Hello emotional kids and parents!
(That’s all of us, you know.)
Emotions are at the center of all learning, thinking, and behavior, and you can learn how to work with them directly and skillfully.
Kids especially love learning about their emotions, and we’ve made a 2-page chart for kids that includes emotional vocabulary words and helps kids understand exactly what their emotions do and what gifts and skills they bring.
This kids’ chart is based on a chart that one of our licensed Dynamic Emotional Integration® professionals, Jennifer Asdorian, created. We also have a chart for adults here.
This kids’ chart is free for you to download (I mean real free, not internet free, where you have to trade me something). Free!
How to use these Emotions Charts chart with kids
In this two-page chart, the first page includes a list of emotions with some vocabulary words from soft to intense, so that your kids will be able to figure out what they’re feeling and also develop a good emotional vocabulary.
They can put an x in the box when they feel each emotion on any given day.
On the second page, you’ll find descriptions of what emotions do and how they help, and a column for kids to write down their ideas for how to help their emotions do their best work.
If you need some help figuring out how to work respectfully and effectively with each emotion, see this alphabetized list of emotion posts on this site.
What do the colors mean?
In DEI, we organize the emotions into 4 families to make working with them easier, and we use purple for the Anger Family, green for the Fear Family, blue for the Sadness Family, and raspberry for the Happiness Family to help kids quickly identify them.
These emotions are simplified from the adult version, and we use some simpler words for kids:
The purple Anger Family tells you when a boundary has been crossed or a rule has been broken. These emotions help you set behavioral guidelines for yourself and others. They are Anger, Guilt, and Boredom.
The green Fear Family is your intuition and your instincts. These emotions help you orient to your surroundings, notice change, novelty, or possible hazards, and take effective action. They are Fear, Worry, Confusion, Jealousy, Envy, and Panic & Terror.
The blue Sadness Family helps you release things that aren’t working and mourn things that are gone so that you can relax, let go, and rejuvenate yourself. They are Sadness, Grief, and Depression.
The raspberry Happiness Family helps you look around you, at yourself, or toward the future with hope, satisfaction, and delight. They are Happiness, Contentment, and Joy.
Your kids may notice patterns where many emotions in one family appear more often; if so, help them look to the skills in that family (above) to see how their emotions are helping them, and which specific gifts and skills they’re bringing to their lives.
If you need support
If you’d like more support with your emotions or your empathy, you can work with a licensed Dynamic Emotional Integration® Consultant directly (by phone or internet).
These marvelous professionals have studied with me for two years or more, and they can help you discover the genius in your emotions, develop your emotional and empathic skills, and become more comfortable in every area of your life.
Have fun with your emotions; they bring you gifts and skills you can’t get anywhere else!
International directory of licensed Dynamic Emotional Integration® Consultants
I’m so glad to be able to share this chart with you. I wish there had been something like it when I was an intense little kid; it would have changed everything in my life for the better!
Thank you for sharing emotional awareness and skills with kids!
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