Emotional skills are one of the most important skills for children to learn. Socio-emotional skills help children majorly in life. Socio-emotional skills are needed for example for forming healthy relationships with friends and family, managing own behaviour, understanding other's behaviour, managing stress, and succeeding in school.

Naming emotions, recognizing emotions, and talking about the roots + consequences of certain emotions are vital skills for children to understand when forming friendships and communicating with others.

Download a brochure by Pathways about the development of Socio-Emotional skills

What do emotional skills help children with?

Children who have healthy socio-emotional skills are more likely to succeed in school, work, and life.

According to Pathways Socio-emotional skills help children to:

• Make friends and keep friendships
• Gain confidence
• Resolve conflicts
• Manage stress and anxiety
• Learn social norms
• Make appropriate decisions
• Resist negative social pressure
• Learn strengths and weaknesses
• Gain awareness of what others are feeling

How can children learn emotional skills?

Children learn to express their emotions better through play, tasks, games, and storytelling. By practicing emotional skills, children get along better, show more empathy for others in the group, care more about the environment, and overall feel happier!

Children need to learn to name emotions to express how they feel to others. With the help of this EMOTION MEMORY GAME, children will learn different names of emotions.

Games about Emotions

• EMOTION MEMORY GAME. Memory game is a classic game that improves not only memory and concentration but this time also emotional skills. Discuss the emotions while playing.

How to play Emotion memory game?

1. Print, cut, and laminate the cards. Make sure you have 2 of each card.
2. Put the cards on the table face down.
3. One by one, each player can turn two cards.
   • If the cards match (=two same pictures) the player can have the cards for himself and have a new turn.
   • If the cards do not match (=two different pictures), the player puts the cards back and tries to memorize their locations for later.
4. The one with the most pairs in the end is the winner!

This memory game is suitable for children aged 3-6 years.

Read further in order to get all the 16 emotion cards!

For students in Finland, the journey of becoming lifelong learners starts before school, in Finnish kindergartens and preschools. With no homework or mandated standardized tests, they spend their time playing, exploring, and learning to learn. As a result, Finland has a 100% literacy level, high performers in international assessments, and children who love going to school.  

Claire Sanders from FunAcademy asked kindergarten and preschool teachers to break it down. FunAcademy kindly permitted Kindiedays to repost their findings as we share the same views and have built Kindiedays preschool solutions on the same strengths.

1. Play-based learning

“Children play a lot. We do have a curriculum and preschool plan. But teachers are free to create our way to work.” – Anna from Tampere, Kindergarten Teacher.

Preschoolers in Finland spend their days in kindergarten playing and exploring. There are of course different types of play such as digital play, active play, creative play, social play, and free play. While some of it is structured, for the most part, children are encouraged to play freely and independently with their peers. According to extensive studies, play, and exploration are children's most natural forms of acting and thinking characteristics. Therefore, with a predominantly play-based approach Finnish kindergartens integrate different types of play to optimize children’s learning experience. In other words, they have mastered the art of making learning fun!

2. Spending quality time outdoors

As a preschool owner or manager, your mission is to provide a nurturing and high-quality educational environment that fosters the holistic development of every child while growing admissions and parent satisfaction. How can these goals be combined practically?

The Importance of Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is vital for a successful preschool. In Finland, children learn through play and aren't scored, yet parents are confident in the quality of education. However, daily face-to-face meetings between teachers and parents can be hectic, and using paper notes is unreliable. A better approach is needed.

Cooperating with a child's family is crucial. Parents know their children best and want to engage in their learning, see evidence of progress, and handle daily practicalities smoothly. Teachers and families are in the same boat, working for the child's best interest.

Studies show that active parental involvement leads to better academic performance, improved social skills, and a positive attitude toward learning. For preschool owners and managers, fostering strong parent-teacher relationships increases trust and satisfaction, which is crucial for building a reputable and successful preschool.

How to Engage Parents?

Circle time is often a time when children as well as educators come together and have a joined start for the day. Circle time is much more than a shared moment with the group. Circle time is full of educational aspects as well as the promotion of social development and the group's team spirit. Circle time is a great venue to learn to share your ideas, thoughts, and emotions in a safe environment.

How to prepare circle time?

First of all, prepare a big enough floor space to sit on. It is nice if you have a specific circle time area that you gather on each time. When the circle time area is familiar to children, it is easier for them to concentrate and they know what is ahead when they gather for circle time.

Same, repeated routines are recommendable. For example, start circle time at the same time (for example after breakfast). Have the same starting and ending songs for circle time, but other activities during circle time can vary depending on your current learning theme or season. Also keep track of time, make sure circle time is no more than 20-30 minutes long.

If you have a specific learning theme, attach Circle Time to go together with the theme. For example, if the theme is emotions, read a book connected to emotional skills, sing a song that contains names of emotions, and let each child show from a picture card how they are feeling today! The same circle time activities can be done on many days, especially if the attending children are little. The smaller the children, the more repetition.

'All About Me' Lesson Plan Sample

Visual environment

The visual environment is very important for circle time. It is good if it helps children to focus during circle time and creates a feeling of curiosity. Here are some examples of Circle Time activities and pictures that support the activities. Build your own Circle Time wall with these examples:

• WHO IS HERE - Have a laminated photo of all the children + educators and see who is present at the kindergarten today and who is staying home/off sick.
• WHAT IS THE WEATHER - See what the weather is like today outside by using a weather wheel.
• WEEKLY SCHEDULE - Have a weekly schedule with pictures and explain what is today's activity.
• EMOTION OF THE DAY - Let the children share their daily feelings with the help of pictures.

Get your own TODAY I FEEL emotion board, continue reading!

Embracing Change in Early Education

As a preschool owner, you have a unique opportunity to shape the early educational experiences of the next generation. With the implementation of new education policies, there’s a significant push towards innovative educational methods, including integrating playful learning models inspired by systems like those in Finland. To align with these changes effectively, focusing on four crucial areas can dramatically enhance your learning environment: curriculum renewal, teacher professional development, the introduction of new learning materials, and the adoption of advanced digital tools.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Renewing Your Preschool Environment

Step 1: Curriculum Enhancement