Us Time: Feelings Unit

Angry! Happy! Frustrated! Silly! Scared! Sad!

Every person on the planet has a range of emotions, and children’s feelings are just as real and important for them as adults’ emotions. Babies express their feelings through smiles and cries. Toddlers start to experience a greater range of feelings and, with help, can start to identify their feelings. Before children’s language and regulation skills develop, they will use their facial expressions and bodies to express their feelings. This might include crying, stomping, or even hitting. It takes time to learn how to manage feelings. Children learn about their feelings — and how to control them — by watching their teachers, parents, grandparents, and caregivers. So remember: the kids are watching!

It can take years of practice for people to learn to express big feelings and to gain the language skills necessary to express themselves verbally. All the hard work will pay off. Identifying feelings and managing emotions helps children to develop empathy and independence. It helps them learn to tolerate frustration and navigate relationships with others, now and as they grow up.

Throughout this six-lesson unit on feelings, children will practice: naming feelings, talking about feelings, recognizing feelings in others, “coming down” from big feelings, and building empathy — feeling the feelings of others. By devoting a structured classroom time to discussions of feelings, you are showing your students how essential an understanding of feelings is to their play, learning, and growth.