A few weeks ago one of our Instagram followers asked for my help with finding a book which could help her daughter learn to handle her emotions. Toddlers often have tantrums because they struggle to express their feelings in words so she was looking for a tool that would help mitigate this.
We’re only just getting in to the tantrum stage with Ivy so this wasn’t an area I had properly researched but I had heard good things about this book by Elizabeth Verdick. Wary of recommending something I hadn’t actually read, I ordered a copy and I am extremely glad that I did. This little board book has proven itself to be very effective!
It explains the emotions your toddler might be feeling in very simple terms and then gives a little mantra to help them calm down which is repeated throughout the book. It also offers up suggestions about how they can make themselves feel better, like asking for a cuddle, talking about how they feel, or simply finding a quiet place to play or sing by themselves.
For those of you rolling your eyes at the back there, I too was a little sceptical as i’m not the kind of adult who meditates or is in any way calm or collected! However this book genuinely works with Ivy.
If she starts to get angry I grab this from our shelf and we sit and read it in a quiet voice. She stops to listen and by the time we’re through she is calm and she even repeats the little mantra after me.
This edition also features two pages of useful tips for parents and care givers and I find the whole book also makes me feel a lot better too!
It’s obviously not going to work for every child but I would definitely recommend it for toddlers who like to sit and read.
This book is part of a series called ‘Toddler Tools‘ and I’ve recently ordered 3 more which look great – Bye-Bye Time, Mealtime and Naptime – so i’ll let you know how they go!
Buy it now: https://amzn.to/2HsECid