emotions they act out. |
RESOURCES:
Podcast:
"Emotionally Intelligent Parenting with Stephanie Pinto" is an excellent weekly crash course for dads who want to learn emotional intelligence and pass it on to their kids.
Books:
"Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive" is a fantastic introduction to emotional intelligence kids and adults can use to improve their emotional intelligence.
"When I'm Feeling" by Trace Moroney – A fantastic book series to help children understand and relate to a range of emotions, perfect for storytime with a purpose.
App:
Journey – A simple and intuitive digital journaling app that helps older kids reflect on their emotions, promoting mental clarity and emotional growth.
Website:
"Emotional ABCs" is an award-winning, evidence-based program that teaches kids emotional intelligence and social skills. On the site, you will find interactive online lessons and activities that help kids better understand and manage their emotions.
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