Identify Your Feelings: The Story of Baby Bird Blue

With the ability to identify and acknowledge the emotions that they are feeling, children begin the process of developing important self-regulation strategies that they will find beneficial as they enter into the world outside their own homes. Our emotions – be they excitement, disappointment, joy or anxiety – can sometimes result in uncomfortable physical responses in our bodies. Children need to know that their feelings are normal AND that there are practical strategies that they can use to help manage those strong emotions so that they feel better and more in control. In this session, children will learn that identifying what it is that they are feeling – along with employing other practical self-regulation strategies like positive self-talk and breathing – can help manage strong feelings in a productive manner. Children will sing a song about identifying strong feelings and managing them. They will then read a short story with me about Baby Bird Blue, a bluebird who identifies her anxiety about flying for the first time. The children will – with me and with the other learners in the session – discuss Baby Bird Blue’s strategies for helping himself feel better. Finally, we will each have the opportunity to practice identifying feelings and using other self-regulation strategies like positive self-talk and breathing so that we leave the session with some simple yet useful tools for managing strong feelings. As a kindergarten teacher of 15 years, I have found that children benefit greatly from developing a sense of efficacy when it comes to emotional self-regulation – and song, story, discussion and practice are the tools to bring this growing sense of agency into a child’s ever-expanding world. Join me!