How are you today?

A familiar part of the morning routine in many early years settings might be singing a ‘hello’ song. This can often be an opportunity to greet the children as a group and find out how they are feeling.

The first ‘hello’ song I learned involved singing, “Hello everyone, how are you?” Most of the children sang in response, “Hello, Lauren, we’re all right!” While coming together to greet each other was an important part of our routine, “all right” told me very little about how the children were actually feeling!

Children’s earliest expression of their emotions is through their actions and behaviour. When working with young or pre-verbal children, we often have to do a bit of guesswork. We might infer that two children giggling together in the mud kitchen are happy or excited, whereas the child throwing a toy to the floor after being asked to share might feel angry or frustrated.

As educators, we play a crucial role in helping children to develop awareness of their emotions and their ability to communicate them. We can do this by naming them, linking them to physical feelings in their bodies, or discussing when they feel them.

In research, educators often use stories and books to model emotional language or encourage children to reflect on their own experiences. Research evidence shows that doing this can improve children’s understanding of their emotions.

Watch this short film to see an example of how this might look. The educator, Louis, is talking with a small group of children about their feelings. He skillfully uses a story to encourage children to reflect on how they feel and why.

As you watch, notice how Louis:

• names different emotions;

• explains the emotions of the character from the story;

• uses questions to encourage children to discuss their feelings and emotions.

Research shows that this approach can be effective with children as young as two years old, but younger children might benefit, too. It might also be particularly beneficial for children who experience more stress or receive less support at home.

As you reflect on this clip, consider what this approach might look like when implemented with younger children in your setting, or those who might require extra support.

Download our summary poster for an overview of the personal, social, and emotional development approaches in our Early Years Evidence Store, which includes helpful suggestions for implementing them. We recommend applying all of the approaches together.

Consider how you can use the video and poster to support discussions with your teams and colleagues.

Read ‘It’s my playdough’, to explore strategies for helping children to manage their emotions.

Visit the ‘Teaching self-monitoring and self-awareness’ page of the self-regulation theme for more strategies to support children’s self-awareness.

Visit our Early Years hub to see more of our resources for early years educators.