Emotional development in early childhood

Emotional skills are being able to recognise, express, understand and manage a wide range of feelings.
Children who can understand and manage their feelings, stay calm and enjoy experiences are more likely to develop a positive sense of self and be confident and curious learners.

Adults can help children manage their intense emotions

Helping children manage their emotions involves creating and maintaining children’s feelings of safety, calm and optimism. For this to happen, children need repeated experiences of having their needs met by a responsive and caring adult.
Children need adults to help when they are feeling overwhelmed. They also need support from adults to contain and manage their intense feelings.
Gradually children learn to manage emotions for themselves from their experiences with warm, responsive adults.

Responding to children’s emotional cues

Adults can help children to understand and manage their emotions by responding appropriately to children’s cues.
Emotion reflections are when an adult recognises the emotions a child may be experiencing and reflects this back to the child using words to name the emotion, matching voice tone and body language. This can provide great emotional learning.

Coping with ups and downs

Everyone has ups and downs, especially during childhood. Ups and downs can be stressful for children.
Helping children to manage life’s ups and downs and build coping skills supports their mental health, resilience and learning for life.
Adults need to help children build resilience so they can enjoy the good times and cope with stress and frustration. Resources are available to help adults support children.



“Feeling good protects mental health and wellbeing” 

Feelings are contagious!

As children develop, they learn to manage a wide range of feelings.
Good feelings are contagious! Children imitate the emotions expressed by others around them, especially their parents and carers.
Adults can continue to support good feelings by optimising children’s positive experiences and helping them to reframe unhelpful thoughts and feelings as they arise.

written by : siti nur qamarina bt ismail