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Social/emotional development starts in the womb, and ends in early adulthood. Therefore good prenatal care is important to the healthy growth of the baby and the baby’s brain. The early years in a child’s life is the time where developmental growth and milestones will start to build the foundation for the end goal of becoming an adult. Through each milestone children are taught the skills of emotional/social development and each new skills is built upon the previous one creating different layers of growth that form the social/emotional state of an adolescent. “Children start developing them as babies, and new skills emerge as they get older.” (Morin, nd). Based on these skills is how an adolescent will handle and process life’s challenges for him or her.

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Occasionally self-soothe by sucking on hands and fingers.

Cry in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired.

Are more aware of which people are familiar and which are strangers.

Start to prefer some toys over others.

Enjoy simple interactive games, like patty-cake and peekaboo. (Morin, nd).

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Social/emotional infant activities for the classroom.

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Social/emotional infant activities for the classroom.

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1. “Reading to children while mimicking the emotions of characters can help them start to recognize emotions in themselves and others. Two books that are good to read to infants are: Baby Faces from DK Publishing, and The Feelings Book by Todd Parr.” (Millacci, 2022).

2. Playing Peekaboo- Cover your face with hands or a blanket for a moment and then uncover your face and say Peek a boo, will help an infant learn that even though they don’t see you, you are still there.

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Have more temper tantrums and become more defiant as they try to communicate and be independent.

Start simple pretend play, like imitating what adults or other kids are doing.

Become interested in having other kids around but are more likely to play alongside them (parallel play) than with them (cooperative play). (Morin, nd).

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Classroom fun for toddlerhood social /emotional activities.

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Classroom fun for toddlerhood social /emotional activities.

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1. Music; singing simple songs that express or talk about emotions will help young children to begin to think about emotions. Songs such as If You Are Happy and You Know it, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

2. Mirror, mirror

“In this game, one person makes a face, and the other person copies it. Take this game a step

further by having children identify the emotion they are mirroring.

Recognizing emotional expressions is key for successful social interaction and effective

interpersonal communication.” (Millacci, 2022).

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Social/emotional milestones in early childhood.

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Social/emotional milestones in early childhood.

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Start to show and verbalize a wider range of emotion.

Are interested in pretend play, but may confuse real and “make believe”.

Start playing with other kids and separate from caregivers more easily.

May still have tantrums because of changes in routine or not getting what they want.

Enjoy playing with other kids and are more conversational and independent.

Test boundaries but are still eager to please and help out. (Morin, nd).

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Early childhood social/emotional activity and strategy for the classroom.

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Early childhood social/emotional activity and strategy for the classroom.

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1. Red light, green light

“This physical game involves rules that delineate the two roles for players, which determine how the player should act.

In this game, the lead player calls out “Red light!” and “Green light!” while the remaining players run toward the lead player when the light is “green” and stop when it’s “red.” In this active game, players practice control of their physical body and emotions.” (Millacci, 2022).

2.Teach the children words to know and describe their feelings. This can be done through an emotion or how are you feeling chart, emotion dolls, emotion cards, books about feelings, or just making faces and talking about what feelings you are showing.

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What is self-regulation in young children? Examples.

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What is self-regulation in young children? Examples.

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“Emotional regulation is defined as the ability to manage and react to emotional experiences.” (Grothe, 2024).

Examples:

When a child is having big feelings, they can tell an adult how they are feeling with words and learn that it is okay to have these feelings.

Using breathing to help calm themselves. Using a special item of comfort to help them calm down on their own.

Going to a quiet area or cozy corner. Recognize feelings in other children or adults and comfort them.

Find other ways to release big feelings.

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Teacher modeling and encouraging self-regulation skills in the classroom.

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Teacher modeling and encouraging self-regulation skills in the classroom.

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1.Teachers can talk to their students about big feelings the teacher is having and what is causing these feelings by using descriptive but simple language.

Teachers need to also acknowledge and validate children’s emotions. “Acknowledge the emotions and empathize with the child, knowing that no emotion is too small to substantiate.” (Millacci, 2022).

2.Breathing exercises and yoga. Teach and model for children various breathing exercises to calm their bodies.

These exercises can be belly breathing, balloon breathing, slow, deep breaths, smell the flower (breathe in) and then blow out a candle (breathe out).

Teach simple yoga poses by example or play limited videos that show yoga exercises that are age appropriate.

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teacher and children doing yoga in preschool classroom

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Expectations of the parents for home teaching.

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Expectations of the parents for home teaching.

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“Emotional regulation skills aren’t learned overnight. They’re the result of a consistent effort on parents’ part to teach kids what emotions are and how to understand them.” (Grothe, 2024).

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Parents helping infants with social emotional activities/strategies at home.

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Parents helping infants with social emotional activities/strategies at home.

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Infancy: “While infants cannot regulate emotions on their own, responding with warmth and structure during distressing moments is correlated with stronger abilities to self-regulate in their later years,” Dr. Bhatt says.” (Grothe, 2024).

“Dr. Bhatt says sleep is vital to emotional regulation—and developing a consistent routine for bedtime helps your child process their emotions. Reading books at bedtime about emotions, too, can be helpful.” (Grothe, 2024).

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Parents teaching toddlers about different emotions.

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Parents teaching toddlers about different emotions.

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Toddlerhood: Talk and teach their child about different emotions, a feelings chart can be used with simple pictures of emotions to teach the child about their feelings.

Reading books about emotions can help also.

Give your child a safe space to express the emotions they are learning by listening to them when they are trying to express themselves, do not brush their emotions off as just being over dramatic.

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Parents modeling emotions for their preschool children. 

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Parents modeling emotions for their preschool children. 

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Early Childhood: Have family mealtimes where children can talk about their day or how they are feeling about things that may have happened or experienced that day. Other family members can talk about their day also and share their different feelings.

Parents can model how to handle feelings in different situations by modeling the skills they have for handling situations. “Parents who model emotional regulation skills can help kids develop their own. “Modeling emotional regulation as a parent can be helpful for children to know what to do in stressful situations and allows them to better use their skills in distressing moments,” Dr. Bhatt says.” (Grothe, 2024).

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families and preschool children at mealtime

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Resources that were used for this presentation.

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Resources that were used for this presentation.

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Grothe, Taylor, (2024). Emotional Regulation Skills Every Parent Should Teach Their Kids. Parents. August 19, 2024. Retrieved from: https://www.parents.com/emotional-regulation-skills-8692759

Millacci, Tiffany Sauber. (2022). 16 Activities to Stimulate Emotional Development in Children.

Positive Psychology.com. Retrieved from: https://positivepsychology.com/emotional-

development-activities/

Morin, Amanda, (nd). Social and emotional skills at different ages. Understood website. Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/social-and-emotional-skills-what-to-

expect-at-different-ages