Emotions

At Hope 4 Hurting Kids, one of our principle missions is to help young people understand, cope with and overcome the difficult emotions that they face. Whether it is dealing with family problems, parental divorce, bullying or a multitude of other issues young people face today, dealing with the underlying emotions is a vital first step in moving from hurt to hope and healing. To that end we have developed a comprehensive emotions management plan we call Jump In! Stand Strong! Rise Up! Many of the articles and resources listed on this page represent ideas on how to help kids understand (Jump In!), cope with (Stand Strong!) and overcome (Rise Up!) difficult emotions. We have also included information and resources related to grief on this page. While we realize that grief is way more than emotions, difficult emotions are a significant part of grief. If you would like to limit your search to one area, please click on one of the options below.

Silent
Silent Has the Same Letters as Listen
Editors Note: We are excited to welcome Kay Westwood to our team of writers at Hope 4 Hurting Kids. We have no doubt that her experience as both a parent and a mental health practitioner will be a blessing to the Hope 4 Hurting Kids community. Sometimes we assume that anger is the only emotion in children that needs to be listened to and addressed. Many times though, particularly with children who are hurting, it is the silence that we should be listening to. Why do children choose silence? If you ask a child who is going through dramatic changes ...
Stuffed Animals
Using Stuffed Animals as Conversation Starters
If you've ever been a parent, worked with kids, or even been around kids, you understand the importance of stuffed animals in a child's life. I remember when my daughter was 5, she had to have her tonsils out. Her mother and I got her a purple baby doll to "keep her company" as she went into surgery. From that point on, that six-inch tall purple doll became a source of comfort to her as she faced difficult things in life. There is no doubt that stuffed animals can bring comfort to a child, but did you know that they ...
emotions
Jump In! Stand Strong! Rise Up! (A Comprehensive Emotions Management Plan)
Children and teens live in an ever-changing world that throws more and more at them and prepares them less and less to deal with the direct impacts, the collateral damage and the emotions that follow. At Hope 4 Hurting Kids, our goal is to help these hurting children and teens move from hurt to hope and healing. Today we announce a three stage plan to help young people understand, deal with and overcome the difficult emotional circumstances of their lives. We're calling it: JUMP In! STAND Strong! RISE Up! We contemplated other names for this strategy like "Recognize, Survive and ...
Grand Feelings Exit Plan
Grand Feelings Exit Plan (Signs of Emotional Health)
In the past, we have discussed the importance of helping young people to name and understand their emotions using the Super Simple Feelings Management Technique. We have also discussed the importance of helping them to build a tool box of coping skills by discussing Please Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. So, how do we know when these tools are working? That is why at Hope 4 Hurting Kids we've developed the Grand Feelings Exit Plan The Grand Feelings Exit Plan helps a young person to know the signs that they have truly dealt with and moved past a difficult emotion ...
Please Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
Please Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff (Coping Skills)
The first step in helping kids (or anyone for that matter) to deal with and process the difficult emotions in their lives is to help them understand and name emotions. At Hope 4 Hurting Kids, we use the Super Simple Feelings Management Technique for that. Once we have helped kids to understand their emotions, we need to provide them with means for dealing with those emotions. The second step towards emotional maturity and healing is to develop a robust set of coping skills. Coping Skills are designed to help "take the edge" of emotions and assist us in dealing with ...
Feelings Pong
Feelings Pong
Feelings pong is a fun game to play and easy to set up - all you need is a table some cups and ping-pong ball. It is another great activity to use with the Super Simple Feelings Management Technique to help kids and teens to better understand and deal with the emotions they face. Here's what you need: Plastic cups (9, 13, 18 or 24 cups work best for a pyramid). We used multi-colored cups so each color represented a group of emotions but that isn't necessary for the game. Ping-Pong balls. Permanent Marker. Here's how it works. Write the names of ...
Super Simple Feelings Management Technique
The Super Simple Feelings Management Technique [SSFMT]
Many of the resources and articles you see here on Hope 4 Hurting Kids include ideas and activities for teaching kids to better understand and deal with the difficult emotions that they face in life. To accomplish that goal, we suggest five main strategies to help kids to better recognize, understand and process their emotions. These five skills are represented by the letters SSFMT and the mneumonic: Super Simple Feelings Management Technique Here what each letter represents: S(uper) - See It We want each child to be able to recognize emotions when presented with a picture of them. Does that ...
Learn Feelings
Learn Feelings and Emotions For Kids
This great video from Learning Time Fun Jr. helps young kids (think toddlers through early elementary aged) to learn feelings and emotions by encouraging them to look at the characters' faces and repeat the emotion. This is an awesome tool to help younger kids begin to develop the emotions vocabulary that will serve them so well later in life if, and when, they face difficult circumstances ...
Emotions and the Brain
Emotions and the Brain
This video from Sentis is part of a series of videos that explore how the brain works. This installment examines emotions and the brain in language that is very easy to understand ...
feelings parking lot
The Feelings Parking Lot
The Feelings Parking Lot is a great tool to use with kids to both identify the feelings they are experiencing and to discuss different coping mechanisms that can help with those emotions. On top of that, it's always fun to play with Matchbox Cars. Here's how to build it: On a large piece of paper, poster board or foam board, draw a series of lines on either side to create "parking spaces." Leave some space between the space for a driving area. Have fun decorating your parking area. On one side of the parking lot, write the name of one ...
My Book About Feelings
My Book About Feelings for Kids
This miniature book about feelings for kids is called "My Book About Feelings" and comes to us from Scholastic.com.  That’s right, the people known for school book fairs and those book order forms that your kids bring home all the time also offers a series of mini printable books for kids. This particular book gives young children (officially aged 3-5, but potentially slightly older kids too) an opportunity to write about their feelings.  At only 8 half-pages long, this rhyming book asks kids to write out what makes them happy, sad, scared, mad and glad. In addition, it asks children ...
think about stress
How Do You Think About Stress?
In this TED talk from Kelly McGonigal asks whether it is stress itself or how we think about stress that is harmful to our bodies. As you listen to this informative TED talk, think about how you talk about stress with the kids in your life. How they approach the stress in their lives can have a serious impact on how they deal with it ...
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