I’ve found that teaching children about emotional intelligence can be challenging but also rewarding. As a mother, I understand that raising an emotionally intelligent child isn’t easy. Still, I am determined to ensure he learns how to build positive relationships with others.
When teaching emotional intelligence to children, I’ve found that humour can be extremely effective. It helps keep children engaged while still teaching them important lessons. So, I’ve developed a few creative and funny ways to help my son learn about emotional intelligence.
The first thing I do to get my son thinking about emotional intelligence in a funny way is to find silly ways to describe how he feels. I might ask him to think of a character from a movie or a book that best reflects his feelings at a particular moment.
For example, suppose my son is feeling embarrassed about something he did. In that case, I might compare him to the character of Augustus Gloop from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He usually laughs, and I can then explain why it’s important to recognise and name his emotions.
I also find that storytelling is a great way to get him to think about emotional intelligence in a humorous yet meaningful way. Yesterday my son and I discussed his feelings over his teacher going on maternity leave and a substitute teacher taking over the remaining 3 weeks of the term.
I wanted him to understand that we all experience different emotions and how to cope with them. I told him a story about two friends who had to postpone their vacation because of an unexpected event. The story explains how each friend had different reactions to the news. Still, in the end, they were both able to work through the disappointment and find an alternate plan that made everyone happy. This helped my son to understand that it is okay to have different feelings in different situations and that as long as we communicate our emotions and work together, we can find a solution.
Overall, teaching my son about emotional intelligence entertainingly and comically has been a great experience. Not only is he learning about the importance of having empathy and understanding his emotions, but he is also learning that humour is a great way to make learning fun and enjoyable. Through humour, I’ve shown them that learning about emotional intelligence can be a positive and exciting experience.
But in the end, I should not forget that he is a 9-year-old boy and not always open to these kinds of conversations. And when upset, he first likes to let off steam and (most importantly) eat something before he is ready to share his grievances or concerns.
We are soon releasing a series on Emotional Intelligence by Kim Lyon. All the stories have been written in a way that children can easily comprehend and relate to strong feelings such as jealousy, anger and shyness.
By Eva Larsson