4 Ways To Teach Children Emotional Intelligence

How can you nurture your child’s emotional intelligence? Here are a few ways to do so. 

How does your child know what they are feeling? Better yet, are they able to identify and process such emotions? Help them name their feelings and watch as they come to understand these emotions and why they experience them. Use emotive words to build up a vocabulary that they can then draw from. Some ideas can include:

• Happy
• Sad
• Excited 
• Upset
• Shy
• Overwhelmed
• Disappointed 
• Angry 
• Nervous

A large part of teaching emotional intelligence in kids comes from setting a good example yourself. When your child is showing their emotions, don’t downplay them or tell them that they’re overreacting. This can have a negative effect on their expression as they might see showing their feelings as a sign of weakness. Never let them feel like showing emotion is wrong. Instead, validate these feelings and tell them that you understand the way that they feel. Better yet, give them an example of when you felt the same way. This will encourage them to share their emotions and show empathy to others as well. 

Kids who have good coping mechanisms are less likely to fall into unhealthy patterns like emotional eating, lashing out or even substance abuse later on. Knowing how to pick themselves up or turn their moods around is vital as children cannot always rely on others to do this for them. From effective breathing to taking a walk or even meditating, there are several ways your child can mitigate the impact of their emotions. Tap into what your child responds to and help them create a network of mechanisms that work well in difficult situations. 

There’s more than one way to show a specific feeling but some are certainly healthier than others. We suggest showing your child the right way to display their emotions. For example, crying and sitting in your room is an acceptable way to show that you are sad but breaking or throwing things is not okay. When your child knows how to represent themselves and their emotions, they’ll be able to accurately portray how they are feeling. This means less frustration for them and less guesswork for you. 

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