This month, we’re giving away all 12 books in the Our Emotions and Behavior series. The books include stories that help children understand how their feelings and actions are related—and how children can get better at managing them both. A special section for adults at the back of each book suggests discussion questions and ideas for guiding children to talk about their feelings. One lucky reader will win:
- But What If?
- But Why Can’t I?
- I Didn’t Do It!
- I Don’t Want to Be Nice!
- I Don’t Want to Wait!
- I Hate Everything!
- I’m Not Happy
- I Want to Win!
- Not Fair, Won’t Share
- Take a Deep Breath
- Who Feels Scared?
- Why Should I?
To Enter: Leave a comment below describing how you help small children deal with big feelings.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks you complete:
Each comment counts as a separate entry—that’s five chances to win! Entries must be received by midnight, January 25, 2019.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around February 1, 2019, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim his or her prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. Winners must be US residents, 18 years of age or older.
We welcome your comments and suggestions. Share your comments, stories, and ideas below, or contact us. All comments will be approved before posting, and are subject to our comment and privacy policies.
© 2019 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.
Letting children (and adults) know their feelings are valid and felt by others is huge! Helping children name their feelings and know what to do with them is the first step! Thanks for the chance to win these books!
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Although it’s easy to let children’s but feelings overwhelm, what I do with my own children and those I’m working with is take a deep breath, sit nearby and verbally take notice. “It seems like you’re feeling angry about this,” validates their experience and may be all they need to go on. Other times it starts a conversation. I want my feelings taken seriously, so I work on taking their feelings seriously, as well.
I work with young children between the ages of 2-5. There is always lots and lots of emotions to deal with everyday. One minute they are sad, the next minute they are happy, and then they are just angry. We have a large group time where we discuss feelings. The children are shown emotion cards and we asked how they are feeling? When they tell us how they are feeling, I always ask them why they are feeling this way or I offer responses on why they are how they are feeling. Most of the time first thing in the morning most of the children are sad because they are missing their mommy or their daddy. Children are always reassured their parents will come back to get them. We have a safe place area in our classroom where children can sit in with pillows, a feelings book, and puppets. Children know when they are sad they can sit in the safe place away from their peers and have time for themselves. When children are done they can come out and join everyone else. The children in my class deal with a lot of anger. We have used breathing techniques and a balloon technique. The balloon technique as well as the safe place is based on Becky Bailey. The children blow up balloons letting all the air in then letting it all out as they pop the balloon. Children know when they are angry they can blow up a balloon and pop it until they feel better. Besides feelings being discussed in group time. There is an entire week sometimes two weeks dedicated to talking about feelings where we read books and sing songs dealing with different emotions.
Need these for my girls.
I help infants and young toddlers deal with their emotions by affirming what they feel. I describe the physical appearance of their bodies and what emotion it represents.
Many students in my school have problems with social skills and identifying the situation and appropriate skill to cope. These books would be a great addition to our library so all staff could use them.
As a school counselor, I work hard to share tools to help kids recognize their emotions and teach them skills to learn to self regulate.
I work with students that have many different disabilities. This year my students are mainly non-verbal and use a lot of pictures to communicate.
I work with autistic children who have difficulty with sociability. They often cannot express their needs and wants appropriately as they do not understand what they are feeling. Social stories help them understand these emotions/feelings through the eyes and words of someone else.
I am a preschool teacher and help children with their feelings daily. I use books, games and examples to help guide them through.
I am a teacher that works with children from 0- 3 yrs old. I softly talk to the child to see what happened & why they are upset. If they hurt someone I let them know that they hurt their friend & they don’t like being hurt. I let the child know & show them how to their friends.
I work at a library and I will share these books with Storytime children, class visits, and in my summer reading program. Behavior and emotions are always important and relevant to discuss with children. I would love to share this set with my kids. Thank you ☺️
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I help little people deal with big feelings by first acknowledging their feelings and sharing with them that it is okay to feel how they are feeling.
Then, I listen and ask why they feel that way.
Finally, we try to figure out how we can make it better.
Thank you for the opportunity to win❤️
I would love to share these books with my head start classroom. We currently use Al’s Pals and Conscious Discipline and this would be a great addition for my students.
In our program we try to establish “Calm Down” spaces in all classrooms & shared areas. We are always looking for books like these to help us discuss our emotions & problem solving.
Use books about feels, teach what feelings look like, model what to do, use puppets to talk about feelings. Then when they have big feelings refer back to what we can do with out big feelings.
As a Gifted Resource Teacher, I would love to use these books to talk with my little ones about emotions, feelings, and how to handle it all.
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Thanks for the giveaway! I help small children deal with big feelings by talking about those feelings after I have the child calmed down. We talk about and sometimes role play the best way to handle situations and our emotions.
As part of my work, I translate early childhood training materials into Spanish, prepare trainings, and train child care providers, with the goal of creating safe spaces where children can grow safe and with a strong social emotional base. I also teach a weekly early childhood class in Spanish over the radio, one of the segments of the program is: The Book of the Week, in this segment we give a summary of a book and make recommendations for activities inspired by the book, that child care providers and families can use in their homes. At trainings and observation visits, I bring books that the providers can share with the children and families in their care. At this time I am in the process of translating the Pyramid Model of Social Emotional Development for Infants and Toddlers and these set of books could be an awesome resource to create activities for the training.
Thank you for making materials available through First Book.
Romilia Escobar Schlueter.
We use emotion dolls to help name emotions. We mirror the child’s face in an attempt to help the child see what we see. I would love to have the set of books to help parents discuss feelings with their child in a positive way.
Children need guidance in social and emotional areas. I love the authors that work with in many areas. I trust these books will live up to my expectations. I teach Bright Start Kinder and these children need these even more than most children. They take it to heart.
My Library in k-3 school could really use these books. We have started to block time for social emotional learning and we talk about big probwms and little problems. How things make us feel and how we can help others in our school and our community! They call me the social emotional librarian!❤️ You are so great with all your work you do!
Role playing and asking children how they feel is one way. The use of puppets help as well to have children identify how they are feeling.
I work with children and some of them have special needs. These books would be beneficial when we explore social situations and their feelings
I work as a school psychologist in a preschool. I run social skills groups and these books would be extremely helpful and appreciated.
It will be great to have these books. I am the facilitator of Play and Learn group. It is a free play group for for parents, grandparents and/or other caregivers and their children ages birth to 5. This play group is a great way to help young kids learn the skills they need to start school.
I train a wide variety of community members and professionals on brain and social emotional development and Calm Down Time is my favorite children’s book to recommend and give as a gift. I have recommended that one book to over 3000 individuals.
This series would be great to use with my kindergarten classes in introducing feelings and my job as the school counselor to help students with big feelings.
First, I try to help the children identify their feelings. Next, make sure they have words to identify them. Then we work on breathing exercises, belly breathing..drain…pretzel…STAR,,, whatever works for that child. I work with 3 and 4 year old children in Head Start.
I help them by getting them to take calming breaths and to get them to take time for themselves to get their thinking brain back online. Then we can discuss how they feel.
I am a school social worker working in a K-2 building. Teaching children to identify feelings and to manage uncomfortable feelings is the foundation to social emotional well-being. This series would be a much needed resource in my work with individual students, classrooms, and small groups.
I am an Education Assistant in a center based program for students who have emotional and behavioral disabilities.
I am a special education teacher in a general education building. I help kids learn how to recognize their feelings. I help them to understand regulate their emotions and feelings so they are successful in the general education classroom.
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I work as school based therapist and would love to build my library of resources to utilize in sessions.
Small children learn big feelings by talking about and acting out how to react. Students also love to learn by listening to books. Books are a great way to learn about feelings. I hope I win!
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I help small children with respect and understanding; for example, using books and stories and connecting them to the moment. I tailor the strategy to the child. But whatever I do, I try to use humor and always use myself and our relationship as powerful tools.
Read books and talk about feelings and how they would feel if that happened to them. Problem solving skills are important.
Model how to react when someone says or does something unkind.
Give them words to share their feelings.
I am a Disability/Mental Health Manager who was a Preschool Teacher for 13 years. I know helping children express their feelings is Great!!!!! Children sometimes can’t fully express their feelings and they don’t understand what we as adults are trying to explain. So when you read to them, show them pictures and they can go back and refer to the book. Illustrations for Preschool children its life to them. Pictures say to them what our words can’t!!!!
I’m changing careers at 50 to become an elementary teacher. My dream is to teach and form a meditation club and/or an emotional wellness club at my school. Emotional literacy is as, if not more, important that the three R’s! Teachers just need the tools and resources to teach basic emotional wellness skills. Thank you for all the work you’re doing to make that happen!
I help small children deal with their feelings by using puppets to help them express the feelings that they are having by acting them out.
I use techniques both in the classroom as a primary school teacher in a tough catchment area and also as a mummy of a little boy who struggles with his emotions and anxiety. At home, we try to overcome this by having talk time around the dinner table, discussing our favourite and worst parts of the day and any worries. We also have a clear routine and talk it through so that he knows exactly what to expect and to help him deal with emotions I also read books to help, we have a lot of circle time at school and a worry box. I mainly allow enough time for talk about emotions and dealing with them. I give the time 1-1 to chat to children that seem out of character or to be struggling with their emotions and they have quiet time for reading or colouring to help them gather their thoughts. I would love to win the books to help both in school and at home with my little less boy
I help children learn social skills through carefully planned lessons that include social stories. Your books provide a lot of wonderful content for those lessons.
I’m a child therapist working with kids as little as two. I help play out feelings and model how to appropriately respond. I teach them self regulation techniques.
I am a Spanish teacher that teaches Pre-K to 8th grade in a Catholic School. This series would be an awesome way of teaching my students of behavior and emotions in an easy way. I am able to translate the book on the spot, since these books are basic and direct.
God Bless,
Marilyn Alonso
This us one of the hardest but most rewarding parts of being a kindergarten teacher! 5 year olds can understand their emotions a lot better when applying them to a character in a story than in the middle of a crisis, so books like these are crucial!
Special ed teacher daily working with K thru 2 nd graders. Teaching how to handle their emotions and behavior on a daily basis!!
I am a school counseling intern and these books are amazing. I am currently in 3 different schools doing my internship and I see problems big and small, but in almost all cases the problems are big! I help students manage their emotions with small groups and one on one counseling. I believe that students just need to be heard to be understood. I just want to be a person that they can trust and feel empowered around. These books would go a long way in helping my students! Thank you!
We have implemented the zones of regulation in our classroom as well as having a “tool box” children can use to solve problems. Suggestions for the various zones they are in are used to help them cope. (ie a mouth for talk it out, head phones for ignore, shoes for walk away etc)
We help our friends best deal with their big emotions by using the Mood Meter which is outlined in the following four colors: yellow, (happy, excited, joyful), green (calm, OK, satisfied), blue, (sad, not happy, irritated, need space, & red (angry, mad, frustrated, upset), What we’re also teaching (& sharing with families) is that it’s OK to be in any emotion that isn’t most desirable. The key or objective is; how do we move ourselves around the color band to the color we most desire to make our interactions with other safe? Books dealing with or presenting the various emotions are always a big hit. We often copy pages from the story and have children plot on the Mood Meter in the color that best describes the feeling/emotion. Then we dialogue and discuss ways the situation could have been handled differently.
Working together as a school community is key in helping small children work through big feelings. Within my classroom, explicitly teaching social skills is key. Reading aloud, working through problems/solution scenarios, and role play are some of the strategies I utilize.
I was an elementary counselor for 9 years before becoming a stay at home mom to my now 2.5 year old daughter. I love Free Spirit Publishing books and used them quite frequently to teach my elementary students about feelings/emotions and how to handle them. I taught class lessons, small groups, and individual students about big feelings, it was a very rewarding job! Now I teach my daughter about feelings as developing a broad feelings vocabulary is important for all kids even as young as toddlers. I look forward to teaching her what to do when she has big feelings and more than one feeling at the same time.
By reading books like these!! and practicing what to do when feeling big emotions all the time
Teaching social-emotional skills is so important and providing vocabulary words for children to understand their feelings is so helpful.
Talking about emotions and how they are normal. It is critical to talk about feelings. It so important to know that they are natural. It is ok to be mad and sad and excited …. There are lots of emotions, not just happy, sad, and mad. I love the emotions poster. The next step is how emotions are connected to our behavior. We have choices about our behavior. Talk about choices. Model choices. What is an ok choice.
To help young children deal with big feelings I encourage them to talk about their feelings to each other and their teachers. I also use props and have the children act out different feelings, and we discuss in small groups how they are feeling and how to handle the situations. They really enjoy using puppets to demonstrate their feelings.
I use mindfulness concepts such as stopping and taking deep breaths before reacting. I also use art to have them develop awareness of themselves.
I am a Family Child Care Provider and have been so for 29 yrs. ( ages 3mo. to 5 yrs old ).
I chose this as my profession and continue to take college courses and workshops to keep me informed on any new proven ways or examples to handle different situations that come up daily where young children are concerned.
It is such a good feeling when something I’m trying to explain or express truly connects with the child.
It’s even better when the child can mirror the example during play or a difficult time.
After all these years I love what I do.
For those of us writing comments for the
chance to win the books your offering,
those books would be a great asset to anyone’s ECE program.
As a therapist i use Free Spirit books every day to teach emotional intelligence.
I am an occupational therapist. I use books to help teach self regulation to young children.
As a school counselor these books would really help our scholars understand how their thoughts, feelings and emotions are interrelated.
Often times young children are physical upset when they do not understand what they are feeling. When they calm down enough to talk we talk, read, role play, and sing about what they are feeling. We have several resources that are used daily such as second step and counscious discipline to help. These books would be a valuable resource for anyone to have.
These Books would be a big help in my preschool class.
I teach pre-service elementary education students. So this would be a great resource for our class.
I help small children with expressing their feelings by naming them, acting them out, and helping friends identify their feelings. I utilize books, videos, and posters, as well as artistic ways.
As a librarian and a mom, I am faced with big feelings everyday. To the child that lost a parent or a pet or the kid who is in trouble for lying to the child who feels left out. Every emotion is different in every child. Sometimes a book helps and more times a hug helps. All the time both a book and a hug help.
I help small children with their big feelings by teaching them about feelings and its okay to feel a certain way but taking those feelings out on others in not okay. Helping teachers support children in recognizing those feelings and what to do. I also help parents to help their children at home to ensure we have a partnership between home and school. All of the adults in the child’s life work together to support the children.
There are books written on this, lol. I will say I view outbursts, meltdowns, etc. an opportunity to steer a child in a different direction. My focus is to strengthen the skills they need to own, name, and manage these big emotions in a way that works for them, without the fallout that can happen when kids are unable to self-regulate.
Feelings are wonderful.
I work with pre-k age children. We teach children how to deal with their feelings on a daily basis. We read books, use conscious discipline, and Als Pals during our day.
Would love this for my class.
I like to utilize pictures as well as words and actions to describe feelings. I like to give the children words by telling them what I see. I also connect the words to a picture of that feeling, or I will act out the feeling myself. Feelings can be confusing for children to express so I like to try to stay patient and allow them time to work through whatever it is!
I am a librarian who does storytimes at the library and at local schools. I try to always let the kids express their feelings, and I let them know that all their feelings are ok. I try to be understanding, give them space, and show them that adults also have lots of different emotions. I also dedicate one month each year to feelings storytimes, where we focus on different feelings each week!
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I work with toddlers and we read books. Usually we spend a whole week talking about an emotion; describe what is going, describe the pictures, and label the emotions. Encourage kids to imitate the emotions.
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I am a trainer at Georgia State University in the early childhood department and we train teachers on the Pyramid Model for social and emotional competence. This series will be a great addition to our training!
I teach small children to recognize all different emotions in themselves and others. I teach coping skills for the big, strong emotions so the children can successfully deal with them.
I help small children address big feelings by making them more concrete and less abstract. We create social stories and experiences to sit and feel different emotions. Creating a community where all feelings are accepted and open communication about them has been key!
I help young children cope with big feelings on a daily basis with my own daughter (3 years old) and and my students at school ( 3 – 10 yrs old). Every day is different so there are always lots of options from having a quiet safe place to playing a co-operative game or just reading a book. Little ones have big emotions that they need help with to self regulate and as adults we have to help them learn those skills!
Ask how they feel physically, what they may to to alleviate the feeling, if they need to, and then help them name the feeling.
As a school counselor I am helping children daily with their big feelings. It can be scary not knowing exactly what to do or say when children are working through their big feelings but the most important way is to validate their big feelings they are having.
I am lucky enough to help children in many schools and classrooms through my work as a social and emotional program specialist in Tampa. We train teachers to implement the PATHS curriculum to help students identify feeling beyond mad, sad or happy and then learn how to successfully manage those emotions.
I teach small children about big feelings by using feeling books, yoga, breathing techniques and naming the feeling. For example: “I see you look frustrated”
I work with preschoolers and have read them the story of Tucker the Turtle who tucks in when mad and takes 3 big breathes. I remind them of this story with finger puppets during the day.
I love Free Spirit as an educator, parent, and now as a grandmother to seven who are seven years old and younger! These books will be an important and a welcome addition to help mold young minds for global citizenship.
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Working with kids in advisory and getting them to understand that feelings are ok and that we need to talk about them to understand them and then we can problem solve. Giving them tools to manage!
working with children on their level and giving them the opportunity to voice/express their feelings. Sometimes, it’s waiting patiently or giving them an outlet/distraction to express why they feel the way they do. It can be great to ask them to even grab a story that relates to how they are feeling or a character to illustrate what kinds of feelings they are having even if they can’t read they have heard a story or character in a situation that can help them express themselves. Emotions are complex for adults and kids are just beginning to navigate those waters – we need to give opportunites for safe expression and to encourage expression so they can learn to understand and relate their feelings.
Read the free spirit publishing books to them at circle time, demonstration with puppets, and lead by example ….breathing, counting, finding a quiet place
I help children deal with big feelings by taking it out open end questions read book about feeling let children express themselves give children their space or quiet time deal with feelings in a calm manner we all have feelings and they need to be dealt in a positive way
I teach calming strategies using social stories and we practice the strategies when students are calm and happy.
I am a school psychologist in our district’s early childhood program. We help small children deal with big feelings by first labeling and recognizing all of their emotions. We talk about how they feel in different situations, and then we start to talk about what they can do when they get a big feeling. We practice calming strategies such as deep breathing or sensory/movement activities. We use a variety of different tools and strategies to teach social/emotional skills, including books, modeling, role play, and visuals. We would love to have this set of books as a resource for our program!
I help children with exceptionalities with big feelings by teaching them to identify their feelings. We given each feeling a name. As the students move through the day we make a conscience effort to help the student be aware when there emotions and feelings change and to identify the new emotion or feeling they are having and why it is occurring. We also work with our students on ways to deal with their feelings and emotions and practice various scenarios with them to help them feel comfortable in using these tools in real situations as they are needed. Your library is a perfect fit to our preteaching and practice piece of our program.
I help young children cope with big feelings on a daily basis with my own kiddos (3 and 5 yrs) and my clients in counseling (3-18 yrs). First of all I give them a safe space to share feelings, sometimes I might name the feeling I think they may be feeling, I normalize and validate it. I think this is major as many children are not given the opportunity to feel their feelings, let alone work on them.
I help small children learn to identify feelings by playing puzzles and learning a different feeling word each week I am in their class. They start to recognize when they feel a certain way and when others have feelings. I think it is very important to begin early to learn to identify feelings.
To help young children learn to handle big feelings I incorporate a variety of techniques in order to find what works best for each child. This includes belly breathing, social stories, visuals of ways to calm down, learning about the Zones of Regulation, social story videos, books about emotions and how to control them. Trying to empower the student is the most important.
I will discuss and help children learn about feeling identification in small counseling groups, individual counseling, and classroom counseling lessons.
As a school counselor for kindergarten, first and second graders I run small groups where I use stories, games and activities to help kids put words to their emotions, grow in empathy for others and practice expressing those feelings in healthy ways.
Reflex integration has helped so many little (and big ones ;)) so that their nervous system feels calmer when triggers come up. Especially integration of the Moro and Fear Paralysis Reflex
When children express to me what made them excited, happy, etc., I make sure to put a word to their emotions.
Books are an excellent way to start a difficult conversation. I’ve used them to students deal with death, divorce and chronic diseases.
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I work with young children in an inclusive school setting. Literacy is one of my favorite ways to bring in topics of importance in a fun way. Love your books!
I help small children with big feelings through visuals (posters, books, social stories, etc). We use specific programs to help children with self regulation but often just talking about, modeling and practicing what feelings look like and things that might happen around them to cause those feelings can be very helpful. We practice in the classroom throughout the day so when the situation comes we are not trying to teach while they are having their big feelings- but they already have some vocabulary and experience to work with in the situation. I LOVE using stories in my teaching.
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We practice mindfulness, relaxation, breathing, resiliency to tame our big emotions that feel out of control. We also read a lot of books about feelings to increase our emotional literacy.
I work with 1st thru 5th graders and I am doing more with them to help them put words to feelings – what feelings look like & feel like along with how we behave when we feel that way. I like stories to go along with the topic. We are looking to find a more universal SEL curriculum so all at the elementary level are learning the same topics. We see more and more kids that are struggling with social/emotional development and stories are something most connect with.
It helps me to teach young children about feelings and to help them to understand that is okay to have those feelings. It help me to teach them that a feeling can be expressed in different ways. Like for example; sadness; some children when they are sad they will cry , , some other children they will be quiet and alone some where, some other children would be want to be near to someone she or he loves.
It helps children to learn, recognize, named and regulated his/her emotions and their peers emotions.
I help small children deal with big feelings by helping them identify what feelings are. I use a chart with faces so that they can recognize how they are feeling and I also use story telling and reading. My favorite is the tucker turtle technique: Tucker is a powerful teaching tool to show young children how to “stop, tuck, and think” (a.k.a. the Turtle Technique) before they, say, give in to overwhelming feelings, snatch a toy from a friend, or even whack a classmate on the head. Tucker the Turtle also happens to be a character in a story developed by positive-behavior expert and University of South Florida professor Rochelle Lenteni.
There are many ways that children deal with big emotions so I tailor my sessions accordingly. All of my students are 9 or under so I use bibliotherapy a lot. Just today I used a book for a second grade student to think of the consequences before he makes choices. I find that allowing children to see it with someone else helps them to better understand and see what is happening in their situation.
I use pyramid model practices.
Books like Alexander and the Terrible Horrible no good very bad day are classics.
One way we help children deal with “big feelings” in our classroom is to utilize Conscious Discipline’s deep breathing and well-wishing. We have a quiet space in our classroom with visual reminders of different ways to take deep breathes which we encourage students to use. We encourage the use of power words and phrases such as “I don’t like it when you _____, Please _____.” Students are very responsive and often begin using the techniques on their own without reminders!
As a school counselor, small children sometimes have a difficult time naming the feeling of how they feel. Books and activities that help them name their feeling gives them a better understanding of themselves and a chance to cope with this certain feeling.
I help children with accept and regulate their feelings. I use many ways to regulate it, including books
I work with children and their families (prenatal thru 4). Helping both children and their families learn about emotions and how to identify express them appropriately is a large part of our visits. All ages can point, make a face or say somehow what they are feeling given the right tools. This series will help me to do just that.
I help small children with big feelings by reading books. This shows them that others have the same feelings, and gives them the vocabulary to express them. Words can empower young children and books can give them a voice.
I encourage them to let them express themselves.
I help kids everyday as a School Counselor to learn Social Emotional Skills to lead to productive members of our community.
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With today’s world, we could all use a little help understanding our emotions!
Even with our youngest infants, at our center we always narrate and label the child’s feeling for them so that they as they develop, the vocabulary of feelings grows.
I help my students name their feelings and let them know their feelings are valid. It’s okay to be angry, sad, etc. Then we work on appropriate ways to deal with those feelings so everyone stays safe.
I work with gifted students in 1-3. They have big emotions that are hard to deal with. I teaching calming strategies, naming emotions and feelings, and next steps. My daughter tries out my resources at home first. 🙂
We have a team of school counselors and behavioral specialist. We work with students from preschool to high school, specifically with Deaf children. We provide psycho-educational group lessons in the classroom. We discussed behavioral expectations (being safe, open minded, accountable, and respectful).
I help children deal with their feelings by recommending the best books the library has available.
I help children find a way to name and tame their big feelings and to make repairs if they have harmed their community.
One of my favorite ways to teach students about feelings while giving the language to support that is through the Zones of Regulation! As an elementary counselor, I use these lessons classroom-wide and also in small groups.
I help children with big feelings by working with them to understand that we all feel a variety of feelings and that is ok (and normal!)- there are certain ways to ‘cope’ that will help us more positively and successfully move forward.
We help children name their emotions and recognize what that emotion looks like on their friends faces & bodies and how their body might feel when they experience that emotion. We role play different scenarios and discuss how each might feel in that situation. We practice expressing different emotions by changing the expressions on our faces and our body language.
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I help young children deal with big emotions with deep breathing, growth mindset and by setting a positive example!
I am an elementary school counselor for students that are PreK-5th grade. This would be another great resource that I could add to my collection. I am always reading books about emotions and feelings with my students. I use them in classroom lessons, small groups and individually.
As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I find that many children do not have the words to completely express their thoughts and feelings. We work on expanding vocabularies using books like yours! We also use videos (for appropriate modeling) and role playing activities so that their actions can be interpreted into the words they learn so that they have an alternative to sometimes acting out or becoming upset..
I like to teach breathing, visualizing and other calm down techniques as well as reading social stories.
I work with preschool aged children that have varying needs. Children at this age are better able to relate with their emotions through books and illustrations. A series of books, such as these, would not only benefit our regular education classrooms, but would also be very helpful for our special education preschoolers. Thank you for offering these free books!
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I used the Mind Yeti program and Go Noodle and make breathing wands out of toilet paper rolls. The students decorate the tubes, we tape curled ribbon to one end and they practice calm down breathing techniques.
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I try to help them breathe through it, and once they calm down help them work through their feeling with their own words.
I teach my students to use Zones of Regulation.
I work as a school counselor with kids from age 3-12. Having a series of books like this would provide me with resources for my class lessons and for individual sessions. Sadly for some of these kids, the safest place for them to explore feelings is at school with the counselor. These books would provide me with one more tool to support and teach them about how to manage their feelings.
I help young children learn about their emotions by actively listening to them and helping them learn about the connections between their thoughts, feelings, body, and behaviors. We read all kinds of stories and talk about how things in the stories are connected to their everyday lives. We play various observation games to help them learn what feelings sound like and look like. We learn that all feelings are good, even if some are uncomfortable. Feelings give us important information about ourselves and what is important to us. They learn it’s our responsibility to try and know what we feel and make choices on how to manage and express our feelings. We always try to make connections to personal choice making and seeing how different choices have different outcomes. I help them build an emotional toolbox filled with strategies that they think can help them calm down from the inside out. I teach them that when you are calm from the inside out your brain works better, you can think more clearly, make better choices, and get along better with your family and friends.
I work with struggling readers who have experienced trauma in their lives and often bring it with them to school. Learning to read and reading about feelings gives them an outlet to express themselves.
The most important thing I try to do when kids are dealing with big feelings is to validate those feelings. I find adults often try to tell kids to “just calm down” and minimize what they are experiencing, when these big feelings can be truly overwhelming for our little friends. Aside from validation, I find that mindfulness strategies, deep breathing, and yoga can be some of the most effective tools to help kids regulate their big feelings.
Belly breaths and cuddles help with my daughter!
I try hard to help my 3 year old with her big feelings by reading stories and using time-in instead of time-out. Talking it out and labeling seems to work best.
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I have old books on feelings in the library but they really need to be replaced. This set would be perfect.
Good golly, working with inclusion students, many on the spectrum and dealing with feelings and emotions in a military community is a daily adventure. I incorporate drawing, sentence starters, and reflection to assist my students. I’ve invested in blue light filters and have a quiet space for students, sometime incorporating classical music as well.
We start early helping children learn about their feeling and how to handle them. They love being read to so this group of books could really help out the classrooms in our center. Thanks
I share with my paraprofessionals throughout the District.
Some of our younger students, and students in our Life Skills program, come to us unprepared for the emotional, social and interpersonal challenges they face. I work with these students to understand how their actions have consequences and how others may perceive them.
HI, I liked Free Spirit Publishing on FB and followed on Pinterest. Thank you!
What an exciting give away. I work with children with autism and the developmental skill set needed for understanding their emotions, how they feel, and appropriate ways to express them is often quite tricky and unique to each child, especially if they are on the spectrum. These books could be a wonderful addition to my tool box!!
We use breathing exercises to help calm a child so that they can then focus and describe their feelings.
I share stories that show others dealing with big feelings – we read Potato Pants this morning and it was both silly and serious, showing Potato being excited and mad and afraid and then learning to forgive.
Each of our classrooms has a calm down kit that students can use to help them regulate their feelings to get back to the green zone and ready to learn!
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I help small children with big feelings by playing game to increase their feelings vocabulary, such a headbands with feelings cards.
I help small children with big feelings by allowing them to express their feelings through drawing, books, games, fun activities. I also lead small groups and conduct whole classroom lessons. I use puppets, fun activities, acting, role play, music, and so forth to help get students engaged in expressing and dealing with strong emotions. This allows them to not only understand their own feelings, but also understand how others feel and how to show empathy! This collection would be a great addition to my room and I know the students would love them as well. Thank you for the consideration. I will head to your social media pages to follow/like 🙂
I’m a school counselor and have used mindfulness and mind brain education to help our littlest ones talk about emotions and the brain and give them a toolbox for managing big feelings.
As a behavior specialist working with small children, it is important to teacher children to recognize and express emotions in appropriate ways. These books would be very helpful.
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I work with my own young children (5, 2, 7 mos.) on dealing with big emotions and feelings on a daily basis! We are learning on how to communicate more effectively and support through challenging behaviors at home.
I also work with many childcare providers as a quality improvement coach. I feel lucky to be able to support many people with situations such as challenging behaviors and feelings, helping to navigate toward best practices and really understand the feelings behind the behaviors.
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My work supports teachers in creating a responsive and nurturing environment through training and support of coaching.
I help small special needs students with big feelings by helping them process what they are feeling while riding the school bus for the first time ever!
I help small children cope with big feelings by naming the feelings. We try to build an emotional vocabulary for young children when they are calm, alert, and ready to learn! Learning that big feelings are normal, are telling us something, and that they don’t have to last a long time are important facts to teach early.
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I want to help young children deal with big emotions and find ways to deal with them in positive ways.
I help my students mostly by listening to their concerns.
I teach in an inclusive classroom 3-5 year old children. I use the Second Step Curriculum to include empathy, feelings, and so much more…I also have a variety of books, songs and at greeting Time and through out the day we share about how we work together as a community…we are The Groovy Buttons!!!
I am the children’s librarian at our library and I also go out into the community to preschools and kindergarten and read. These are great topics to share with the children, as unfortunately in today’s society these topics are not always presented or taught at home. I would love to win these for our library.
I help and assist young children with issues they are having, by using my puppets..
I have about 30 puppets total so I switch them around depending on the situation I am dealing
with. I always use 2 puppets at the same time, a boy and a girl puppet.
If it’a a certain feeling the child is dealing with ,
then one of the puppets will have that feeling–sad, scared etc..
the other puppet helps him/her by saying what he/she does when they feel scared or
frightened.
At the end of the session, I have the child play with any puppet they want and role-play
with me what they want to talk about.
Its very exciting and rewarding seeing the child open up and share their feelings with
the puppet..
I love to give children space and allow them to talk/draw/move when they’re ready!
Teaching social-emotional skills is my favorite topic to do as a coach visiting childcare programs. I think the first and most important step is giving kids some vocabulary other than “sad”, “happy”, “mad”.
These look like a wonderful addition to my counseling library!
I help small children deal with big feelings by naming the feeling. For example, I might say, “You’re frustrated,” if a child is getting frustrated when trying to complete a task. Or, “You’re angry,” when they are yelling.
What a great giveaway! I am anxious to use these with my students!
Big feelings in little kids can be quite overwhelming. We use sentence starters to help them express their feelings in a respectful way, hold regular class meetings to model situations or work out any recurring incidents, and keep a calming station in the room.
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Second entry for Facebook like- I love the types of books you all choose! These are so important.
I help small children with big feelings by working with Reading Partners! Equipping children with literacy skills is one of the most important things in helping them process the complex world of thoughts and feelings around them.