Emotions in action
Ella is eighteen months old. Her language skills are great. She has thirty words - which is ten more than most children have at this age. She goes to play gym and a music group with her Dad on two days a week. She took a long time to get used to the activities. Lately, she has been hitting other children and has now started biting adults as well. What is happening?
Ella's emotions - go through the following interacive activity to explore Ella's feelings and how best to manage them.
What words would you use to describe how Ella is feeling?
Words often used to describe Ella's feelings
Anger , frustration, anxiety and bewilderment
What is Ella feeling?
"Ella is feeling anger. In children, anger is quite a generic emotion and can be set off by frustration, anxiety and bewilderment. It is important to remember that anger is a feeling and aggression is behaviour. Anger is a temporary state caused by frustration. It is OK to feel anger but it is not OK to hurt other people. Ella is feeling out of control"
What could adults do to help her?
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Adults need to:
"Stop the behaviour. Stay calm, recognise her feelings - use gestures as well as words, offer an alternative, provide distraction. She may be better in a quiet place. Offer alternative to expressing strong emotions. By 'attuning' to Ella and mirroring her feelings Ella can learn that emotions can be contained and regulated"