What Emotional Development is and why it's important

Emotional development means learning about what emotions are, understanding how and why they occur and developing effective ways for managing and communicating them. Children with healthy emotional development turn into adults who: - Display self-control - Express and communicate their feelings in healthy ways - Listen and pay attention to others - Take pride in their accomplishments - Have a positive self-image - Ask for help when needed - Show affection to their friends and family - Are aware of and responsive to other peoples’ feelings What can you do to help your child with their emotional development? The family is the first and most important influence on a child's social-emotional development. For the most part, the family naturally fulfill this responsibility by being responsive to a child's needs and providing a safe environment in which they can grow and learn. Simple ways to do this are: Love your child Physical affection is so important at all stages of life. Being emotionally responsive and sensitive is just as important. Show interest in their interests, ask questions, connect with them in ways that work for your own unique relationship.

Acknowledge your child's feelings When your child has intense emotions (later, when calm) talk it through with them. Ask them to describe what they felt their body, and if you can, help them to label the emotions. Acknowledge and validate their experience, this’ll help them to feel safe with these big feelings. Be open with your own feelings Talk about how you feel too. This is just as important for when you're happy as when you're sad, angry or scared. However, remember to discuss your emotions in child-friendly ways so they your child doesn’t feel overwhelmed by or responsible for your feelings. Talk about others’ feelings Talking about what other people may be feeling and how this might influence their behaviour will help your child to think and theorise about others’ emotions. E.g. when reading a book, have your child guess what different characters might be thinking and feeling. #emotion #emotionalintelligence #eq #selfcontrol #selfregulation #depression #anxiety #socialanxiety #motherwound #childdevelopment #childled #emotionregulation #mentalhealth #wellbeing #connectedparenting #consciousparenting #responsiveparenting #socialskills #socialawareness #postpartumdepression #postnatalanxiety #postnataldepression #postpartumdepression #motherhood #parentskills #parentingstrategies #parentingtips #parentinghacks #evidencebased #scienceminded