Have you ever wondered why your child suddenly cries, or resorts to extreme stubbornness in the face of a simple situation?
In reality, your child isn't "naughty," but rather sometimes overwhelmed by intense emotions that flood his little heart, emotions he can't name or express. The greatest gift you can give him isn't just teaching him letters and numbers, but giving him the "language" to express what's going on inside him, so he can stop crying and start talking.
In the early years of a child's life, the challenges lie not only in their words but also in the feelings that form within them without them knowing how to express them. They may be angry, sad, anxious, or afraid, but they lack the words to explain what is happening in their heart.
Emotional intelligence is not something a child is born with, but is built step by step, and the first of these steps is to teach him how to name what he feels.
Stories and educational books are effective tools for teaching children the language of emotions, as they transform abstract concepts into concrete images that young children can understand. Children are not born aware of their feelings, and when they lack the ability to name what they are feeling, they may resort to aggressive behavior or shouting as an alternative expression. Therefore, equipping them with the "emotional alphabet" is the first step in building a balanced and harmonious personality.
You can begin teaching your child to name feelings by associating them with situations, colors, and senses. Some story series—like "Sometimes My Feeling " from the educators—link feelings to colors; anger is associated with red, sadness with blue, shyness with gray, and joy with yellow. This association helps the child recall the feeling and clearly know its name.
Next, introduce him to stories of children who intelligently manage their emotions and learn to solve problems, such as "Tim's Series from Educators." These stories demonstrate how a child thinks critically and seeks solutions instead of succumbing to their feelings. At a more advanced stage, you can introduce stories that show how protagonists learn to manage their emotions from their surroundings, such as "Me and My Feelings Series from Educators." These stories address anger, shame, or fear and present healthy ways to cope with them.
Practical exercise: "What color does your heart feel today?"
To turn this idea into a practical application, try this simple exercise with your child when he comes home from school or before bedtime:
First: embody and name the feeling
- Bring different colors:
- Red (for anger) – Blue (for sadness) – Yellow (for joy) – Gray (for shame).
- Display one color, for example, the red card.
- Ask your child: "What do you look and how do you move when you are angry?" and let him act out anger with his body.
- After the act, simply tell him: "This is called anger."
Second: Choose a way to deal with the feeling together.
After naming the feeling, help him choose an appropriate way to deal with it, such as:
- When angry: drink water, change location, sit quietly, take deep breaths.
- When feeling shy: breathe calmly, ask for help, or ask for a hug.
- When sad: talking, drawing, sitting with someone you love.
In this way, the feeling is transformed from a screaming fit into a name, a color, and a way of dealing with it , and the child learns over time to understand himself instead of exploding with his feelings.
Remember, a child with emotional intelligence is a child who has an internal compass that helps him understand himself and control his emotions, making him more able to cope with life's pressures and more successful in his relationships with others.
In the end, teaching a child to name his feelings is not a simple or secondary matter, but rather a foundation upon which his psychological balance and ability to interact healthily with the world are built.
A child who knows the name of his feeling knows how to deal with it.