Feelings are a normal part of being human. One of the most important things we can teach children is how to deal with their feelings appropriately. Children must learn to identify their own emotions in order to become successful adults. Think about it: would you want to work or be in a relationship with someone who screamed and threw a fit every time he had a minor setback? Of course not. Adults need to know how to process their emotions and how to react appropriately. This starts with teaching kids about their feelings. 

 Here’s what we want to teach kids about their feelings:

 – You have feelings. This is normal. Sometimes you’ll feel happy, other times you’ll feel sad, or excited, or scared or anxious or overwhelmed. These are all normal feelings. 

 – Your feelings come and go. Feelings are never permanent. This is true for good and for bad feelings. 

 – Other people around you also have feelings. You should think about how your actions might affect another person’s feelings. 

The next several posts on the blog will focus on building out those concepts. We’ll share simple, concrete strategies to help kids embrace their feelings. But in the meantime, here’s a start: talk about feelings with kids. If you see a kid is crying, name that feeling. Say, “I see that you’re feeling sad.” If they’re excitedly telling you about what they did at recess, say, “It sounds like you had a great time at recess! You’re feeling so happy about it!” Just the act of naming feelings is a great place to start and helps kids know that feelings are a normal part of everyday life.