All parents have been in the same situation at some point: our little ones don't know how to manage their emotions and they challenge us. There may also be times when our children are anxious or sad, and we don't know what to do to calm them down.

It's not easy, because emotional intelligence is a skill our children haven't developed at a young age, and they don't easily recognize or manage their emotions. That's why it's essential for us parents to work on our emotional intelligence to help our children develop theirs.

In these situations, where our children and even we don't always know how to react, it's necessary to have tools that allow us to handle them more assertively. Here are some strategies to calm children that you can implement in your daily life.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotions play a fundamental role in our lives, and learning to manage each of them is crucial for our children's overall development. The first step in developing them is for us as parents to understand their importance.

And what is this emotional intelligence?

When we talk about emotional intelligence, we refer to the skills we develop to manage our own emotions and those of those around us. While it's true that some people are more adept at self-awareness and self-management, it's also true that we can all acquire skills that help us in this area.

If, as parents, we recognize the importance of developing emotional intelligence from the outset, then it will be easier for us to help our children from a very early age gain self-understanding and learn to recognize their emotions.

Fundamental aspects of emotional intelligence in children

Before learning about the strategies you can use to calm children when a situation upsets them, I'd like to share with you the key aspects we should keep in mind when developing emotional intelligence in our little ones. These are:

• Self-awareness: Our first task is to promote self-awareness in our children. It's very important that they learn to recognize their emotions so they can learn to manage them.
• Managing emotions: It's impossible to eliminate feelings, so it's important to equip our little ones with skills that allow them to understand how they feel and how to respond to those feelings.
• Identification: It is very important for our children to develop empathy so that they are aware of other people's emotions.
• Motivation and tolerance: These are two very important skills we should foster in our children because both will help them when things don't go as they expect.
• Interpersonal relationships: These are essential for human development, but not all of us know how to relate to others. Fortunately, social skills are also an aspect our children can develop with our help.

5 Effective Strategies to Calm Children

Our little ones experience many emotions, and it's not always easy for us as parents to handle these situations without falling prey to our own emotions.

It takes a lot of patience and emotional intelligence to take assertive action. Fortunately, there are strategies that can help you calm children while helping them understand and manage their emotions.

Here are 5 simple strategies:

1. Name it:

This strategy is very useful for working on the first aspect of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, because it allows children to name what they are feeling.

Help your little one recognize and name the feeling that's causing them discomfort and say it out loud. Naming the emotion won't make it go away, but it will help them identify it and will be helpful when implementing other strategies to improve their mood.

2. Calm Poster

[caption id="attachment_1564" align="alignright" width="300"] Activities to face difficult times[/caption]

Once they've identified the emotion, the next step is taking action to manage it. For this strategy, you can use our resource, "My Calm Poster," to help you. It's a poster with suggested activities to help calm children.

With this poster and its beautiful illustrations, our children have at hand suggestions on how to manage basic emotions such as anger, sadness, and frustration.

This strategy is one of my favorites because the kids can apply it even when I'm not looking. It's easy to use, and ours has a beautiful design and is bilingual. So the kids will know what to do to calm down and also practice their English.

3. Traffic Light Technique

Traffic light activity in children

Very useful when dealing with impulsive children who don't obey. This simple strategy has the advantage that it can be applied in any situation; it's straightforward and, since it's related to an everyday object like a traffic light, children will easily grasp the concept.

It involves agreeing on a code based on the traffic light colors that will help you become aware of your behavior.

Green: A slight warning.

Yellow: A wake-up call

Red: The child must stop his behavior.

It is important that we agree on the terms with our little ones beforehand for this strategy to be effective.

4. Mindfulness Techniques for Children

Mindfulness involves being fully aware of the here and now . There are many techniques that can help us apply it when we need to calm children.

The main exercise I recommend practicing with our little ones is deep, conscious breathing. Taking deep breaths will help lower our children's heart rate and, consequently, help them relax.

Another exercise to work on mindfulness is meditation, which you can use if your child is a little older, and record each sensation produced by the activity you are doing.

5. Play, play, play

Play activities to manage emotions[/caption]

There are many games that help calm children, whether they involve physical activity or require them to use their minds. The key is to choose activities that help our little ones relax.

Manipulate different textures like shaving cream or dough, mold Play-Doh, or play with clay. They can also paint, jump, or dance. Any activity the child enjoys can be effective in calming them. Of course, you should then have a conversation about the emotions they experienced and how best to manage them.

We will always face the challenge of managing our little ones' emotions . It's important that we help them recognize them and provide them with the tools to learn how to manage them. It's part of the wonderful work of being a mother.