Ways To Help Pre-Teens Understand and Express Their Emotions

You may have witnessed their frowns, endless belly laughs, and their newfound fascination with closed bedroom doors. Welcome to the world of pre-teens – where emotions are like a spiral rollercoaster.

It’s important to guide our pre-teens on this crazy ride as they navigate their feelings and learn how to express their emotions. With your support and patience, they can pick up on mechanisms to help them through the emotional landscape of pre-adolescence!

Understanding The Feelings Pre-Teens Experience

Pre-teens can express intense emotions – we’ve all been there.

Their feelings are complex, ranging from euphoria to anxiety and can be tricky for them to try to understand why they feel the way they do. This is where we come in as adults, showing them empathy, kindness, and calmness.

Even though scientists are still decoding pre-teens emotions, studies have confirmed that it is very much normal for pre-teens to be experiencing an emotional dance when it comes to their thoughts and feelings.

How To Be Your Pre-Teen’s BFF (Best Feeling Friend)

You may feel like you’ve gone from the superhero parent to the counselling adviser. However, being supportive to your pre-teens in this phase can have countless benefits for your child’s future self.

Having a loving parent who takes interest in their child’s concerns can be an unbreakable bond-builder, instils confidence in your child, and shares key problem-solving skills for later life.

1. Encourage open communication

Imagine this: Your teen comes home from school and leaves a note on the kitchen table that says, “Maths test was really hard. Need ice cream.”

Encourage your pre-teen to communicate openly – not just about school problems but about their emotions too. When your pre-teen understands that it is safe to communicate openly and honestly with you, then this will naturally strengthen your bond.

Whether it’s a heartfelt conversation on the couch, a bike ride through the park, or secret notes painted on their easel, let them know you are listening – and bring in the ice cream when needed.

2. Provide tools and resources

Ever solved a Rubik Cube blindfolded? Well, that’s how navigating emotions can feel like.

Equip your pre-teen with resources that can help them understand and learn emotional stability: whether through books that discuss emotions, fidget toys to help calm a busy mind, or show them colouring and drawings sets that can help them in expressing themselves and silence any external thoughts.

Sometimes concentrating on something else can also aid pre-teens in navigating emotions as thoughts and feelings can be overwhelming to handle alone.

3. Teach emotional literacy

Pre-teens can be a confusing mix of hormones and homework, but giving them the right tools and understanding to navigate their emotions will be vital at any age. Especially with puberty around the corner, it’s important for pre-teens to be able to provide themselves with emotional stability. There are a few methods that can help with this, for example:

• Learning emotional cues: understanding that every action has a reaction, therefore situations or conversations can arise that cause us to feel a strong emotion.
• Naming feelings: learning to be comfortable enough to say what you are feeling at any moment. Help teach your child how to take a moment to reflect on their emotions and pinpoint what the emotion is.
• Encourage understanding: there is no need to be tough on ourselves when we feel a certain way, understand that it is normal to feel emotions and to feel confused within those emotions. Adults, at times, find it difficult let alone pre-teens. Take the time to converse with your child and try to understand their feelings and thoughts.

4. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness isn’t just a wonderful tool for adults; it’s a superpower for pre-teens too.

Teach your child that learning to understand your emotions is powerful and useful at any age. Share with them that is it completely normal to feel low, overwhelmed, anxious, or so on. Learning approaches like meditation can teach your pre-teen to take deep breaths and reflect on situations or emotions.

Have a read of our article, Teaching Your Child The Art of Mindfulness to learn more about different approaches and applying this method to a variety of age groups.

5. Seek professional support

If you find your child struggling and notice a shift in their daily activities and quality of life, remember: seeking professional support is as normal as craving pizza on Fridays.

Therapists, school advisers, and mental health professionals are like your emotion navigators. You can find additional support through these sites listed below:

• https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
• https://www.childline.org.uk/
• https://www.minded.org.uk/
• https://stem4.org.uk/

Summary

In summary, remember this is not just about guiding your pre-teen through their emotional mazes; you are their co-pilot, cheerleader, confidant and BFF(Best Feeling Friend) all in one. So, grab your emotional compass and make space for laughter and understanding as you set sail on this journey.

It will be worth the effort!

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