Supporting Your Child’s Emotional Development

Introduction
As an educator I often have parents ask me questions such as “Why is my child still having
tantrums at 9 years old?” or “How can I help my child calm down when they lose at a game?”
These, and other questions related to it, are connected to emotional development.
Emotional development involves learning what feelings and emotions are, understanding how
and why they happen, recognizing one’s own feelings and those of others, and developing
effective ways of managing them (KidsMatter, 2018).

Why is emotional development important?

• Emotional development is linked to social and academic success (Valiente et al., 2012;
Denham et al., 2011).
• Negative emotions negatively impact learning, while positive emotions promote
academic achievement (Valiente et al., 2012).
• The ability to access, manage, and communicate emotions is important to relationships
success (Denham et al., 2011).
The good news is, parents can help support their child’s emotional development.
• Parents are experienced adults who have advanced knowledge of emotions and strategies
for regulating them (Denham et al., 2011).

Actions parents can take to support their child’s emotional development

1) Teach emotion language
Read books with your child focusing on emotions to teach them about the different emotions. Be intentional about
the emotion language you use around your child. See book list below.

2) Model emotion regulation

Model emotion regulation strategies. E.g., “I am feeling frustrated right now. I am going to do figure 8 breathing to
calm down.” See regulation strategies below.

3) Mindfulness activities
Practice mindfulness activities with your child. Mindfulness is linked to positive mental health outcomes,
such as lower anxiety and depression (Greenberg & Harris, 2011). See links below.
Resources
Books • The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
• When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry...by Molly Bang
• Millie Fierce by Jane Manning
• Wilma Jean the Worry Machine by Julia Cook
• Star Wars: Search Your Feelings by Caitlin Kennedy

Emotion Regulation • Breathing strategies (figure 8, square, sphere, bubble)

Strategies https://copingskillsforkids.com/deep-breathing-exercises-for-kids
• Getting a drink of water
• Going for a walk
• Doing jumping jacks

Mindfulness • MindYeti https://www.mindyeti.com/dashboard

Activities • Go Noodle (Rainbow breathing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O29e4rRMrV4

References
Denham, S.A., Warren, H., Salisch, M., Benga, O., Chin, J.C., & Geangu, E. (2011). Emotions
and social development in childhood. In P.K. Smith, & C.H. Hart (Eds), Blackwell
Handbook of Childhood Social Development 2 nd Edition (Chapter 22, pp. 413-433).
Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Greenberg, M. T., & Harris, A. R. (2011). Nurturing mindfulness in children and youth: Current
state of research. Child Development Perspectives, 6 (2), 161-166.
Valiente, C., Swanson, J., & Eisenberg, N. (2012). Linking students’ emotions and academic
achievement: When and why emotions matter. Child Development Perspectives, 6 (2),
129-135.