Expressing emotions is already hard as an adult, I can't imagine (or don't remember) how hard it must be as a child. In that spirit, I'm trying to help my kids express and accept whatever emotions come up, especially when it comes to negative emotions such as anger and sadness.

The truth is, it's really hard to explain the notion of emotion to a child. Much less ask them to tell you which one they feel. However hard it is, though, research shows self-compassion is of utmost importance, beyond even self-esteem.

There are a few different options out there that can help, mostly games, but also books, apps, and dolls.

• Robot emotions flashcards at Mr. Printable.
• The emotional animals dice game, an active game for younger ones.
• The chill & spill journal, more of a pre-teen and teen item.
• A coloring/make your own story book.
• The emotion matching game, a how-to make your own photo to word matching game.
• Today, I feel silly, a book by Jamie Lee Curtis.
• Touch and learn emotions, a mobile app.
• Emotions memory, a French and English bilingual game.
• Funny families, another bilingual (French/English) card game based on the seven families game.
• Kimochi dolls.

(images as linked above)