10 Effective Ways to Teach Young Children about Emotions

It’s never too early to set the stage for healthy emotional development! If you work with or care for infants and toddlers, you play a major part in preparing them to identify, express, and manage their emotions.

Excerpted and adapted from the highly anticipated book Unpacking the Infant–Toddler Pyramid Model, today’s post gives you 10 ideas for supporting infants and toddlers as they learn all about emo­tions—their own, and the feelings of people around them.

Decorate your classroom with feeling face posters and pictures (visual displays of feeling faces paired with written words in English and the children’s home languages). As older infants and toddlers point to the faces, say the words for the various emotions. You might also take photos of children in the classroom as they express dif­ferent emotions, label the emotions, and post them around the room in various places (e.g., diaper area, book area, block area).

Have a feelings “check-in” on arrival. A consistent arrival routine can encourage older infants and toddlers to begin to identify how they are feeling when they arrive each day. Start with two or three feeling photos or words and add feelings as they become more familiar. For example, place a feelings chart by the sign-in area along with a mirror. As you greet children and families, encourage families to look in the mirror and help their child de­termine how they are feeling. The parent and child can put their picture by the feeling photo.

Label feelings throughout the day. Offer “feeling word” labels for how infants and toddlers might be feeling during the rest of the day’s activities, and label your own feelings, too. Help infants and toddlers recognize others’ emotions by pointing out peers’ feelings to them.

Learn and use names for feeling words in children’s home languages. At the beginning of the year, ask families how children express certain emotions at home with a “Getting to Know You” worksheet. You might also visit the homes of incoming children to meet families in their environment. If children are multilingual, ask fami­lies to provide words and the correct pronunciations for various feelings so they can be displayed in the classroom in the family’s native language and used in conversations.

Plan games, sing songs, and use finger plays that incorporate feeling words. Examples include playing games such as peek-a-boo while labeling the emo­tion that matches your facial expression (“Boo, I’m happy. Boo, I’m sad.”), rolling a feelings dice with pictures of children displaying different emotions, or taping emotion faces on the floor and encour­aging children to jump on particular faces (e.g., excited, scared, or sad face).

Read books that use feeling words and draw infants’ and toddlers’ attention to how the storybook characters might be feeling. Find books that use characters who infants and toddlers can identify with (i.e., Sesame Street, Disney) and who express a range of emotions, as well as books that represent the cultures of the children in the classroom.

Offer support to infants and toddlers who are experiencing strong feelings (upset, angry) using co-regulation strategies. To best sup­port infants and toddlers during difficult situations, stay close to the child who may be experiencing a problem. Model strategies for calming down (e.g., Tucker the Turtle; breathing techniques).

Use real-life classroom situations to help toddlers problem-solve. Let children know that when problems arise, it’s all right to have strong feelings about those problems and that we can solve prob­lems when we approach them calmly and collaboratively. Introducing children to problem-solving strategies can help them learn to navigate difficult situations and realize that supportive adults are available who will help them when they encounter problems.

Send information and practical strategies home for families. Use communication strategies such as daily sheets or an app to share practical and meaningful information about the emotional literacy strategies that are being used in your classroom.

Individualize your approach. While developmental milestones exist related to acquisition of social-emotional skills, remember that all children develop at their own pace, with teachers and family members playing a critical role in this development. Promote young children’s emotional literacy by considering each child’s temperament and development and seeking family input. When a child’s emotional development is delayed, gather information from family members and determine if additional observations and/or assessments are needed.

Suggestions for Multilingual Learners

This blog post was adapted from Unpacking the Infant–Toddler Pyramid Model, from the chapter “Teaching Social Skills and Promoting Emotional Competencies” by Sarah Behrens, Abby L. Taylor, Tweety Yates, Marina Velez, and Michaelene M. Ostrosky.