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, preschoolers will learn how to handle their emotions and how to seek help when needed. Parents Can: Monitor and identify stresses that may cause experiences to be negative Prepare their preschooler for a stressful situation ahead of time Child Will: Experience lower stress levels Learn how to use strategies to deal with new and stressful situations Feel secure with parental support Parents Can: Offer opportunities for their preschooler to develop her strengths and talents Child Will: Learn to feel capable about herself in many different areas, for example, music, sports, drawing Feel good about who she is and what she can do Parents Can: Show their preschooler that he is loved unconditionally Point out why he is special and so loved Child Will: Feel valued and experience a strong sense of belonging Feel good about himself

Play Through opportunities for play, preschoolers will experience joyful, free, spontaneous moments of fun while also learning about themselves and others. Parents Can: Provide crayons, markers and paper and encourage their preschooler to draw pictures of happy events Talk with her about the picture and write down her story Child Will: Use her creativity to express emotions and related ideas Identify and talk about feelings in relation to events Parents Can: Provide their preschooler with the opportunity to be with other familiar children in a supervised setting without them. For example, kindergarten or instruction programs, such as swimming Child Will: Begin to separate easily from family in familiar settings Feel good about his ability to play with other children independent of a primary caregiver Develop strategies to deal with conflicts that may arise with a friend Parents Can: Create a dramatic play area together where their preschooler can experiment with roles, situations and emotions Join the play with their preschooler in this area, or arrange for a playmate to come over Child Will: Experiment with different roles and situations Use language to create stories Use his creativity to explore familiar and unfamiliar situations and events

Teach Through routines, and emotionally and physically safe and secure environments, preschoolers can learn how to think, solve problems and communicate. Parents Can: Model and coach their preschooler on how to handle emotions and feelings Child Will: Learn how to express anger and frustration safely Learn how to express caring and empathy for others Parents Can: Model persistence and patience in all their efforts and tasks Child Will: Learn that sticking to something, and not giving up easily will bring a sense of accomplishment and pride Parents Can: Support their preschooler's bid to take risks in social situations, as well as everyday tasks Child Will: Feel confident in her abilities Understand that motivation to try out new things can bring successes

Related Resources

Books for Children

	Butterflies and Bottlecaps
	Fun With My 5 Senses: Activities to Build Learning Readiness
	I Like Me
	The Little Hands Playtime Book: 50 Activities to Encourage Cooperation and Sharing