Teaching Emotions

When Brayden was about two, we started this game I call, "I am going to look..." He absolutely loved it. We started the same game with Kaitlyn around two, and at 2.5 it is still a favorite game for her.

AGE RANGE
Two and up.

SKILLS TAUGHT
This is a great activity to help your child identify feelings. This really helps cut down on tantrums due to communication issues. When your child is upset, you can talk to your child about how he is feeling because he will have a vocabulary for it. It also is a great one-on-one activity for a parent and child.

SUPPLIES

• Parent
• Child

ACTIVITY

1. Sit down and face your child. I have found this to be effective in the child's room on the bed (if it is big enough for both of you). Wherever you do it, just be sure it is somewhere the child is comfortable mentally.
2. Tell your child, "I am going to look..." (pause)..."happy!"
3. Smile and look happy.
4. Tell your child, "I am going to look..." (pause)..."sad."
5. Look sad.
6. Repeat this, alternating through emotions. At some point, your child will likely want to do it too. If not, ask if he wants to try.
7. Another way to involve your child is ask him how he wants you to look.

As your child gets used to this game, you can alternate. Expect that in the beginning, he won't remember how to look for different emotions. This is building a new vocabulary for him. When you first start this, use simple emotions such as "happy," "sad," "scared," etc. As your child grows, you can add more complex emotions that build on the basic ones such as "confident" and "anxious"
EMOTION CHART