"You can read a book, but did you know that you can also read a face?"
~Shelley Rotner, children's book author
Valentine's Day offers the perfect opportunity to talk with your child about feelings and emotions - big ideas for little kids! There are plenty of wonderful books addressing this topic. Here are a few that do an exceptionally good job of encouraging children to acknowledge and express their feelings, and pick up on the social cues of others.
Love is in the air, so cuddle up with your kiddo and grab a book!
Babies: Ages 0-1
"Counting Kisses: A Kiss & Read Book" by Karen KatzThe setup: It’s baby’s bedtime and many special people are waiting to plant their kisses on baby. Get ready to count and kiss along to this tender book. Spend time naming and describing the pictures on each page. Take your time and build anticipation by preparing to give the kisses. Concepts to focus on include counting, body parts and family members.
Why it works: Babies love to get kisses, look at faces and imitate what they see. At this early age children begin to learn to coordinate and move their lips, tongue, teeth and jaw. Oral motor skills, such as puckering lips, blowing a kiss and sticking out their tongue are very important in developing speech production, swallowing and feeding skills.
Keep it going: Securely set up a mirror for your baby to check out his or her cute little face. Have fun making faces at one another and practicing some exaggerated oral movements and facial expressions.
Toddlers: Ages 1-3
"Hugs and Kisses" by Eve TharletThe setup: A little puppy goes in search of a special kiss. You can make this book become your own affectionate turn taking interaction by acting it out as you read along. Each of you gets to take a turn playing the role of the puppy and the animal. Ask your child to point to a specific body part before they receive a kiss from you there. You can then point to your body part and have your child name it before kissing you there. In addition to learning about body parts, other concepts in this book include animals and adjectives.
Why it works: Reading together builds bonding and attachment. It also fosters an early understanding of meaningful social skills such as turn taking. At this age, children can expand their vocabularies by identifying their body parts and developing the ability to label them.
Keep it going: Create a special Valentine’s Day art project. You can find many creative handprint and footprint art projects by searching online resources. Also, talking during daily activities such as dressing, bathing and feeding will help reinforce their vocabulary of body parts.
Preschoolers: Ages 3-5
"Glad Monster, Sad Monster A Book About Feelings" by Ed Emberley and Anne MirandaThe setup: A fun and interactive book to explore the many different ways we all feel. For each emotion, simple and clear examples are provided for what makes each monster feel the way they do. Funny masks are included for you and your child to try on and practice modeling your own range of emotions.
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"Lots of Feelings" by Shelley RotnerThe setup: This book shows numerous photographs of children experiencing a range of emotions. These real pictures will help kids practice identifying and labeling the feelings they see. Use questions to explore these feelings-What do you think he/she is feeling? Can you tell me about a time you ever felt that way? What would make him/her feel that way? What do you think she/he would say?
Why they work: It is important to teach kids to express how they feel and help them learn to interpret how others feel. These skills influence our ability to attain good social relationships as well as help us develop better communication skills.
Keep it going: Expand your child’s vocabulary by providing a variety of words that mean the same thing (happy/glad, afraid/scared, sad/blue, etc) so kids can learn to name their feelings. Role playing is also a great way to act out how to appropriately express our feelings and teach kids how to respond to other people.
School Age Kids: Ages 5+
"Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods That Make My Day" by Jamie Lee CurtisThe setup: An entertaining exploration of a little girl’s range of emotions and her reasons for experiencing each of them presented through rhyming verses. The illustrations capture her changes in facial expression and body language; both areas worth highlighting to your kids while you read this book.
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"The Way I Feel" by Janan CainThe setup: Emotions are presented through bright illustrations and rhyming text. Each feeling word includes a short and simple example that highlights the language of the situation and/or the reaction. Facial expressions and body language are also clearly represented in the words and pictures.
Why they work: If we can teach children the language they need to express their feelings they will be better able to understand their feelings, communicate how they feel and successfully cope with them. It is important to teach kids that it is acceptable to feel any emotion and help them learn strategies to handle how to react appropriately. Self-regulation is an important skill that continues to develop and it overlaps with gains in social competence.
Keep it going: Ask your child how he or she feels at different times during the day to practice noticing and naming feelings. Discuss how to deal with emotions by modeling language of what to say and what to do. Develop actions or steps that could be taken to help your child cope with his or her unwanted emotions during a difficult situation.
Ask your librarian about the Merrimack Valley Consortium, where you can access books from more than 30 library collections!
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Elana Mentasti, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a nationally certified speech language pathologist and has worked as a school-based clinician since 2004. She is currently taking time off to be a stay-at-home mom. Reading to her daughter is one of her favorite pastimes and she's passionate about helping children be the best communicators they can be.
