8 Activities to Help Your Child Grow Emotionally
Humans react differently to things and situations happening around them or to them. However, irrespective of the differences, it can be broadly classified into positive and negative reactions. For instance, when challenges occur with no hope of a solution, the vast majority will lose focus and give in to fear and tears. On the other hand, there are still a few individuals out there, who can cope fine despite their current situation. These categories have learned how to understand their emotions and choose the positive over the negative. This article seeks to tell you about activities to help your child grow emotionally.
Interestingly, growing to such a stage of emotional maturity doesn’t happen overnight or within a twinkle of an eye, in essence, it’s a process that requires time – It begins from childhood. Therefore, as a parent there are a series of activities to help your kids grow emotionally mature; this process eases their growth stage unto adulthood.
What is Emotional Maturity?
Emotional maturity is a state where a person has gained the ability to understand his/her emotions, and beyond understanding has the power to manage their emotions no matter their circumstances – either pleasant or unpleasant. As earlier established it doesn’t happen in a day, but it’s a skill that is developed through consistent work overtime. Furthermore, growing to the stage of emotional maturity begins with the development of one’s emotional intelligence by having vivid knowledge of one’s thoughts and behavior.
Subsequently, this lays the foundation for emotional maturity and helps one decide how best to approach a situation. Sadly, most parents don’t feel the need to help their kids grow emotionally, because they have experienced a series of emotional neglect in the past. However, instead of depriving your children, you can choose to learn how to overcome childhood emotional neglect.
What Are the Benefits of Emotional Maturity?
1. Emotional Maturity Helps One Provide Productive Solutions to Problems
Problems are certainly unavoidable in life, arising from people, situations, and things. But what matters most is how we can handle those problems by providing a productive solution. In response to this, being emotionally mature keeps one calm despite the turbulence around. Also, in a state of calmness, a person can think straight and provide constructive solutions.
2. It Helps Kids Associate Socially With Peers
As a parent don’t hesitate to learn about those activities to help your kids grow emotionally, this is because this activity enables them to associate with their peers positively. Kids who are damaged emotionally have poor self-esteem about themselves and feel left out among their peers. In contrast, when your child is matured emotionally they feel good about themselves and mingle with their peers to learn more.
3. Emotional Maturity Empowers One to Seek Help
Those who are mature emotionally know that life isn’t about themselves alone. Rather a connected network of valuable people, who serves as a propeller towards the actualization of their goals. Hence, when they are exhausted they don’t keep the pain to themselves or die in silence, on the contrary, they are quick to ask for help if need be. In essence, kids who are mature emotionally feel free to tell their parents things about themselves especially when they are suffering from bullying at school.
4. Emotional Maturity Enables a Person to Cope with Difficult Situations
Hard times are what make the journey of life worthwhile. They build us into becoming the best version of ourselves because the comfort zone slows down progress. However, those who are not yet mature emotionally easily get overwhelmed by their difficult times, but the reverse becomes the case when such a person is emotionally matured – they overcome difficult times. Therefore, you must be determined to learn about activities to help your kids grow emotionally which enables them to cope with difficult circumstances.
5. Control the Effects of Negative Emotions
The vast majority don’t know how to curtail their negative emotions and similarly don’t care about the aftermath of such emotions. Those who struggle with anger or other negative emotions must learn to excuse themselves from amidst people to avoid taking regrettable actions. This is why everyone must learn how to be emotionally mature to avoid hurting themselves and others by venting negative emotions wrongly.
Activities to Help Your Child Grow Emotionally
1. Spend Quality Time with Your Kids by Hanging Out Together
It’s wrong to abandon your kids all in the name of a quest for money, a career, or an accomplishment. When kids are left alone they begin to feel unwanted and think less of themselves. In contrast, learn how to balance work and family to be able to spend quality time with your kids. Hanging out with your kids helps them realize that survival is tired of social connection and they wouldn’t hesitate to seek help when needed instead of keeping the pain to themselves.
2. Practice More Relaxation and Meditation
Among those activities to help your child grow emotionally mature is the frequent practice of relaxation. Kids shouldn’t be exempted from this practice. This is because both of them are healthy practices that help bring the body to a state of calmness and focus. Interestingly, the more your kids give in to the act of meditation the more they can maintain a calm state when unpleasant things happen. Constructive solutions are birthed from the state of serenity and focus. Also, encourage them to cultivate the habit of listening to calm music.
3. Encourage Your Kids to Practice Healthy Habits
The practice of healthy habits is what enables kids to value themselves and learn to become more empathetic towards others. In essence, they become mindful of all their actions and decisions to avoid causing harm to themselves and others. Healthy practices include obedience to instructions, keeping good company, proper eating routine, dedication to academic work, and being truthful and honest among others. In addition, ensure you inculcate the right morals into your kids because kids who are morally unsound easily give in to negative emotions.
4. Decisions Making Helps Kids Grow Emotionally
Your kids begin to take responsibility for their actions when they are allowed to make decisions by themselves. Responsible kids will always manage their emotions irrespective of the situation. The importance of allowing kids to make their own decisions can’t be overemphasized as it helps them see the bigger picture of life. This way, they can choose what’s right over what’s wrong without feeling controlled or forced. At times, as a parent, you may feel they don’t know what’s best, however, feel free to tell them the pros and cons of every action they intend to take and allow them to decide.
5. Kids Who Engage in Worthwhile Activities Grow Emotionally
Productive activities are one of those activities to help your child grow emotionally. This is because these kinds of activities boost their creativity and brain coordination and; in turn influence their emotions positively, especially when done within a group like academic activities and participation in sports. In addition, be committed to discovering your kid’s talent and supporting them as much as possible. Furthermore, they should grow their talent by learning a skill that’s related to their talent.
It may interest you to check out fun things to do with your child at home during the holidays.
6. Allocate House Chores to Your Kids
Kids who get everything done for them by others find it difficult to coordinate themselves. In other words, they don’t know the value of things because they aren’t aware of the effort put together to achieve that thing. Therefore, you would do your kids lots more good by assigning them household chores for kids. Engaging in such activities teaches them about hard work and boosts their problem-solving skills when a task requiring their reasoning is assigned to them.
7. It’s Okay For Your Kids to Make Mistakes
Oftentimes, people get confused when they make mistakes or give in to depression when they fail because they have been taught that failure is the end of the tunnel for them. This mindset is often gotten from childhood as parents make their children feel bad when they make mistakes. However, this approach is wrong as it limits the growth of any child. Failures and mistakes are part of life and are stepping stones to greater heights. Hence, allow your kids to make mistakes so they can learn and avoid such occurrences in the future.
8. Reading Valuable Books Boost Emotional Growth
Reading books is one of those activities to help your child grow emotionally when applied currently. Kids can learn about different types of emotions and the effects of reading books related to emotional growth. Oftentimes, this book comes in children’s novel format telling stories about things, animals, and humans. However, within these storylines are moral lessons for kids to learn and apply to their own lives. So, instead of allowing your kids to play around or spend unnecessary time in front of the screen, buy them this set of books and watch them grow emotionally.
Conclusion
Growing emotionally isn’t a day job but rather a continuous process of growth beginning from childhood. Therefore, take all those activities to help your kids grow emotionally outlined above one at a time. In addition, encourage your kids to familiarize themselves with a positive affirmation attitude. In essence, they should learn how to always say something positive about themselves, as it influences their mindset and reactions towards situations that happen around them.
