Talking About “Big Feelings”
Encourage kids to talk about their big feelings.
- Watch this video together (it’s best if you’ve watched all the other videos in this topic first) and then choose a comfort object, such as a stuffed animal or doll, for pretend play.
- Tell kids that this little friend is having some big feelings, like Elmo did in the video, and needs comforting. You might help children relate by explaining why the animal or doll is feeling that way, based on kids’ experience (“She’s feeling sad because she has to move to a different home and will miss her friends.”).
- Invite kids to think of ways to help, such as hugging the animal or doll, showing it how to breathe deeply, and telling it they’re here to talk and listen (demonstrate these strategies as needed). This will help children express empathy and compassion, and learn ways to comfort themselves and others.
Abby's Broken Wand
A storybook featuring strategies to help children cope with big feelings.
Building and Rebuilding Language Skills—and Community!
An article about building children’s language skills by enriching your interactions.
Understanding Bullying
Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content, Rosemarie Truglio, PhD, examines bullying as it affects young children, and shares ways to handle—and prevent—it.
Building a Connected Community
Take a course on ways to help children and families get ready for school and life--together!
Little Neighbors
In this webinar, you’ll learn how you can use our “Little Neighbors” initiative to help children and their families discover their power to make their communities—and the world—a happier, healthier, safer place for everyone.
Caring Communities
In our course Caring Communities, you can explore the ways to embed storybooks, printables, videos, and digital games in your work with everyone in your neighborhood.
Roads to Resilience
The course Roads to Resilience highlights some of the best assets from topics across SesameWorkshop.org with customized approaches, tips and tricks on using these resources in your work with caregivers and their children.
