Good Feelings; Bad Feelings

Just like us, their parents and grandparents, a child has mixed emotions. One minute he can feel giddy with happiness and the next he can be crying over a broken toy. You can help your child grow emotionally by helping him identify his feelings and investigate where they come from. It is important to help him accept his bad or sad feelings as much as his good and happy ones and then help him work through them. You can do this by allowing him to own his feelings or emotions and letting him know it’s OK to be himself. On the other hand, you also need to teach him that not all behavior is acceptable. For example, kicking and hitting his sibling is not an appropriate method of releasing his emotions when he is angry. However, he can verbalize his anger and tell his brother or sister he is angry at them and why. If both parties are calm enough to work it through they can talk about it but if not maybe this is a good time to redirect him towards a physical activity like going for a bike ride until his strong feelings subside. By teaching him to verbalize his feelings, you are helping him to work through them and let go of the negative ones and capitalize on the good ones.

Making “feeling finger puppets” with your child and then helping him identify his feelings is a good way to help him understand and accept his emotions.

Finger puppets
You will need:
Felt pieces of different colors
A stapler
Craft glue
Plastic eyes (optional)
Scissors

Choose five emotions like happy, sad, mad, scared, angry, and excited. Pick a different color of felt for each emotion. Help your child cut out a circle for a face with a neck extending into the shoulders which become the band to form a ring around his finger. Cut out five of these, one for each finger and the thumb of one hand. Using bits of felt, cut out tiny shapes of noses, eyebrows and eyes to fit each emotion. The small plastic eyes you can buy at craft stores work well also. Glue the appropriate mouth, nose, eyes and eyebrows on each face to form the different expressions; sad, mad, scared, angry and excited. Place each band around the child’s finger and his thumb to fit, and then staple the ends of the strips together. Have him wear all five finger puppets at once or one at a time. Take time to discuss with him when he feels happy or sad or excited. Make up a story with him involving all the emotions. Laugh and have fun!

Ruth Willms is author of the Christian children's novel The Lion Tree and is co-owner of WAHM-Articles.com. Submit your best WAHM articles at www.WAHM-Articles.com and find high quality reprint WAHM articles for your publications.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

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