Emotional Development means developing a full range of emotions, from sad to happy to angry, and learning to handle them appropriately. This leads to deeper qualities – sympathy, caring, resilience, self-esteem, assertiveness and being able to rise to life's challenges.

Comfort Through the comfort and responsiveness of an adult, toddlers will learn how to handle their emotions and how to seek help when needed. Parents Can: Encourage their toddler to show his emotions and talk about them. For example, "It's okay to cry, can you tell me what's making you sad?" Child Will: Feel comfortable expressing his feelings Be more likely to recognize emotions in other children and adults Parents Can: Model coping with emotions, such as talking through frustrating problems with their toddler. For example, "This is difficult" or "This makes me feel sad/happy" Talk about how you might resolve the problem or deal with the feeling Child Will: Learn coping skills Be more likely to imitate or try out these strategies when dealing with emotions Parents Can: Move their toddler to a quieter place when she is having difficulty coping with her emotions Child Will: Learn more acceptable coping skills Feel safe and secure enough to express her emotions Look to you to support her when she is overwhelmed by emotions

Play Through opportunities for play, toddlers will experience joyful, free, spontaneous moments of fun while also learning about themselves and others Parents Can: Provide the opportunity for pretend play with dolls and teddies in order to experiment with emotions Child Will: Express different emotions through the toys Begin to experiment with emotions and reactions to emotions (for example, "My baby teddy is sad. His mommy is going to give him a big hug.") Parents Can: Give their toddler many opportunities to "let me do it myself." Offer times to practice getting dressed or helping with household tasks Child Will: Begin to understand that he is a separate person from you Enjoy making choices and doing it "his" way Develop a sense of competence and confidence Parents Can: Read books that illustrate how children or animals experience a range of emotions, such as frustration, jealousy, anger and affection Child Will: Develop an interest in reading Label different emotions Develop the ability to understand another person's emotions, and what might have caused them

Teach Through routines, and emotionally and physically safe and secure environments, toddlers can learn how to think, solve problems and communicate. Parents Can: Encourage their toddler to understand how others may feel in situations Help their toddler understand how her behaviour may have an impact on others Child Will: Begin to develop empathy and sympathy Begin to be aware of the feelings others may have Parents Can: Watch education programs on television, and point out the kinds of emotions characters are feeling Child Will: Begin to understand how other children might feel in certain situations Enjoy being with you and talking about an imaginary character

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