How are you feeling today?
…brave - I feel like I can take on the world.
…afraid - I feel small and scared.
…glad - I feel happy and thankful.
Today I Am… is an award-winning book (originally Dutch and later translated into many languages). It contains vivid drawings by Mies van Hout, an artist and illustrator who lives in The Netherlands with her husband and three children.
It is a great starting point to teach children about emotions - the depth and breadth of feelings that we humans have been blessed to experience.
The book features 20 emotions, each accompanied with a drawing of a fish, suitably coloured, positioned, and shaped to express the specific emotion.
These emotions include: glad, curious, amazed, furious, sad, shocked, bored and happy.
Why is it important for children to learn about emotions? Well, psychology 101 says that learning to recognise and name your emotions is the first step towards managing them.
It is desirable for children to learn to identify their emotions accurately, and to know that it is perfectly normal to sometimes feel seemingly BIG emotions such as anger or sadness. To learn that it’s neither right nor wrong to feel a certain way, and that there are socially acceptable ways to express our emotions in a constructive and not destructive manner.
For instance, they are angry over something. Perhaps another child or sibling came and snatched away the toy they were playing with. We can teach them that shouting or hitting out of anger does not help the situation; rather, using their words to express their feelings: “I feel angry because you took my toy” or simply “I’m upset. Please give that back to me” might be more helpful.
We could also give them other age-appropriate ideas to cope with big emotions. Perhaps take a walk or run around the block. Or ask mummy and daddy for a hug. Or ask for their favourite toy.
When the kids are older, we could also do role plays to help them practise expressing their emotions in a way that is not hurtful or demeaning.
To help Vera along in this emotional growth journey, I’ve been asking her questions like:
- What can you do when you feel _____? (angry, sad, etc)
- How do you think Javier felt when you _______ (took his toy, didn’t want to play with him, etc)?
What tools do you use to help your kids express their emotions and learn to cope?
And now, we have 5 copies of Today I Am…to giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Contest is open to Singaporeans and international participants and ends 9 September, Monday night at 11:59pm. Good luck!
PS. Thanks to the good folks at The Fish Book Co for sponsoring this giveaway!
i feel awesome as the weekend is near!