Nurturing young hearts: Understanding emotional development
Explore the vital role of emotional development in early childhood. This page guides educators in fostering emotional well-being and building strong connections in infants and toddlers.
The essence of emotional development
Emotional development is the capacity for a child to understand, recognise, articulate, and regulate their own emotions by forming strong connections with others. Feelings and emotions are crucial for the well-being of babies during their infant and toddler stages, as their well-being largely depends on responsive relationships, consistent care, and supportive surroundings. Babies display their emotions through facial expressions, crying, gestures, and body language even before verbal language develops. In this respect, teachers play a key role in understanding children's emotions and providing appropriate responses (Kaywork, 2020).
Empowering educators: Building emotional competence
This page is designed to support early childhood teachers in developing their skills and competency in fostering children's emotional competence. Effective educators must possess high competency in several key areas:
- Attachment security: Fulfilling children's needs in a responsive way to help them establish attachment security (Kaywork, 2020).
- Emotional expression: Collaborating with children to express their emotions through storytelling, songs, using puppets, and discussions (Garvis et al., 2019).
- Self-regulation: Building self-regulation skills, including calmness and empathy, so that children can learn these vital skills (Harding, 2023).
- Accepting environment: Creating an environment where children's feelings and individuality are recognised (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022).
Our unique approach to emotional curriculum
Our approach to guiding teachers in fostering emotional development is rooted in creating authentic and engaging curriculum experiences:
- Art: Children have the opportunity to express their feelings by coloring and painting.
- Drama & puppetry: Feelings of caring and friendship among children are expressed through puppets.
- Literacy: Stories with emotional expressions are narrated to children for developing emotional vocabulary.
- Music & movement: Emotions can be expressed using music and movements.
- Outdoor play: Outdoor play builds self-confidence among children.
Practical learning opportunities for emotional growth
After visiting this page, we want teachers to remember and be able to implement practical strategies for emotional development in young children. Here are some key learning opportunities:
- 0-12 Months: "Mirror emotion faces" Teachers use mirrors and emotion cards to help infants learn to recognise happy, calm, and surprised expressions.
- 12-24 Months: "Feelings puppet story" Children engage in activities with puppets that demonstrate different emotions and work through problems. This activity is expected to help children develop empathy.
- 2-3 Years: "My emotions garden" Children paint their flowers and talk about being happy, sad, or anxious, providing a creative outlet for emotional expression.
Link with Early Year Learning Framework:
Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity.
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.