The 3-Second Trick to Develop your Childs Emotional Literacy

The 3-Second Trick to Develop your Childs Emotional Literacy

Helping Kids Tune Into Their Emotions: The 3-Second Trick That Changes Everything

The way children feel emotions in their bodies is just as important as naming them. But often, we focus on teaching kids to say, “I’m happy” or “I’m sad” without helping them notice how their body experiences those feelings.

The other day, my son was playing a colour-by-numbers game on his iPad. (One I don’t mind him playing, because it’s super calm—classical music, soothing colours, the works!) After he finished, he turned to me and said:

“Gosh, I feel so calm now!”

Instead of just agreeing, I asked:

“Wow, that’s great! How do you know you feel calm?”

He paused, rubbed his body, and said:

“I’m just so warm inside!” 🥹

And just like that, he connected his physical sensations to his emotions—a key skill in emotional literacy.

Why This Matters for Emotional Regulation

When kids learn to notice where emotions show up in their bodies, they develop better self-awareness, which helps with self-regulation. Instead of reacting impulsively, they start recognising signs of frustration, excitement, nervousness, or calmness.

So, how do we nurture this awareness in children? Here are some of the resources and tips I use:

1. The Body Sensations Matching Activity

One of our favourite tools is our Body Sensations Matching Board. It’s a hands-on way to explore emotions beyond just words. We:

✅ Pick an emotion (e.g., calm, excited, anxious)
✅ Choose different physical sensations (e.g., warm, tingly, heavy, fluttery)
✅ Move the sensations onto the body where we feel them most

This simple activity helps kids understand that emotions aren’t just in their heads—they live in their bodies, too!

2. The “How Do You Know?” Question

Instead of just saying, “That’s great!” when my son tells me how he feels, I ask:

👉 “How do you know?”

It’s a quick, easy way to encourage deeper thinking about emotions. Kids often surprise us with their answers!

3. Movement & Mindfulness

We also use yoga and breathing exercises to strengthen that mind-body connection. Holding these poses gets kids to feel their bodies and notice changes in their breath, tension, and relaxation. Ivan loves ninja yoga because he feels like he's 'ninja training' as he says!

Try This With Your Child!

Next time your child expresses a feeling, ask them:

💡 “How do you know you feel that way?”

Their answer might surprise you! And if you’d love a simple way to make this a daily practice, our Body Sensations Matching Activity is a great tool to start with. You can check it out here.

Let me know in the comments—what’s one surprising thing your child has said about their feelings? I’d love to hear!

Kim x


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