Reading books to help your toddler understand their feelings and emotions

What you need 

1. A book that features emotions such as, The Way I Feel by Janan Cain 

What to do 

1. Find a quiet place to read with your toddler. If you can, put your phone on silent and turn off the TV to avoid getting distracted.  
2. Read the book together and chat with your toddler about the emotions in the book.  
3. Give them time to look at the pictures and talk about what they notice.  
4. Help them to think about when they have felt some of these emotions and what they did in those situations.  
5. Talk about what you do when you feel angry or sad and what helps you to calm down in those moments.  

Good to know 

There are so many great books available that help very young children understand what their emotions feel like. The Way I Feel is a truly lovely story that explores real world examples of emotion... and it covers them all.  

Expressing emotion can be hard; emotions can change from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. All of us have feelings, and they make up who we are. Giving young children the chance to learn that feelings can be understood and dealt with will let them know that having them and expressing them is perfectly ok.