Simple tips to teach your child to manage their emotions

Emotional control isn’t something that children are born knowing how to do, it’s something that they must learn over time. Doing so will help them to stay calm so that they can complete tasks and achieve their goals without feeling too emotionally overwhelmed. Parents can help their children develop the right skills to manage their emotions, using the following tips from a nursery in Halstead.

1. Teach your child to ask for help

When children are faced with problematic situations, they often don’t know how to react, which can lead to emotional outbursts and temper tantrums. With that said, try and teach your child that asking for help is okay if a problem arises. For instance, if they are in class and they don’t understand the work, they should raise their hand and ask the teacher for some additional support, rather than getting upset or worried. Likewise, if they’re at home and something goes wrong, they should come to you for advice on how to deal with the problem. 

2. Encourage them to embrace their mistakes

Your child might lose control of their emotions when they make a mistake, and worry that they are going to be judged or will get into trouble. So, help them forgive themselves for making mistakes. Remind them that even adults get things wrong sometimes, but we learn from our errors and avoid them again in the future. Don’t be hard on them when they make a mistake; instead say something like “Oops, that was silly, what can you do next time to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”. 

3. Practise coping methods

Help your child figure out what they should do if they feel overly emotional. For example, if they’re doing their homework and get frustrated because it’s too hard, encourage them to take a break and come back to it in half an hour when they’ve calmed down. Figure out what soothes them when emotions are heightened and encourage them to do it. Some kids like to listen to music, while others prefer to hold their favourite stuffed toy. Age is a contributing factor, but determining what eases their emotional turmoil is important for teaching suitable coping methods.

For more on the subject, Talya from Motherhood-The Real Deal has seven effective strategies on parenting a child with intense emotions.