If you were to look up the term ‘Emotional Intelligence in children’ on Google, perhaps the first thing you will learn is, to begin with, learning and practicing the ‘naming of feelings’ with the child, with recommendations on getting an emotional intelligence book for starters too!
Talking about feelings sounds easy, but it does include some complex learning. As a culture, we tend to relegate emotional intelligence to passive learning – as a side-effect of everything else that they happen to learn and unlearn through childhood.
However, just like everything else, talking about feelings also needs practice. Getting comfortable talking about how they feel, and learning to convey that clearly- without more emotions blocking them out is an important skill that children need to develop- one that will keep them in good stead not only in their childhood but also lay a solid foundation for an emotionally grounded adult life.
The trick is to start them young. As always, books are a great aid for anything challenging, especially having to do with Big emotions for little people.
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Let’s Talk About Feelings is a book that is perfect to introduce the art of recognizing and talking about feelings in young children. Authored by Ritika Subhash, a mom, a passionate educator, and a children’s book author, Let’s Talk About Feelings challenges the young reader with a situation.
An Emotional Intelligence Book for Reading, Writing & Articulation
The book is presented in rhyme, describing simple everyday situations for kids. It then follows up with a question on the exact feelings evoked by the situation in question, forcing the reader to deploy his empathic side while analyzing a challenging situation.
What I liked about the situations presented is that they were both relatable, and also challenged the reader to think beyond his regular daily rhythm of activities. The book presents over 12 such situations and encourages the readers to immediately describe their feelings by writing them down, opening the doors to juicy conversations on feelings, and understanding why we feel the way we feel.
It also finishes strong by attaching a list of words describing feelings based on intensity drawing from Emotion Coach Travis Bradberry.
If you are looking for a simple and relatable emotional intelligence book that can up-level kids on reading, thinking, writing, and articulation, this is a highly recommended read.
Let’s Talk About My Feelings is available on Amazon for purchase.
