Toddlers can be gloriously happy one minute and extremely upset the next. Their little brains are undergoing so much growth in those early years, and they don’t yet have the vocabulary, context, or life experience to identify and process all of those emotions.
Helping toddlers understand and articulate their feelings can ease the chaos, but how?
Researchers at Michigan State University found that a simple strategy, called “emotion bridging,” can do just that, with the end result of fewer behavioral problems.
Emotion bridging is a straightforward, three-step process:
- Labeling the emotion: sad, happy, upset, mad, etc.
- Putting it into context: feeling this because of that
- Making a relevant connection: “Remember when you felt [emotion] because of [situation/experience]?”
One way to help the learning stick? The connective, transformative power of shared musical experiences.
Continue reading “How Music + Emotion Bridging Helps Toddlers Navigate BIG Feelings Early On”