The way children experience emotions grows over time thanks to a development process that includes cognitive, motor and social aspects. Three aspects that constitute a link between the child’s inner world and the external world.
However, it is through the relationship with an adult, who is an important model to be inspired by, that children experience and learn to regulate their emotions. Parents should take the time and space to listen to their kids and answer their requests and questions.
Practical advice
Emotions are the basis of each individual’s identity. In psychology, they are considered as reactions, of short duration, to an environmental stimulus that cause changes on a physiological, behavioral and psychological level.
The younger a child is, the less experience he or she has of the world and the emotional reactions associated with it. The difficulty, therefore, in identifying their emotional experience and what creates discomfort will be greater. Precisely for this reason the parental role during preschool has a great responsibility: to help their kids towards emotional growth.
Accompanying the little ones towards emotional growth means laying the foundations for the development of an adult with emotional intelligence, an aspect of intelligence linked to the ability to recognize, understand and consciously manage not only their own emotions but also those of others.