Use this fun, tactile activity with EYFS or KS1 children to develop greater awareness of emotions, emotions vocabulary and ways in which children can use techniques to manage more uncomfortable feelings. They could take the experience (and let’s be honest here- we ALL feel fear A LOT more than we let on) and make it mean they are just a fearful person.

The next level after recognizing and regulating one’s emotions is to realize that there are many times that we have mixed emotions and we have choices about how we respond to those emotions. Whatever activities you and your child choose, make sure that they are specific to your child’s loves, that they can be done most of the time (although visiting granny may be something your child finds very calming, it's not something they can always access right now), and that they are things that you are happy with your child doing regularly. Try to include activities that have a sensory component so that your child can connect with them both on a sensory level and emotionally.

This activity is one we use in our Hands on Healing group to support families in communicating regularly about feelings. For example, the color red may represent anger and the color blue may represent feelings of sadness. Welcome to Family Fridays — a series designed to give parents and children fun, meaningful activities you can do at home to explore feelings of grief and remember your loved one in unique ways.

Think of a challenging situation that has happened in your life and fairly present for you every day – could be a tough dynamic at work, something happening in the larger world, a loss, etc. We use ours at home, although it's easy to use in the school context if you work with your child’s teacher. Everyone tries to bottle things up and this book really opens up how it's okay to feel but also okay to feel overwhelmed by those feelings at times to.

If you don’t have pom poms at home you can use different color strips of paper, beads, or you can send kiddos on a scavenger hunt to find things of like colors around the house. Make a Feelings Jar is a download printable make your own craft activity with 6 different jar labels and 5 different wording themes included. When you are lost in a swirl of emotions, pull the squares of paper out and ask yourself, “What feeling(s) is most present for me regarding this challenge today?

We encourage families to utilize this jar as a way to check-in with each other about the feelings they are experiencing and how BIG those feelings are. You know, the one where even as you are saying it, a little voice at the back of your mind is reminding you that it is NOT useful and the parent guilt that you are about to feel will definitely not be worth having said it! Talking about breathing, using guided belly breathes can be a fantastic tool to use in the moment to help children manage big feelings. Children can think about how they've felt each day and place the shape into the jar which best describes their emotions. It's also great in building social skills because it allows children to tap into their creative side in acting out feelings.I really enjoyed the first book in the series, in which a bunny puts all sorts of gorgeous moments in jars and finds a friend/lover along the way! If you’ve already done that, your item hasn’t arrived, or it’s not as described, you can report that to Etsy by opening a case.